Charles Alfred Bell: The Second British Political Officer of Sikkim

C A Bell -The second Political Officer of Sikkim

Charles Alfred Bell was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) India, on 31 October 1870 - the son of Henry Bell of the Indian Civil Service (ICS). He was Educated at Winchester school and New College, Oxford. After accomplishing his studies, Charles also joined the ICS in 1891 and spent the next nine years in various posts in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, before being transferred to Darjeeling in 1900. It was in Darjeeling; Bell came to be familiar with the Tibetans settled there and began to learn their language. His devotion towards the Tibetan language leads to the publication of his first book, A Manual of Colloquial Tibetan, a two-part grammar-phrase book and dictionary in 1905.

Gangtok British Residency picture taken by C A Bell

 Apart from a Tibetan scholar, Bell also had a passion of photography. During his stay in Tibet, he has taken many photographs related to the daily lives of the Tibetans, which are greatly helpful for the study of Tibetan culture and civilization. In 1904-5 he was put in charge of administration of the Chumbi Valley, which had been temporarily ceded by Tibet to Britain under the terms of the Younghusband Mission. It has to be mentioned here, the Chumbi valley was once a part of Sikkim which was later transferred to Tibet after the Anglo-Chinese convention.

After the retirement of Sir James Claude White, Charles Bell was appointed as the Political Officer of Sikkim in 1908. The most momentous event during Bell's tenure as Political Officer was meeting the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1910. Due to the political hostility between the Chinese and the Tibetans his Holiness the 13^th Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet and he sought refuge in Sikkim. As Political Officer of Sikkim, Bell provided necessary assistance to his Holiness during his exile. The two formed an intimate and lasting friendship, which later proved objectionable to the British in their future negotiations and dealings with Tibet after the Dalai Lama's return to Lhasa in June 1912.

Bell continued as Political Officer for Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet until 1918. During this time he continued his communications with the 13th Dalai Lama and advised him on the modernization policies he was developing for Tibet. Bell was widely acknowledged in British circles as the primary authority on Tibetan matters at this time.

Sky burial in Tibet Pic. C A Bell

After 1918 Bell took leave from the Civil Service and devoted himself to the study of Tibet, spending the next two years in Darjeeling. Although for many years he had an open invitation from the 13th Dalai Lama to visit Lhasa, the British Government did not allow him to do so. In 1920 Bell was finally given Government permission to visit the Tibetan capital as part of a diplomatic mission, arriving in Lhasa on 17 November. Bell's role was to advise the Tibetans on foreign policy. "The Dalai Lama showed his more than friendly intentions by receiving Sir Bell, at the very first interview, informally, sitting with him at a small table in his private apartment, with no witness present.

Nepalese in Lhasa Pic. Charles Bell 

Bell remained in Lhasa for the best part of a year. After his return, in 1921, he left the ICS and applied himself to writing about Tibet. In his retirement, Bell published several books on Tibetan culture and history - Tibet: Past and Present (1920), followed by The People of Tibet (1928), and The Religion of Tibet (1931). Bell also continued his personal correspondence with the Dalai Lama.

In 1934 Bell returned to Tibet once again and this time with his wife, Cashie. Unfortunately he was too late to meet his old friend again, for the 13 th Dalai Lama had passed away in December 1933. Bell continued his travels in Central Asia during the next few years visiting Mongolia, Manchuria and Siberia. Fittingly, Bell's final work was a result of the strong bond that he had formed with the 13 th Dalai Lama since their first meeting in 1910. The book, Portrait of the Dalai Lama, was completed only a few days before his death in Canada (where he had recently migrated) on 8 March 1945.

Picture of Rabden Lepcha who accompanied Bell during his visit to Lhasa 

Sir Charles Bell was probably the most influential British officer to serve in Tibet. He set the groundwork for Anglo-Tibetan relations, and his visit to Lhasa in1920 paved the way for subsequent British officials to travel to Tibet. Bell's strength lay in the way he was able to immerse himself in Tibetan culture and language, becoming, in his own words, "in a large measure Tibetanised". This earned him the respect and acceptance of the many Tibetans. As one Tibetan official "When a European is with us Tibetans I feel that he is a European and we are Tibetans; but when Lonchen Bell is with us, I feel that we are all Tibetans together".

The above article is compiled by Claire Freeman, Curatorial Assistant, Pitt Rivers Museum (Emphasis added) http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/tibet_Charles_Bell.html. The photographs with this post bears copyright of Pitt Rivers Museum University of Oxford. 

Revenue System of Sikkim and the Royal Declaration of Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal of 7th June 1957

 The taxation system in Sikkim dates back to 1730’s. It was started after the appointment of Rabden Sarpa by the Tibetan Government as a regent to Namgyal Phuntsog (1733-1780) the Fifth ruler of Sikkim. The said regent began to collect taxes from all of the Sikkimese subjects like the Rongs, Tsongs Magars and the Bhutias. The form of taxes includes granules, maize, millet, local beer etc.

Bhutia and Lepcha version of the Declaration

The collection of taxes in the form of cash or kind was commenced in Sikkim after the advent of the Nepalese. Few tribes of this community were already residing on the western part of the Sikkimese territory which was taken over by them on their march towards Sikkim in 1789. During their endeavor, the Gurkhas annexed the territories of Sikkim up to Teesta River. For nearly 25 years, Pemayangtse and all the South and West of Teesta tract paid their rent to Nepal until, they were expelled by the British in 1815.

It was during the reign of Sidkeong Namgyal (1863-1874) the Patta for the Nepalese were issued whereby they began to possess land for the Thika or contracts. Those pattas were initially issued only for few influential Nepalese like Taksari Chandra Bir Pradhan and Lakshmi Das Pradhan. The Newar brothers began to bring bands of the Nepalese from Nepal to work at the barren lands of Sikkim as the tenants. During Sir Thotub Namgyal’s reign, few Sikkimese Kazis like Tseepa Lama settled Nepalese in Chakhung for his personal benefits. His example was soon followed by Lasso Athing, Phodang Lama and Khangsa Dewan. The only motive of those Kazis in the bringing the Nepalese into Sikkim was to fill their treasuries. They (the Kazis and the Nepali Thikadars) made a rampant taxation among those browbeaten new comers for their individual gains. Further, the Lepchas and the Bhutias were also not spare from paying taxes by them in their materialistic ventures.  

With the appointment of J C White as the Political Officer in 1889, Sikkim witnessed his self styled Zamindari System. A number of Lessee Landlords were created throughout Sikkim with untold powers to mortgage or to confiscate the lands of the innocent peasants. Further, with the help of his Sikkimese protégés Claude White board upon a policy of obliterating the ancient economy of Sikkim. This paved a way for the birth of Kaziism, Thikadari system, and all the other forced labours like Kuruwa, Kalobhari, Jharlangi, Theki-Bethi, Ghar-Lauri etc.

The accession of Sridgkyong Trulku (February 1914- December 1914) as the tenth ruler of Sikkim was indeed the enlightened epoch of the History of Sikkim. Even before his coronation, he made an order in 1913, to abolish the imprisonment as a penalty for non-payment of debts. But most unfortunately, he could not adopt a new revenue system in Sikkim due to his premature death.

The taxation system has observed a colossal change during its Reformist Ruler Sir Tashi Namgyal (1914-1963). He became active after the withdrawal of the British from India for an all round development of his Kingdom. No doubt, he made many reforms in the judiciary during the hegemony of the British. But, the task of eliminating the forced labour and taxation were done only after the departure of the Colonial Government from India. A trigonomic survey of all lands in his dominion was made and the land assessed to the peasants according to this survey. He realized doing away with the previous system of assessing rent based on approximation of the quality of seeds required for a piece of land in 1958.

The Declaration of 7th June 1957 was written in three major languages of  Independent Sikkim. 

This document pasted here with this post belongs to the same year when the Declaration was made by His Highness Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal to eliminate the previous form of revenue system. The earlier page of this document is lost but still we can get an idea about the various provisions integrated into the Declaration. This document reveals the fact that on 30^th of August 1956 the Maharaja had set up a Committee about the imposition of the new lenient taxation among his subjects. Clause (3) of the Declaration has focused on the deduction of 50% of the tax from the Sikkimese Subjects. It is said in the document that while implementing such taxation system His Highness has taken two major aspects into consideration and they are- (A) The Economic condition of the Durbar (B) The arrangement of money for the constructive schemes among the Subjects. Clause No (4) of this Declaration deals with the new taxation system implemented after 1958 according to this a Nepali peasant had to pay Rs. 4 and 4 Aanas for one acre of Pani Kheti (Paddy Field). Similarly, a Bhutia or a Lepcha had to pay 3 Rs. and 6 Aanas for the same tract of land. Further, for the possession of a Sukha (dry) Land a Nepali peasant had to pay 1 Rs and 14 Annas per Acre. Likewise, a Bhutia or a Lepcha had to pay 1 Rs. and 3 Annas for an acre of Dry Land.

Thus, the history of taxation system in Sikkim has come across many monopolistic phases. Though, few attempts were made by the Sikkimese rulers to reframe the cartelistic taxation system but, their attempts went futile due to the immense pressure from the Political Officers. It was only due to the enlightened ideas of Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal; the Sikkimese peasants remained able to enjoy the relaxed taxation policy.    

The document was printed at Durbar Press Gangtok and was published by its coordinator. The stamp of a Tahsildar suggests that it was issued to the commoners by the Office of the Tehsildar. I am grateful to Mr. B.B Lohrung Rai of Namchi Kazitar for sharing this piece of information with me. 

Frederick Williamson- An I C S by Service and a Photographer by Passion

Photograph taken by Williamson Prince Paljor is standing in front of  C E Dudley
Picture Source Digital Himalaya

Frederick Williamson was the Eighth British Political Officer of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet in the 1930s. A part from a steward diplomat posted in the buffer zone of Sikkim, Williamson was also a passionate photographer. He has taken a number of pictures of Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan (three Himalayan Kingdoms) during his stay at Gangtok as a British Political Officer. Between December 1930-August 1935, he and his wife, Margaret Williamson, shot approximately 1700 photographs throughout the Himalayan region. As well as documenting the Williamsons' personal travels, the photos provide an unusually well-preserved and well-catalogued insight into social life in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet during the 1930s [Source: www.digitalhimalaya.com] His photographs resembles the social, political, cultural and economic aspects of then Sikkim and its immediate neighbors which are mostly confined in travelogues and writings of the scholars. The most important picture taken by him includes the family photographs of Sikkim Royals in which young pilot prince of Sikkim Paljor Namgyal is standing with the other member of the Royal House. A part from this rare picture, almost all the photography of Williamson like plays an imperative part for the study of pre Second World War Sikkim. The Williamson Photographic Collection is housed in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University and a recent exhibition entitled Collected Sights featured a number of Williamson's photos. Of equal interest are the 23 reels of 16mm cine film which Williamson shot while in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. (Source www.digitalhimalaya.com ) The passionate photographer and a gigantic diplomat Frederick Williamson died in Lhasa in 1936.

Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal and Maharani Kunzang Deechen of Sikkim and Mrs. Dudley
Pic. Source: Digital Himalaya