The Chogyal ("

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

Kings", ) were the monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when the monarchy was abolished and the Sikkimese people voted in a referendum to make Sikkim the 22nd state of India.

History

From 1642 to 1975, Sikkim was ruled by the Namgyal Monarchy (also called the Chogyal Monarchy), founded by Phuntsog Namgyal, the fifth-generation descendant of

Guru Tashi Guru Tashi () was a 13th-century prince from the Minyak House of the Kham region of Eastern Tibet. According to legend, he had a divine revelation one night instructing him to travel south to seek his fortunes. He travelled south to the present ...

, a prince of the Minyak House who came to Sikkim from the

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

province of Tibet. Chogyal means 'righteous ruler', and was the title conferred upon Sikkim's Buddhist kings during the reign of the Namgyal Monarchy. The reign of the Chogyal was foretold by the patron saint of Sikkim,

Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

. The 8th-century saint had predicted the rule of the kings when he arrived in the state. In 1642, Phuntsog Namgyal was crowned as Sikkim's first Chogyal in Yuksom. The crowning of the king was a great event and he was crowned by three revered

lama Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hi ...

s who arrived there from three different directions, namely the north, west, and south.

Chogyal kings of Sikkim

List of chogyals

Titular chogyals

The son from the first marriage of

Palden Thondup Namgyal Palden Thondup Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''dpal-ldan don-grub rnam-rgyal'') (23 May 1923 – 29 January 1982) was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of the Kingdom of Sikkim. Biography Palden thondup Namgyal was born on 23 May 1923 at the ...

, Wangchuk Namgyal ( sip, དབང་ཕྱུག་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; born 1 April 1953), 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

File:Royal flag of Sikkim.svg, Royal Flag of Sikkim 1877–1975.

Rulers of other Himalayan kingdoms

Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan

In Bhutan, "dharmaraja" or "Righteous 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 Zhabdrung (also Shabdrung; ; "before the feet of ones submit") was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage. In Bhutan the title almost always refers to Ngawang Namgyal (15 ...

. In this context, the Chogyal was a recognised 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 The Je Khenpo (; "The Chief Abbot of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan"), formerly called the ''Dharma Raja'' by orientalists, is the title given to the senior religious hierarch of Bhutan. His primary duty is to lead the Dratshang Lhentshog ...

, and the highest temporal ruler, the Deb Raja or Druk Desi. There were two main lines of Zhabdrung incarnations in Bhutan.

Gyalpo of Ladakh

The region of Ladakh was ruled by a separate line of the Namgyal dynasty that lasted from 1460 to 1842 and were titled the ''Gyalpo'' of Ladakh.

Notes

References

{{Sikkim Sikkim monarchy Monarchs of Sikkim Sikkim