Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal

Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal (Sikkimese: སྲིད་སཀྱོང་སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; Wylie: srid skyong sprul sku rnam rgyal) (1879–5 December 1914) was the ruling Maharaja and Chogyal of Sikkim for a brief period in 1914, from 10 February to 5 December.

This article is about the Sikkim leader in 1914. For the king of Sikkim from 1863 to 1874, see Sidkeong Namgyal.

Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal
Sidkeong Tulku
Chogyal of Sikkim
Reign11 February 1914 – 5 December 1914
PredecessorThutob Namgyal
SuccessorTashi Namgyal
Born1879
Died(1914-12-05)5 December 1914 (34–35)
Gangtok, Sikkim
HouseNamgyal dynasty
FatherThutob Namgyal
MotherMaharani Pending
ReligionBuddhism
The 13th Dalai Lama, Sir Charles Bell (both seated) and Maharaj Kumar Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal (standing between the other two) pose for photograph, 1910, Calcutta.

Biography

He was the second son of Maharaja Sri Panch Sir Thutob Namgyal, and was educated at St. Paul's School, Darjeeling and at Pembroke College, Oxford. A polyglot, he was learned in Chinese, English, Hindi, Lepcha, Nepali and Tibetan.

He was recognised as the reincarnation (tulku) of his uncle, Sidkeong Namgyal, the abbot of Phodong Monastery.[1] Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal reconstructed the monastery.[2]

After his education in Oxford, he returned to Sikkim where he was closely associated with the administration of the country. He worked to dissolve the greed that occurs in vested interests and tried to unify Buddhists by renovating monasteries and their roles.[3]

He engaged to Burmese HRH Princess Hteiktin Ma Lat, a daughter of Prince Limbin. In 1912, he chose to marry Princess Ma Lat and set the wedding for 24 January 1915 in Rangoon. But he died.[4]

When Alexandra David-Néel was invited to the royal monastery of Sikkim, she met Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, at that time Maharaj Kumar (crown prince). She became Sidkeong's "confidante and spiritual sister",[5] Following an attack of jaundice, Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal died of heart failure on 5 December 1914, aged 35, in most suspicious circumstances.[6][7] He was succeeded by his younger brother, Tashi Namgyal.

Palden Thondup Namgyal was subsequently recognised as the reincarnate leader of Phodong.[8]

Titles
  • 1879 - 1899: Prince Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal
  • 1899 - 1911: Maharajkumar Sri Panch Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal
  • 1911 - 1914: Maharajkumar Sri Panch Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, CIE
  • 1914: His Highness Sri Panch Sikeong Tulku Namgyal, Maharaja Chogyal of Sikkim, CIE

Honours

British Empire

Ancestry

Notes
  1. Mahendra P. Lama, Sikkim: society, polity, economy, environment
  2. Kuldip Singh Gulia, Mountains of the God
  3. H. G. Joshi, Sikkim: past and present, Mittal Publications, 2004, ISBN 81-7099-932-4, ISBN 978-81-7099-932-4
  4. "A Royal Proposal of Marriage". Endangered archives blog. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  5. Middleton, Ruth (1989). Alexandra David-Neel. Boston, Shambhala. ISBN 1-57062-600-6.
  6. Patrick French, Younghusband: the last great imperial adventurer
  7. Earle Rice, Alexandra David-Neel: Explorer at the Roof of the World, Infobase Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7910-7715-2, ISBN 978-0-7910-7715-3, p. 51
  8. Lawrence Epstein, Richard Sherburne, Reflections on Tibetan culture: essays in memory of Turrell V. Wylie, E. Mellen Press, 1990; ISBN 0-88946-064-7, ISBN 978-0-88946-064-5; p. 61
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References

Media related to Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal at Wikimedia Commons

Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal
Born: 1879 Died: 5 December 1914
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Thutob Namgyal		 Chogyal of Sikkim
11 February 1914 – 5 December 1914		 Succeeded by
Tashi Namgyal
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