Damsang Fort, located about an hour from Kalimpong, is one of the last surviving markers of the 17th-century Lepcha kingdom. Strategically positioned above Pedong and commanding a view of the forested tracts stretching north towards the Tibetan frontier, the fort is closely associated with the Lepcha chieftain Gaeboo Achyok, whose leadership symbolized resilience in a turbulent era. As historian John Ardussi notes, “It was he who led a valiant attempt during the second half of the 17th century to assert the authority of the Lepcha people over their ancestral lands in the region of modern Kalimpong and the hill country near South-West Bhutan.”
The political landscape of the eastern Himalayas underwent dramatic change after Tibet’s invasion of Bhutan in 1668. Bhutan, governed by the Drukpa Kagyudpa School of Buddhism, found itself in direct conflict with the Gelugpa administration of the 5th Dalai Lama, which considered Bhutan to be within its sphere of influence. Sikkim, though aligned with the Nyingmapa tradition, supported Tibet during this period. Its first Chogyal, Phuntsho Namgyal, became a patron of the Dalai Lama, placing Sikkim in opposition to Bhutan.
To understand the roots of this conflict, one must look back to the decades preceding 1668. Much of the surviving information comes from the biography of Kunchok Gyaltshan, a monk of the Barawa sect, described by Ardussi as a branch of the Drukpa School not aligned with the Bhutanese Zhabdrung Rinpoche.
In 1634, Kunchok Gyaltshan was expelled from Bhutan and travelled to the regions around present-day Kalimpong and eastern Sikkim. There he established several small monasteries, which soon flourished. The communities that gathered around these institutions consisted largely of people the Tibetans referred to as Mon-Pa—the Lepchas and the Bhutanese.
After spending many years at Damsang, Kunchok Gyaltshan left for Tibet, returning only in 1663. By then, significant changes had taken place. Bhutanese monks had taken control of the area, and a new Lepcha leader known as Amchok, referred to in Tibetan sources as Monpa Amchok, had risen to prominence. Ardussi identifies this figure as none other than Gaeboo Achyok.
Following Kunchok Gyaltshan’s departure, tensions in the region escalated rapidly. The Lepchas came under increasing pressure from the Bhutanese, who had entrenched themselves in the border fortress of Daling (or Dalingkha). It was during Gaeboo Achyok’s effort to reclaim Daling Fort that he lost his life, marking a defining moment in the Lepcha struggle of the 17th century.
By,
S. K. Ghising
References,
1. John Ardussi, Lepcha Chieftains of the 17th-18th centuries, based on Tibetan and Bhutanese sources, Journal of Bhutan Studies, 2020.
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