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During the middle of the 16th century, the Red Lamas of Tibet introduced Buddhism to this Himalayan State and appointed Phuntsog Namgyal as its ruler. The country continued as a feudatory principality of Tibet until Nepal began to challenge the balance of power in the Himalayas. For nine years, Sikkim defied the Gurkhas. They were routed in 1788 and the Chogyal and his band of followers forced to flee into Tibet. A joint Bhutanese-Tibetan force assisted the Chogyal to re-establish some degree of independence, until a mutiny by Bhutanese troops left him weakened and exposed. The Nepalese returned with a vengeance, forcing the remnants of the army to take refuge in the fort of Gangtok. There they remained until the defeat of Nepal by the forces of the HEIC in 1816 resulted in the restoration of some of the lost territories. Shortly thereafter, Sikkim became a British protectorate. Darjeeling, together with some adjacent tracts, was ceded to British India in 1835 in return for a yearly stipend.
A British resident was appointed to Sikkim in 1889, but he proved singularly unable to maintain good relations with the ruler or his government. Maharaja Thutob Namgyal refused to co-operate and fled to his private estates in Tibet in 1892. After heavy pressure on the Tibetan authorities he was induced to return and then exiled to British India in 1893. He was allowed to return to Sikkim as undisputed ruler in 1895. Thereafter, British intervention in Sikkim's internal affairs was close to nil.
After the termination of British rule on the sub-continent in 1947, a long period of negotiations opened between the new Indian authorities and Sikkim. This culminated in the treaty of 1950, in which, India assumed responsibility for Sikkim's defence, external affairs, communications and other matters, but underscored Sikkim's "international personality". Following a period of disturbances between different ethnic groups during the 1970's, the Indian government of Mrs Gandhi intervened, deposed the Chogyal on 10th April and annexed the country on 16th May 1975. The inhabitants of the former kingdom have always felt that India and her local agents fermented the unrest. The movement for the restoration of the Chogyal and the independence of Sikkim, remains a focus of much political activity within the country to this day.
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