Sikkim (redirected from Sikkimese)

Sikkim (sĭk`ĭm), state (2001 provisional pop. 540,493), 2,745 sq mi (7,110 sq km), India. It is located in the E Himalayas and bordered by Nepal (W), by the Tibet region of China (N), by Bhutan (E), and by the Indian state of West Bengal (S). The capital and only town is Gangtok. Most of Sikkim is mountainous, and rivers, including the Tista, flow through deep valleys, intersecting the country and hindering travel. In the mountains are extensive forests and grazing land for sheep, goats, cattle, and yaks. Corn is the major crop of the tropical lowland valleys, and rice, millet, wheat, barley, legumes, fruits, and cardamom are also grown. Agriculture is chiefly for subsistence. Sikkim has some copper deposits. There is a handicraft industry, and cotton weaving is common. In 1979 its first hydroelectric station was put on line.

Sikkim's people are predominantly of Nepalese extraction; the minority Bhotias (Tibetan in origin) and aboriginal Lepchas are mainly pastoral nomads. Although the Nepalese practice Hinduism, Buddhism was professed by the former chogyal ("king under the religious laws") and the official class, and Sikkim is noted for its Buddhist monasteries. Tibeto-Burmese languages and dialects are spoken widely.

In the 16th cent. Tibetans began to settle Sikkim, whose native Lepchas were probably converted to Buddhism by Tibetan lamas. In 1642 a Tibetan king started a hereditary line of Sikkimese rulers that lasted until 1975. Gurkhas from Nepal invaded Sikkim several times in the 18th and 19th cent., but the British, expanding their presence in India, forced the Gurkhas out of Sikkim (1814–16). Later (1835, 1849) the Sikkimese had to cede territory to the British, who assumed a protectorate. China, nominal suzerain of the area, finally recognized the protectorate in 1890, after a British victory over Tibet, but continued to maintain a claim over the area and later did not acknowledge that Sikkim was an Indian state until 2005.

British protection ended when India won independence in 1947, but political and social unrest in newly independent Sikkim led to a treaty (1950) by which the kingdom became an Indian protectorate. India directed defense and foreign relations and communications, while Sikkim retained internal autonomy. India financed construction of strategic roads traversing the mountain passes, thus ending Sikkim's long isolation from the outside world. Sikkim's administration was turned over to India in 1974, and in 1975 India ended Sikkim's last vestiges of independence, deposing the kingdom's chogyal. Sikkim became India's 22d state. It is governed by a chief minister and cabinet responsible to a unicameral legislature and by a governor appointed by the president of India.

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Sikkim

State (pop., 2001: 540,851), northeastern India. In the eastern Himalayas, Kanchenjunga, third highest peak in the world, forms part of its western border with Nepal. It is also bordered by Bhutan and West Bengal state and has an area of 2,740 sq mi (7,096 sq km); the capital, Gangtok, is the only urban centre. As an independent country, it fought prolonged wars in the 18th and 19th centuries with Bhutan and Nepal. It first came under British influence in 1817, though it remained a semiautonomous princely state between British India and Tibet. In 1950 it became an Indian protectorate and, in 1975, a state of India. One of India's smallest states, it exports agricultural products and is one of the world's main producers of cardamom. Its mineral resources include copper, lead, zinc, coal, iron ore, and garnets.

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Sikkim

a state of NE India. formerly an independent state: under British control (1861--1947); became an Indian protectorate in 1950 and an administrative division of India in 1975; lies in the Himalayas, rising to 8600 m (28 216 ft.) at Kanchenjunga in the north. Capital: Gangtok. Pop.: 540 493 (2001). Area: 7096 sq. km (2740 sq. miles)