Chogyal

The Chogyal ("Dharma Kings", Tibetan: ཆོས་རྒྱལ, Wylie: chos rgyal , Sanskrit : धर्मराज:) were the monarchs of the former kingdoms of Sikkim and Ladakh, which were ruled by separate branches of the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute potentate of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when monarchy was abrogated and its people voted in a referendum to make Sikkim India's 22nd state.

Chogyal of Bhutan

Painting of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal

In Bhutan, Chogyal "Dharma King" or "Religious King" is a title which was also conferred upon a special class of temporal and spiritual rulers. In Bhutan, the Chogyal were given the respectful title Zhabdrung. In this context, the Chogyal was a recognized reincarnation (or succession of reincarnations) of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the 17th century Tibetan-born founder of Bhutan. A position of supreme importance, the Bhutanese Chogyal was above both the highest monastic authority, the Je Khenpo, and the highest temporal ruler, the Deb Raja or Druk Desi.^[1] There were two main lines of Zhabdrung incarnations in Bhutan.

History

Statue of Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche

From 1642 to 1975, Sikkim was ruled by the Namgyal Monarchy (also called the Chogyal Monarchy), founded by the fifth-generation descendants of Guru Tashi, a prince of the Minyak House who came to Sikkim from the Kham district of Tibet.^[2] Chogyal means 'righteous ruler', and was the title conferred upon Sikkim's Buddhist kings during the reign of the Namgyal Monarchy.^[3]

The reign of the Chogyal was foretold by the patron saint of Sikkim, Guru Rinpoche. The 8th-century saint had predicted the rule of the kings when he arrived in the state. In 1642, Chogyal Phuntsog Namgyal was crowned as Sikkim's first ruler in Yuksom. The crowning of the king was a great event and he was crowned by three revered lamas who arrived there from three different directions, namely the north, west and south.

List of Chogyals of Sikkim (1642–1975)

#	Reign	Portrait	Ruler	Events during reign
1	1642–1670		Phuntsog Namgyal	Ascended the throne and was consecrated as the first Chogyal of Sikkim. Made the capital in Yuksom.
2	1670–1700		Tensung Namgyal	Shifted capital to Rabdentse from Yuksom.
3	1700–1717		Chakdor Namgyal	His half-sister Pendiongmu tried to dethrone Chakdor, who fled to Lhasa, but was reinstated as king with the help of Tibetans.
4	1717–1733		Gyurmed Namgyal	Sikkim was attacked by Nepalese.
5	1733–1780		Phuntsog Namgyal II	Nepalese raided Rabdentse, the then capital of Sikkim.
6	1780–1793		Tenzing Namgyal	Chogyal fled to Tibet, and later died there in exile.
7	1793–1863		Tshudpud Namgyal	The longest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Shifted the capital from Rabdentse to Tumlong. Treaty of Titalia in 1817 between Sikkim and British India was signed in which territories lost to Nepal were appropriated to Sikkim. Darjeeling was gifted to British India in 1835. Two Britons, Dr. Arthur Campbell and Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker were captured by the Sikkimese in 1849. Hostilities between British India and Sikkim continued and led to a treaty signed, in which Darjeeling was ceded to British India.
8	1863–1874		Sidkeong Namgyal
9	1874–1914		Thutob Namgyal	Claude White appointed as the first political officer of Sikkim in 1889. Capital shifted from Tumlong to Gangtok in 1894.
10	1914		Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal	The shortest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim, ruled from 10 February to 5 December 1914. Died of heart failure, aged 35, in most suspicious circumstances.
11	1914–1963		Tashi Namgyal	Treaty between India and Sikkim was signed in 1950, giving India suzerainty over Sikkim.
12	1963–1975		Palden Thondup Namgyal	The 12th Chogyal, Indian sovereignty post plebiscite.

The son from the first marriage of Palden Thondup Namgyal, Wangchuk Namgyal, was named the 13th Chogyal after his father's death on 29 January 1982, but the position no longer confers any official authority.

Royal Flag

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  Royal Flag of Sikkim 1877–1975.

See also

• Kingdom of Sikkim
• Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh

References

External links

• History of the Namgyal Dynasty