View source for Chogyal

{{short description|Monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox former monarchy
| royal_title     = Chogyal
| realm           = Sikkim
| coatofarms      = Achievement of Sikkim.jpg
| coatofarmssize  = 120px
| coatofarmscaption = [[Emblem of Sikkim]]
| image           = Palden Thondup Namgyal.jpg
| caption         = Palden Thondup Namgyal
| first_monarch   = [[Phuntsog Namgyal]] 
| last_monarch    = [[Palden Thondup Namgyal]]
| style           = 
| residence       = [[Tsuklakhang Palace]], [[Gangtok]]
| began           = {{start date and age|1642}}
| ended           = {{start date and age|16 May 1975}}
| pretender       = [[Wangchuk Namgyal]]
}}

The '''Chogyal''' ("[[Dharma]] Kings", {{bo|t=ཆོས་རྒྱལ|w=chos rgyal}}) were the monarchs of the former [[Kingdom of Sikkim]], which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty, {{bo|t=རྣམ་རྒྱལ་རྒྱལ་རབས།|w= Rnam Rgyal Rgyal Rabs}}. The Chogyal was the [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarch]] of [[Sikkim]] from 1642 to 1973, and the [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarch]] from 1973<!-- per 8 May 1973 agreement; Government of Sikkim Act, 1974 provided elected legislature --> to 1975, when the [[Abolition of monarchy|monarchy was abolished]] and the [[Sikkimese people]] voted in a [[1975 Sikkimese monarchy referendum|referendum]] to make Sikkim the 22nd [[States and union territories of India|state]] of [[India]].<ref>{{citation |author=G. T. |title=Trouble in Sikkim |journal=Index on Censorship |volume=4 |pages=68–69 |date=1 March 1975 |doi=10.1080/03064227508532403|s2cid=220927214 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/16/archives/sikkim-votes-to-end-monarchy-merge-with-india.html|title=Sikkim Votes to End Monarchy, Merge With India|date=16 April 1975|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=19 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819022845/http://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/16/archives/sikkim-votes-to-end-monarchy-merge-with-india.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Guru Rinpoche - Padmasambhava statue.jpg|thumb|200px|Statue of [[Padmasambhava]] or Guru Rinpoche]]
[[File:Tsuklakhang.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tsuklakhang Palace]]]]

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]], a prince of the [[Western Xia|Minyak]] House who came to Sikkim from the [[Kham]] province of [[Tibet]].<ref>Measuroo.com States and Territories of India series. Online: [http://www.measuroo.com/Acr-S/Sikkim.php] (accessed: 14 May 2008)</ref> Chogyal means 'righteous ruler', and was the title conferred upon Sikkim's Buddhist kings during the reign of the Namgyal Monarchy.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

The reign of the Chogyal was foretold by the patron saint of Sikkim, [[Padmasambhava|Guru Rinpoche]]. 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]]s who arrived there from three different directions, namely the north, west, and south.

== Chogyal kings of Sikkim ==

=== List of chogyals ===
{{Succession table monarch
| name1        = '''[[Phuntsog Namgyal]]'''
| nickname1    = 1st Chogyal
| native1      = {{lang|sip|ཕུན་ཚོགས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life1        = 1604–1670<br>(aged 65–66)
| reignstart1  = 1642
| reignend1    = 1670
| notes1       = {{Smaller|Ascended the throne and was consecrated as the first Chogyal of Sikkim. Made the capital at [[Yuksom]] in West Sikkim.}}
| family1      = Namgyal
| image1       = Norbugang 8a.jpg
| alt1         = Phuntsog Namgyal of Sikkim
| name2        = '''[[Tensung Namgyal]]'''
| nickname2    = 2nd Chogyal
| native2      = {{lang|sip|བསྟན་སྲུང༌རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life2        = 1644–1700<br>(aged 55–56)
| reignstart2  = 1670
| reignend2    = 1700
| notes2       = Son of [[Phuntsog Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|Shifted capital from Yuksom to [[Rabdentse]] which was later destroyed by [[Gurkha]]s.}}
| family2      = Namgyal
| image2       = Chogyal Tensung Namgyal.jpg
| alt2         = Tensung Namgyal of Sikkim
| name3        = '''[[Chakdor Namgyal]]'''
| nickname3    = 3rd Chogyal
| native3      = {{lang|sip|ཕྱག་རྡོར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life3        = 1686–1717<br>(aged 30–31)
| reignstart3  = 1700
| reignend3    = 1716
| notes3       = {{Smaller|His half-sister Pendiongmu tried to dethrone Chakdor, who fled to [[Lhasa]], but was reinstated as king with the help of [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]].}}
| family3      = Namgyal
| image3 = Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal.jpg
| alt3         = Chakdor Namgyal of Sikkim
| name4        = '''[[Gyurmed Namgyal]]'''
| nickname4    = 4th Chogyal
| native4      = {{lang|sip|འགྱུར་མེད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life4        = 1707–1733<br>(aged 25–26)
| reignstart4  = 1716
| reignend4    = 1733
| notes4       = {{Smaller|Sikkim was attacked by [[Nepalis]].}}
| family4      = Namgyal
| image4 = Chogyal Gyurmed Namgyal.jpg
| alt4         = Gyurmed Namgyal of Sikkim
| name5        = '''[[Phuntsog Namgyal II]]'''
| nickname5    = 5th Chogyal
| native5      = {{lang|sip|ཕུན་ཚོགས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life5        = 1733–1780<br>(aged 46–47)
| reignstart5  = 1733
| reignend5    = 1780
| notes5       = {{Smaller|Nepalis raided Rabdentse, the then capital of Sikkim.}}
| family5      = Namgyal
| image5 = Chogyal Phuntsog Namgyal II.jpg
| alt5         = Phuntsog Namgyal II of Sikkim
| name6        = '''[[Tenzing Namgyal]]'''
| nickname6    = 6th Chogyal
| native6      = {{lang|sip|བསྟན་འཛིན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life6        = 1769–1793<br>(aged 23–24)
| reignstart6  = 1780
| reignend6    = 1793
| notes6       = {{Smaller|Fled to [[Tibet under Qing rule|Tibet]], and later died there in exile.}}
| family6      = Namgyal
| image6 = Chogyal Tenzing Namgyal.jpg
| alt6         = Tenzing Namgyal of Sikkim
| name7        = '''[[Tsugphud Namgyal]]'''
| nickname7    = 7th Chogyal
| native7      = {{lang|sip|གཙུག་ཕུད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life7        = 1785–1863<br>(aged 77–78)
| reignstart7  = 1793
| reignend7    = 1863
| notes7       = Son of [[Tenzing Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|The longest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Shifted the capital from Rabdentse to third capital [[Tumlong]]. [[Treaty of Titalia]] in 1817 between Sikkim and [[Company rule in India|British India]] was signed in which territories lost to [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]] were appropriated to Sikkim. [[Darjeeling]] was gifted to British India in 1835. Two [[British people|Britons]], Dr. [[Archibald Campbell (doctor)|Campbell]] and Dr. [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Hooker]] were captured by the Sikkimese in 1849. Hostilities between [[British Empire|Britain]] and Sikkim continued and led to the [[Treaty of Tumlong]] in 1861, making Sikkim a ''de facto'' [[British protectorate]].}}
| family7      = Namgyal
| image7 = Chogyal Tsugphud Namgyal.jpg
| alt7         = Tsugphud Namgyal of Sikkim
| name8        = '''[[Sidkyong Namgyal]]'''
| nickname8    = 8th Chogyal
| native8      = {{lang|sip|སྲིད་སྐྱོང་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life8        = 1819–1874<br>(aged 54–55)
| reignstart8  = 1863
| reignend8    = 1874
| notes8       = Son of [[Tsugphud Namgyal]].
| family8      = Namgyal
| image8 = Chogyal Sidkeong Namgyal.jpg
| alt8         = Sidkeong Namgyal of Sikkim
| name9        = '''[[Thutob Namgyal]]'''
| nickname9    = 9th Chogyal
| native9      = {{lang|sip|མཐུ་སྟོབས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life9        = 1860 – 11 February 1914<br>(aged 53–54)
| reignstart9  = 1874
| reignend9    = 11 February 1914
| notes9       = Half-brother of [[Sidkeong Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|[[John Claude White]] appointed as the first [[List of political officers in the Kingdom of Sikkim|political officer]] in Sikkim in 1889.<ref name=KCL>{{cite web|title=John Claude White – career|url=http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/archives/a-daughter-of-the-empire/family/jcw-career|publisher=[[King's College London]]|accessdate=17 February 2021|archive-date=23 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023230723/http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/archives/a-daughter-of-the-empire/family/jcw-career|url-status=live}}</ref> Capital shifted from Tumlong to fourth and last capital at [[Gangtok]] in 1894.}}
| family9      = Namgyal
| image9       = Thutob Namgyal.jpg
| alt9         = Thutob Namgyal of Sikkim
| name10        = '''[[Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal]]'''
| nickname10    = 10th Chogyal
| native10      = {{lang|sip|སྲིད་སྐྱོང་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life10        = 1879 – 5 December 1914<br>(aged 34–35)
| reignstart10  = 11 February 1914
| reignend10    = 5 December 1914
| notes10       = Son of [[Thutob Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|The shortest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Died of [[heart failure]], in most suspicious circumstances.}}
| family10      = Namgyal
| image10       = Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal.jpg
| alt10         = Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal of Sikkim
| name11        = '''[[Tashi Namgyal]]'''
| nickname11    = 11th Chogyal
| native11      = {{lang|sip|བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་}}
| life11        = {{Birth date|1893|10|26|df=y}} – {{Death date and age|1963|12|2|1893|10|26|df=y}}
| reignstart11  = 5 December 1914
| reignend11    = 2 December 1963
| notes11       = Half-brother of [[Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|The second longest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Treaty between India and Sikkim was signed in 1950, giving India [[suzerainty]] over Sikkim.}}
| family11      = Namgyal
| image11       = Tashi Namgyal.jpg
| alt11         = Tashi Namgyal of Sikkim
| name12        = '''[[Palden Thondup Namgyal]]'''
| nickname12    = 12th Chogyal
| native12      = {{lang|sip|དཔལ་ལྡན་དོན་འགྲུབ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ}}
| life12        = {{Birth date|1923|5|23|df=y}} – {{Death date and age|1982|1|29|1923|5|23|df=y}}
| reignstart12  = 2 December 1963{{efn|Crowned on 4 April 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/05/archives/maharaja-and-his-us-bride-crowned-amid-pomp-in-sikkim.html|title=Maharaja and His U.S. Bride Crowned Amid Pomp in Sikkim|date=5 April 1965|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=8 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808134908/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/05/archives/maharaja-and-his-us-bride-crowned-amid-pomp-in-sikkim.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| reignend12    = 10 April 1975
| notes12       = Son of [[Tashi Namgyal]]. <hr> {{Smaller|The last Chogyal of Sikkim. The country became a state of India, following the 1975 referendum.}}
| family12      = Namgyal
| image12       = Palden Thondup Namgyal.jpg
| alt12         = Palden Thondup Namgyal of Sikkim
|the thirteen chogyal, chogyal wangchuk namgyal=Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal|reign stat=19th february 1982|alt 13=Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal|nick name 13=13th Chogyal|family 13=Namgyal|reign start 13=19th February 1982|notes 13=Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal was consecrated on 19th February 1982 at 15:00 hrs in Tshu-khla-khang in Gangtok, Sikkim. Ten members of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly of Sikkim signed the document on an official one rupee stamp paper.|image13=http://www.siblac.org/img/chogyal_13.jpg}}

=== Titular chogyals ===
The son from the first marriage of [[Palden Thondup Namgyal]], [[Wangchuk Namgyal]] ({{langx|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,<ref>{{cite news |title=Palden Thondup Namgyal, Deposed Sikkim King, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/30/obituaries/palden-thondup-namgyal-deposed-sikkim-king-dies.html |quote=The deposed King of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, who had been undergoing treatment for cancer in [[New York City]], died last night from complications following an operation at [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]]. He was 58 years old. A family spokesman said his body was to be flown home to Sikkim for the funeral. ... |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 January 1982 |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=25 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225041308/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/30/obituaries/palden-thondup-namgyal-deposed-sikkim-king-dies.html |url-status=live }}</ref> but the position no longer confers any official authority. Chogyal Wangchuk Namgyal was officially consecrated on the 19th day of february in 1982 in Tshu-khla-khang at Gangtok, Sikkim. But the position no longer confers any official authority it is only a legacy of the past and symbolic to the people of Sikkim.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="10" align=center style="background-color:Lightblue" |'''Titular (1975–present)'''
|-
! Name
! Reign start
! Reign end
! Notes
|-
| [[Palden Thondup Namgyal]]
| 10 April 1975
| 29 January 1982
| Son of [[Tashi Namgyal]]
|-
| [[Wangchuk Namgyal]]
| 19 February1982
| Incumbent
| Son of [[Palden Thondup Namgyal]]
|}

=== Family tree ===

{{Chart top|width=100%|collapsed=no|Namgyal dynasty and the Chogyals of Sikkim}}

{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Phuntsog Namgyal|Phuntsog<br>Namgyal I]]'''<br><sup>(1)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1642–1670}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Tensung Namgyal|Tensung<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(2)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1670–1700}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Chakdor Namgyal|Chakdor<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(3)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1700–1717}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Gyurmed Namgyal|Gyurmed<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(4)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1717–1733}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Phuntsog Namgyal II|Phuntsog<br>Namgyal II]]'''<br><sup>(5)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1733–1780}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Tenzing Namgyal|Tenzing<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(6)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1780–1793}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Tsugphud Namgyal|Tsugphud<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(7)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1793–1863}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | |A02  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Sidkeong Namgyal|Sidkeong<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(8)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1863–1874}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C|
A02='''[[Thutob Namgyal|Thutob<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(9)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1874–1914}}|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|(| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | |A02  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal|Sidkeong<br>Tulku<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(10)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1914}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C|
A02='''[[Tashi Namgyal|Tashi<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(11)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1914–1963}}|boxstyle_A02=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Palden Thondup Namgyal|Palden<br>Thondup<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(12)</sup><br>{{small|r. 1963–1975<br>– Titular –<br>r. 1975–1982}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |A01  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
A01='''[[Wangchuk Namgyal|Wangchuk<br>Namgyal]]'''<br><sup>(13)</sup><br>{{small|– Titular –<br>r. 1982–present}}|boxstyle_A01=border-color:#DC143C}}

{{Tree chart/end}}

{{Chart bottom}}

=== Royal Flag ===
<gallery class="center">
File:Royal flag of Sikkim.svg|[[Flag of Sikkim|Royal Flag of Sikkim]] 1877–1975
</gallery>

== Rulers of other Himalayan kingdoms ==
=== Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan ===
{{main|Zhabdrung Rinpoche|Druk Desi|Druk Gyalpo}}
[[File:Shabdrung rubin.png|thumb|right|200px|Painting of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal]]

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 Rinpoche|Zhabdrung]]. In this context, the Chogyal was a recognised reincarnation (or succession of reincarnations) of [[Ngawang Namgyal|Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal]], the 17th century [[Tibet]]an-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]].<ref>Norbu, Namkhai (1988, 2000). ''The Crystal and the Way of Light: The Teachings of Namkhai Norbu''. (Snow Lion Publications) pg.20 and Notes.</ref> There were two main lines of Zhabdrung incarnations in Bhutan.

=== Gyalpo of Ladakh ===
{{main|Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh}}

The region of [[Ladakh]] was ruled by a separate line of the [[Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh|Namgyal]] dynasty that lasted from 1460 to 1842 and were titled the ''Gyalpo'' of Ladakh.<ref>{{cite book|author=Teg Bahadur Kapur |title=Ladakh, the Wonderland A Geographical, Historical, and Sociological Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBMbyunREY4C |date=1987 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=9788170990116 |page=57 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Dharmaraja (disambiguation)|Dharmaraja]]
* [[Devaraja]]
* [[Garpön]]
* [[History of Sikkim]]
* [[History of Ladakh]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Chogyals of Sikkim}}
{{Sikkim}}

[[Category:Sikkim monarchy]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Sikkim| ]]
[[Category:Heads of state of former countries|Sikkim]]