Darjeeling : A Brief History
The origin of the name “Darjeeling” is most likely from the Tibetan words ‘Dorje’ which
means ‘thunderbolt’ and ‘Ling’ which means place or land. Quite literally, it is the
‘Land of the Thunderbolt’. Originally, this was the name given to a Buddhist monastery.
Early History of Darjeeling
Historically, Darjeeling was part of Sikkim and the Kingdom of Sikkim extended as far as eastern Nepal.
However, the late 1700s saw a barrage of attacks from Nepal resulting in Darjeeling becoming a part of Nepal.
This changed in 1814 when the British East India Company declared war with Nepal due to border disputes.
The victorious British forced the Nepalese to cede 4,000 square miles (10,000 km²) of territory through a treaty signed at Segouli at the end of 1816. The Rajah (King) of Sikkim was reinstated making Sikkim (including Darjeeling) a buffer state between Nepal and Bhutan.
Ten years after the treaty, fresh dispute broke out and the Governor General William Bentick sent two officers – Captain Lloyd and Mr. J.W. Grant, Commercial Resident of Malda to restore normalcy. The two officers found Darjeeling to be a suitable to establish a “sanitarium” (a type of health resort) and the strategic location of Darjeeling as a gateway to
Nepal and Bhutan was an added bonus.
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