Raj Bhavan (Sikkim)

Raj Bhavan, Sikkim
Raj Bhavan, Sikkim
General information
Owner	Government of Sikkim

Last updated May 04, 2019

Raj Bhavan (translation: Government House) is the official residence of the Governor of Sikkim. It is located in the capital city of Gangtok, Sikkim. The present governor of Sikkim is Shrinivas Patil.

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction between translating and interpreting ; under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.

An official residence is the residence at which a nation's head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure officially resides. It may or may not be the same location where the individual conducts work-related functions or lives.

Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. It also is the headquarters of the East Sikkim district. Gangtok is located in the eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of 1,650 m (5,410 ft). The town's population of 100,000 are from different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia. Nestled within higher peaks of the Himalaya and enjoying a year-round mild temperate climate, Gangtok is at the centre of Sikkim's tourism industry.

Background

After the Sikkim Expedition drove Tibetan forces out of Sikkim in 1888, the British sent John Claude White as Assistant Political Officer with the expeditionary force. In 1889, he was offered the post of Political Officer of Sikkim. Although White was a Civil Engineer employed by the Public Works Department, he was so enamoured with Sikkim that he accepted the post of Political Officer unhesitatingly.

John Claude White was an engineer, photographer, author and civil servant in British India.

White built what is today the Raj Bhavan at Gangtok. He gives a vivid account of how he personally selected the site, why it appealed to him and his travails in building it in his memoirs first published in 1909.

:"One of the first things to be done on my appointment to Sikkim was to build a house, not an easy task in a wild country where masons and carpenters were conspicuous by their absence, where stone for building had to be quarried from the hillsides and trees cut down for timber. In my jungle wanderings around Gangtok, I came across a charming site in the midst of primeval forest which seemed suitable in every way, so I determined to build on it, felling only the trees which might possible endanger the safety of the house, a necessary precaution, as many of them were quite 140 feet high, and in the spring the thunderstorms, accompanied by violent winds, were something terrible and wrought havoc everywhere. By leveling the uneven ground and throwing it out in front, I managed to get sufficient space for the house, with lawn and flower beds around it. Behind rose a high mountain, thickly wooded, which protected us from the storms sweeping down from the snows to the north-east, and in front the ground fell away with a magnificent view across the valley, where, from behind the opposite hills, Kanchenjunga and its surroundings snows towered up against the clear sky, making one of the most beautiful and magnificent sights to be imagined, and one certainly not to be surpassed, if equaled, anywhere in the world."

White retired in October 1908. The Residency he built was a lasting legacy he left behind. After White, all the incumbents of the post of Political Officer Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet based in Gangtok enjoyed the comforts of the English villa-like Residency he had built. They were: Sir Charles Bell, Major W.L. Campbell, Lt. Colonel W.F. O’Conner, Major F.M. Bailey, Major J.L.R. Weir, Frederick Williamson, Sir Basil Gould and Anthony J. Hopkinson.(three officers – David McDonald, Capt. R.K.M. Battye and H. Richardson – also temporarily held the post).

Sir Charles Alfred Bell, KCIE CMG was the British Political Officer for Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. He was known as "British India's ambassador to Tibet" before retiring and becoming a noted tibetologist.

Frederick Marshman Bailey was a British intelligence officer and one of the last protagonists of The Great Game - the fight for supremacy between the Russians and the British Empire along the Himalayas. His clandestine work gave him many opportunities to pursue his hobbies of photography, butterfly collecting, and trophy hunting in the high Tibetan region. Over 2000 of his bird specimens were presented to The Natural History Museum, although his personal collection is now held in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. His papers and extensive photograph collections are held in the British Library, London.

Frederick Williamson CIE (1891-1935) was a British Political Officer stationed in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet in the 1930s. He was also a keen explorer and founder member of the Himalayan Club. It was 'largely owing to his influence and the esteem in which he was held in Lhasa' that Tibet permitted the 1935 and 1936 Mount Everest Expeditions. His life was cut short by a chronic illness which occurred in Lhasa during November 1935 on a mission to negotiate a settlement between Tibet and Thubten Choekyi Nyima, 9th Panchen Lama. On the announcement of his death, the Government of India stated that 'it robbed the Government of a most valuable officer'.

Sir A.J. Hopkinson was the last British Political Officer of Sikkim. When India gained independence from British rule in 1947, the Residency became the residence of the Indian Political Officer, locally referred to as the Burra Kothi. A span of 86 years between 1889-1975 (Claude White to Gurbachan Singh) lay between the first Political Officer's appointment and the withdrawal of the last.

The Partition of India was the division of British India in 1947 which accompanied the creation of two independent dominions, India and Pakistan. The Dominion of India is today the Republic of India and Dominion of Pakistan, the republics of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The partition involved the division of two provinces, Bengal and the Punjab, based on district-wise Hindu or Muslim majorities. It also involved the division of the British Indian Army, the Royal Indian Navy, the Indian Civil Service, the railways, and the central treasury, between the two new dominions. The partition was set forth in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj, or Crown rule in India. The two self-governing countries of India and Pakistan legally came into existence at midnight on 14–15 August 1947.

Residency and local people

White’s completed Residency was a revelation, an object of much curiosity for the Sikkimese hitherto not exposed to such a house. They would often call on the Whites and request permission to wander around the house; to see how the Whites lived and what European furniture was like. The Residency had bay windows and a round dining table. This really fired the imagination of the local Sikkimese Kazis who also incorporated bay windows and copied the round table for their own residences.

From residency to Raj Bhavan

In 1975, the institution of the Chogyal, the hereditary leader of Sikkim, was abolished and the state was formally inducted into the Indian Union as her 22nd State. For having made this culmination possible, Shri B.B. Lal was made Governor of Sikkim on 18 May 1975 the same day that the amendiment Bill received the President’s assent. This marked the conversion of the Residency into a Raj Bhavan. In its previous designation as India House or Baara Khoti, it had been rated as one India’s best Ambassadorial residences-it would now qualify as India’s most attractive Raj Bhavan. Sited well above the town and insulated from the noise and fumes of the bazaar, the classic gabled structure lends into the greenery and trees of the landscape and looks on the entire Kanchendzonga range. The area of the compound is approximately 75 acres (30 ha) consisting of lawn and garden as well as kitchen garden and fruit orchards. Several incumbents since then (Sarva Shri H.J.H. Taleyar Khan, K. Prabhakar Rao, B.N. Singh, T.V. Rajeshwar, S.K. Bhatnagar, R.H. Thailiani, P. Shiv Shankar, K.V. Ragunath Reddy, Chaudhary Randhir Singh, Kidar Nath Sahani, R.S. Gavai, V. Rama Rao, Sudarshan Agarwal) have held the post of Governor of Sikkim and resided at the Raj Bhavan. White’s Residency has stood a silent spectator for over a hundred years as the winds of change blew over Sikkim’s political landscape.

The Chogyal were the monarchs of the former kingdoms of Sikkim and Ladakh in present-day India, which were ruled by separate branches of the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when the monarchy was abolished and its people voted in a referendum to make Sikkim India's 22nd state.

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Sikkim is a state in northeastern India. It borders Tibet in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also located close to India's Siliguri Corridor near Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states. A part of the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest on Earth. Sikkim's capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 35% of the state is covered by the Khangchendzonga National Park.

The Raj Bhavan, formerly known during British India as the Bangalore Residency, the Mysore State Residency, or, simply, the Residency, is the official residence of the Governor of Karnataka. It is located in the capital city of Bangalore, Karnataka. During Mysore Kingdom, the building was home to the Resident of the British Agency that was in subsidiary alliance with the Kingdom of Mysore.

The history of Sikkim an area in present-day North-East India, began in 1642 as a kingdom established when India and Nepal were still many princely states with many rulers at that time and had not unified to the present Union of India and present country of Nepal. At that time Sikkim had already solidified into country then with a king known as a Chogyal or dharma king, and till 16 May 1975 was an independent country ruled by the monarchs. Sikkim had twelve kings; Palden Thondup Namgyal was the last king of Independent Sikkim. There was contacts between ancient Hindus and Tibetans, followed by the establishment of a Buddhist kingdom or Chogyal in the 17th century. Sikkim emerged as a polity in its own right against a backdrop of incursions from Tibet and Bhutan, during which the kingdom enjoyed varying degrees of independence. In the early 18th century, the British Empire sought to establish trade routes with Tibet, leading Sikkim to fall under British suzerainty until independence in 1947. Initially, Sikkim remained an independent country, until it merged with India in 1975 after a decisive referendum. Many provisions of the Indian constitution had to be altered to accommodate the international treaties between Sikkim and India.

Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the Governor of West Bengal, located in the capital city Kolkata. Built in 1803, it was known as Government House before the independence of India.

Tashi Namgyal Academy (TNA) is a public school in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in India. It was founded in 1926 by the late Sir Tashi Namgyal, KCSI, KCIE, the 11th consecrated Ruler of Sikkim. It is an autonomous English-medium, co-educational and residential-cum-day school.

Thutob Namgyal was the ruling chogyal (monarch) of Sikkim between 1874 and 1914. Thutob ascended to the throne succeeding his half-brother Sidkeong Namgyal who died issueless. Differences between the Nepalese settlers and the indigenous population during his reign led to the direct intervention of the British, who were the de facto rulers of the Himalayan nation. The British ruled in favour of the Nepalese much to the discontent of the chogyal, who then retreated to the Chumbi Valley and allied himself with the Tibetans.

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The Daly College is a co-educational residential and day boarding school located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It was founded by Sir Henry Daly of the British Indian Army during India's colonial British Raj. The school started in 1870 as the Residency School. It was then renamed as the East Rajkumar College in 1876, and in 1882, it came to be known as The Daly College. It was established by the Resident Governor of the erstwhile Presidency, to educate the children of the royalty, nobility and aristocracy of Central Indian Princely States of the 'Marathas', 'Rajputs', 'Mohameddans' and 'Bundelas'. It is one of the oldest co-educational boarding schools in the world.

Raj Bhavan is the official summer residence of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located in the summer capital city Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The present governor of Jammu and Kashmir is S.P Malik appointed by President Ram Nath Kovind on 21 August 2018.

The Kingdom of Sikkim, earlier known as Dremoshong, was a hereditary monarchy from 1642 to 16 May 1975 in the Eastern Himalayas. It was ruled by Chogyals of the Namgyal dynasty.

Balmiki Prasad Singh was the 14th Governor of Sikkim, India. He is an author, thinker and a retired IAS officer. He has written number of books and articles relating to Indian culture, in particular the culture of North-East India. He was born on 1 January 1942 in Begusarai, Bihar. Among his prominent books are Bahudha and the post 9/11 World and The problem of change: a study of North East India. He presided over the four-day Global Buddhist Conference in 2011 to mark the 2,600th year of Buddha's enlightenment. Around 1,000 Buddhist scholars, thinkers and followers from over 30 countries were present. B.P. Singh is also the principal architect of the Bahudha Approach, which outlines a path towards a harmonious world, as against the clash of civilizations.

Prem Das Rai is an Indian politician from the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) party. Mr. Rai is currently a Member of Parliament from the Sikkim constituency of Sikkim, India, first elected in 2009 election and re-elected in 2014 after serving his first term in 2009-2014.

Karma Topden was an Indian Sikkimese politician.

The Treaty of Tumlong was a March 1861 treaty between Great Britain and the Kingdom of Sikkim in present-day north India. Signed by Sir Ashley Eden on behalf of the British and Sikkimese Chogyal, Sidkeong Namgyal, the treaty secured protection for travellers to Sikkim and guaranteed free trade, thereby making the state a de facto British protectorate.

Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the Governor of Tripura. The incumbent Governor of Tripura is Hon'ble Shri Tathagata Roy. The residence is located in the state's capital city of Agartala. A new Raj Bhavan was built and inaugurated in April 2018. The previous Raj Bhavan was built in 1917, and was known as the Pushbanta Palace prior to India's independence. The previous Raj Bhavan edifice is intended to become a museum and research center in honor of King of Tripura, Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya.

Mary Hepburn Scott (1887-unknown) was a Scottish Missionary and Educator who pioneered women's education in Sikkim. Despite her lack of formal medical training, she became the leading medical, educational and religious missionary in Gangtok, educating an entire generation of Sikkimese physicians and significantly improving health outcomes, despite Christian missionaries historically not being allowed in Gangtok for political and religious reasons. Scott also founded Gangtok's first girls school, the Paljor Namgyal Girls' School, which still exists today and has been credited with greatly improving the overall state of women's education in Sikkim both historically and currently. Additionally, Scott has been recognized for almost-single handedly creating the largest period of growth in Christianity in Sikkim, which still significantly impacts Sikkim's religious demographics.

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Coordinates: 27°20′28″N88°36′56″E / 27.3411°N 88.6155°E / 27.3411; 88.6155

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