History of Sikkim

Today we will discuss History of Sikkim but will be covering only the prehistoric period! We will be talking about Sikkim's history for the days ahead learning more about how it's unique culture came into existence. So let's begin!

Pre-History

The legendary account of the Pre- Historic Sikkim reveals that there were no establishments of settled governments. Several small rulers or more appropriately the chiefs were ruling over these areas in different period of time. By around 4,000 B.C. the Neolithic human developed the art of land cultivation due to scarcity of available food. Agriculture required people to stay in one spot and so fixed settlement emerged. According to the legend of the Kiratas, the black soybean was the first crop, domesticated and cultivated by the Kiratas in this part of the country. The lone cultivated crop was thus eaten in different ways to avoid monotonousness of eating.

A traditional Kirata

Lord Shiva giving Arjun the Pashupaat Astra

Did You know? The native people of Sikkim are mentioned in the Mahabharata as Kritas(Hunters). They worship Lord Shiva as Kirateshwar Mahadev(God of the kritas) and believe him to be their first king. It is believed that Lord Shiva once appeared as a hunter to test Arjun's warfare. He challenged Arjun for a duel, in which Arjun was defeated but still admiring his strength Lord Shiva gave him The Pashupaat Astra. This whole incident took place at the very spot at the present-day Kirateshwar Mahadev Temple in Lyuksyep, Sikkim.

Phew! That's all for today. Hope you didn't get bored. We will discuss Sikkim's history further tomorrow. Tell me in the comments if you liked this or not and what I need to improve. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Have a great day!