IDNO

DG.144883.SHP

Description

"H.H. The Maharaja of Sikkim (right) on the Bhutan side of the Tremo La and B.J. Gould with our ponies and some of our retinue on the Pass. 14 August '38."

Place

S Asia; Tibet; Bhutan; Tremo La Pass

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

His Highness Sri Panch Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal, Maharaja Chogyal of Sikkim; B. J. Gould

Photographer

Shepheard, Ken

Collector / Expedition

Date

14 August 1938

Collection Name

Shepheard Collection

Source

Shepheard Rogers, Patricia

Format

Album Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Related Archive: Noted in Shepheard's diary 'Some Notes of Ken Shepheard on his expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, in September - October 1938' pp.16,
"14 August 1938
Stayed in Phari and spent morning on an expedition to Bhutan border at Tremo La with H.H. and Gould looking for flowers.
Clouds and mist and views disappointing but little rain. Back for lunch.
Eidelweiss in mass for first time (between 15,000’ and 16,000’) and hundreds of other flowers.
Saw no game -- only yaks.
Had a look at Phari town and went over the Jhong (empty). Surprising collection of stuff including Yardley’s brilliantine, Italian cloth and English biscuits in tiny shops -- also meat, potatoes, tsamba and v-hard lumps of flour covered “cheese” sold as sweets.
Streets incredibly filthy and often above house level -- due? to accumulation of filth in paths raising their level.
No sanitation of any sort -- tiers often built out from houses and proceeds drop through hole in floor into street!
Barley and mustard under cultivation (about 20 acres?) but said not to ripen and used only as fodder.
Sufficient water for a division but runs in many small rivulets through and around the village -- needs canalising.
Many sites for landing grounds from Kampareb onwards throughout “Phari Dzong”.
Plenty of grazing but no fuel except yak dung." [JD 26/01/2020]

Named Person: Tashi Namgyal (Sikkimese: བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; Wylie: Bkra-shis Rnam-rgyal) (26 October 1893 – 2 December 1963) was the 11th Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, ruling from 1914 to 1963. Born in Tibet and educated in St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, he was crowned by the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. Tashi Namgyal was a strong advocate for closer links between Sikkim, India and Tibet. During his reign, he was also known for land reform and free elections.
He was married in October 1918 to Kunzang Dechen, and they had 3 sons and 3 daughters. The eldest son died in a plane crash during World War Two. On his death he was succeeded as Chogyal by his second son Palden Thondup Namgyal.
About a decade after his death, his son Palden Thondup Namgyal, the incumbent hereditary Chogyal, was formally deposed. Prime Minister Lendup Dorji appealed to India to change the status of Sikkim from protectorate to statehood. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim was officially made the 22nd state of India. [Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashi_Namgyal, JD 29/06/2020]