Chogyal

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.[3] 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. 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.

No.	Reign	Portrait	Chogyal (Lifespan)	Events
1	1642–1670		Phuntsog Namgyal (1604–1670)	Ascended the throne and was consecrated as the first Chogyal of Sikkim. Made the capital at Yuksom in West Sikkim.
2	1670–1700		Tensung Namgyal (1644–1700)	Shifted capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse which was later destroyed by Gurkhas.
3	1700–1717		Chakdor Namgyal (1686–1717)	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 (1707–1733)	Sikkim was attacked by Nepalis.
5	1733–1780		Phuntsog Namgyal II (1733–1780)	Nepalis raided Rabdentse, the then capital of Sikkim.
6	1780–1793		Tenzing Namgyal (1769–1793)	Chogyal fled to Tibet, and later died there in exile.
7	1793–1863		Tsugphud Namgyal (1785–1863)	The longest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Shifted the capital from Rabdentse to third capital 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. Archibald 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 the British Raj.
8	1863–1874		Sidkeong Namgyal (1819–1874)
9	1874–1914		Thutob Namgyal (1860–1914)	John Claude White appointed as the first political officer in Sikkim in 1889. Capital shifted from Tumlong to fourth and last capital at Gangtok in 1894.
10	1914		Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal (1879–1914)	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 (1893–1963)	Treaty between India and Sikkim was signed in 1950, giving India suzerainty over Sikkim.
12	1963–1975		Palden Thondup Namgyal (1923–1982)	Crowned on 4 April 1965.[4] The last Chogyal of Sikkim. The country became a state of India, following the 1975 referendum.

The son from the first marriage of Palden Thondup Namgyal, Wangchuk Namgyal (born 1 April 1953), was named the 13th Chogyal after his father's death on 29 January 1982,[5] but the position no longer confers any official authority.

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  Royal Flag of Sikkim 1877–1975.