| Phoobsering Tea Estate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India |
| Coordinates | 27°04′48″N88°16′21″E / 27.0801°N 88.2726°E Coordinates: 27°04′48″N88°16′21″E / 27.0801°N 88.2726°E |
| Area | 240 hectares (590 acres) |
| Elevation | 3,000 to 6,000 feet (910 to 1,830 m) |
| Owned by | Chamong Group |
| Open | 1856-1860 |
Phoobsering Tea Estate is a tea garden in the Darjeeling Pulbazar in the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The tea estate derives its name from a Sikkimese local 'Phurpu Tshering', Tshering who was born on Thursday (Phurpu), it being a common practice to name Bhutia children after the day on which he/ she is born. Some articles have also referred to Phurbu as a Lepcha, this may be due to his common share of genealogy with Chebu Lama. O' Malleys Gazetteer leads us to offer a fact that Phurbu Diwan was a brother of Cheebu Lama (Astrologer Lama). "Subsequently, on his death, this tract was leased jointly to Rechuk Dewan the son of CL, Pharbu Diwan, his brother and Raja Tenduk Pulger, his nephew and adopted son." A more recent detailed study on the topic "Flighty Subjects: Sovereignty, Shifting Cultivators, and the State in Darjeeling, 1830-1856" by Catherine Warner offer us insights into the genealogy of CL. In the article Campbell (Campbell 1869) acknowledges that CL's mother was a 'Lepcha' and his father a Bhutia (Tibeto-Sikkimese), in contrary to other claims that CL was a Lepcha (Hooker 1854;Risley 1894). "Since descent was often determined by the father’s side of the family (thus the Namgyals could marry Limbu and Lepcha wives, for example, without producing Limbu or Lepcha children), and Chebu Lama’s father was not, as mentioned, a Lepcha, he probably retained the option of identifying with Tibeto-Sikkimese circles"
R.K.Sprigg in his article titled '1826: The end of an era in the Social and political history of Sikkim' states that his "wife's grandfather, David Macdonald, claimed that the Cheeboo Lama's brother Phup (or Phurbu) Tshering (after whom one of Darjeeling's oldest tea-gardens is named) was his maternal grandfather".
It is one of the oldest plantations in the Darjeeling West valley. It is spread over 510 hectares of land. Phoobsering tea estate was established by the Darjeeling Tea Company in the 1856-1860 along with Ging, Takdah and Ambootia.
Phoobsering tea of Oolong variety is prized all over the world for its taste.
Darjeeling is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of 2,045 metres (6,709 ft). To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, to the east the Kingdom of Bhutan, to the north the Indian state of Sikkim, and farther north the Tibet Autonomous Region region of China. Bangladesh lies to the south and southeast, and most of the state of West Bengal lies to the south and southwest, connected to the Darjeeling region by a narrow tract. Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, rises to the north and is prominently visible on clear days.
Kalimpong is a town and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft). The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territorial Administration which is an autonomous governing body within the state of West Bengal. The Indian Army's 27 Mountain Division is located on the outskirts of the city.
The Lepcha are among the indigenous peoples of the Indian state of Sikkim and Nepal, and number around 80,000. Many Lepcha are also found in western and southwestern Bhutan, Tibet, Darjeeling, the Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal, and in the hills of West Bengal. The Lepcha people are composed of four main distinct communities: the Renjóngmú of Sikkim; the Dámsángmú of Kalimpong, Kurseong, and Mirik; the ʔilámmú of Ilam District, Nepal; and the Promú of Samtse and Chukha in southwestern Bhutan.
Jelep La elevation 14,390 feet (4,390 m), is a high mountain pass between Sikkim, India and Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is on a route that connects Lhasa to India. The pass is about 4 km (2.5 mi) south of Nathu La and is slightly higher. It was frequently used for trade between Tibet and India during the British Raj, with Kalimpong serving as the contact point. The Menmecho Lake lies below the Jelep La.
The Bhutia are a community of Sikkimese people living in the state of Sikkim in northeastern India, who speak Drenjongke or Sikkimese, a Tibetic language fairly mutually intelligible with standard Tibetan. In 2001, the Bhutia numbered around 60,300. Bhutia here refers to people of Tibetic ancestry. There are many clans within the Bhutia tribe and Inter-Clan marriages are preferred rather than marriages outside of the tribe.
The history of Sikkim, begins with indigenous Lepchas contact with early Tibetan settlers. Historically, Sikkim was a sovereign Monarchical State in the eastern Himalayas. Later a protectorate of India followed by merger with India and official recognition as a state of India. Lepchas were the main inhabitants as well as the Ruler of the land upto 1641. Lepchas are generally considered to be the first people, indigenous to Sikkim also includes Darjeeling.
Limbu is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Limbu people of Nepal and Northeastern India as well as expatriate communities in Bhutan. The Limbu refer to themselves as Yakthung and their language as Yakthungpan. Yakthungpan has four main dialects: Phedape, Chhathare, Tambarkhole and Panthare dialects.
Darjeeling district's population today is constituted largely of the descendants of the indigenous and immigrant labourers that were employed in the original development of the town. Although their common language, the Nepali language, has been given official recognition at the state and federal levels in India, the recognition has brought little economic progress to the region, nor significant political autonomy. A culture of both pride and dependence has evolved in the tea plantations where jobs have levelled off but housing can be inherited by a worker within the family. The population of Darjeeling meanwhile has grown substantially over the years. Many young locals, educated in government schools, have taken to migrating out for the lack of employment matching their skills. Like out-migrants from other regions of northeastern India, they have been subjected to discrimination and racism in some Indian cities.
The History of Darjeeling covers the history of Darjeeling town and its adjoining hill areas belonging to Sikkim, but eventually part of British India so now in the Indian state of West Bengal, which is intertwined with the history of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bengal and Great Britain. Part of the state of Sikkim, Darjeeling became part of an important buffer state between Nepal and Bhutan. The British, using the area as a sanitorium, found that the climate provided excellent tea-cultivating conditions and soon began to grow tea on the hills of Darjeeling. Darjeeling tea remains a world-renowned export from Darjeeling.
Kazi Lhendup Dorjee, also spelled Lhendup Dorji or Lhendup Dorji Khangsarpa, was the first chief minister of Sikkim from 1975 to 1979 after its union with India.
There are two dozen languages of Bhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except for Nepali, which is an Indo-Aryan language, and Bhutanese Sign Language. Dzongkha, the national language, is the only native language of Bhutan with a literary tradition, though Lepcha and Nepali are literary languages in other countries. Other non-Bhutanese minority languages are also spoken along Bhutan's borders and among the primarily Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa community in South and East Bhutan. Chöke is the language of the traditional literature and learning of the Buddhist monastics.
The indigenous people of Sikkim are the Lepchas; the naturalized ethnic populations of Limbus, Bhutias, Kiratis, Indian Gorkhas or Indian Nepali/Nepalese who have an enduring presence in shaping the history of modern Sikkim.
Te-ongsi Sirijunga Xin Thebe Limbu was an 18th-century Limbu scholar, educator, historian, linguist, leader, and philosopher of Limbuwan and Sikkim. He was formally known as Sirichongba and even more popularly known as "Sirijunga."
Kabi Lungchok is a historic site of significance, which is located 17 kilometres (11 mi) north of Gangtok on the Northern Highway in northeastern Indian state of Sikkim. The historicity of the site is attributed to the fact that the Lepchas, the ethnic tribals of Sikkim and Bhutias, the immigrants from southern Bhot who settled down in Sikkim from the 14th century onwards, ceremonially signed a "Treaty of Blood Brotherhood" with religious fervour. Stone pillars mark the location where the treaty was signed. The Treaty was signed at Kabi Lungchok by the Bhot King, Khye Bumsa representing the Bhutias and the Lepcha Chief Thekong Tek. The literal meaning of 'Kabi Lungchok', pronounced ‘Kayu sha bhi Lungchok’, is "stone erected by our blood." Life-size statues of the Lepcha and Bhutia 'blood-brothers' who signed the treaty has been erected here.
Indian Gorkhas also known as Nepali Indians, are Nepali language-speaking Indians. The modern term "Indian Gorkha" is used to differentiate the ethnic Gorkhas from Nepalis.
John Anderson Graham was a Scottish minister and the first missionary from Young Men's Guild sent to North Eastern Himalayan region Kalimpong—then in British Sikkim, currently in West Bengal.
Ging Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. The monastery is located in Ging, about 10 km (6.2 mi) from Darjeeling. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Darjeeling and is subscribed to the Nyingmapa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. On historical grounds, the monastery is still under the administrative control of the Government of Sikkim.
The Bhutia Boarding School in Darjeeling is a school founded in 1874. Its first director was Sarat Chandra Das and Professor of Tibetan Ugyen Gyatso, a monk of Tibeto- Sikkimese origin. It was opened by order of the Lieutenant Governor of British Bengal, Sir George Campbell. Its purpose was to provide education to young Tibetans and Sikkimese boys resident in Sikkim or the Darjeeling area. However, according to Derek Wallers, it aimed to train interpreters, geographers and explorers may be useful in the event of an opening of Tibet to the English. Students learnt English, Tibetan and topography. In 1879, Sarat Chandra Das, sometimes disguised as a Tibetan lama, sometimes as a merchant from Nepal and Ugyen Gyatso made several trips to Tibet as secret agents of British India services in order to establish and collect cards.
Mariabong Tea Garden is a village in the Jorebunglow Sukhiapokhri CD block in the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a part of Lingia Mariabong gram panchayat.
Kazis and Thikadars of Sikkim also known as Ilakadars were the hereditary feudal lords and the ruling class in former Kingdom of Sikkim. They had administrative and judicial powers within their respective land estates. This system existed since the establishment of the Namgyal dynasty and was further institutionalised under the period of British influence in Sikkim.
