The Hidden Ancestral Land of the Lepchas

An Abstract: Lepchas consider themselves to be the original inhabitants of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim. As a community their history have been marginalized by hordes of migration that took place since the early seventeenth century with the arrival of the Tibetans. Later in the eighteenth century the Gorkhas conquered large chunks of lands inhabited by the Lepchas. Advent of the British led to colonization of their lands and resources. Colonial development policies and migration at the behest of the colonial state uprooted the Lepchas from their natural moorings, impacted their demography, which culminated to their marginalized existence. Subsequently, they came to be categorized as a ‘dying race’ or a ‘vanishing tribe’ in colonial parlance. With the introduction of Buddhism, advent of Christianity, demographic changes and introduction of education, the term ‘vanishing tribe’ has been internalized by the community themselves. The fear of being vanished has led certain intellectuals, scholars and activists from within the community to search for their roots, their sacred motherland Mayel Lyang. The penetration of global capitalism and modern developmental initiatives, Lepchas believe, have defiled and threatened their sacred landscape. The arrival and intrusion into their land by outsiders have made Lepchas learn to value their ancestral land, to which Lepchas owe their very existence. The present work will attempt to give an account of the Lepcha conception of Mayel Lyang, which can be corroborated from their folk tales, folklores and oral narratives, that bears the imprint of their culture, their collective consciousness or in other words their very identity. It will also take into account the various historical developments that followed including the modern cartographic exercises at the behest of colonial administrators which eventually made them lose their claim to Mayel Lyang. In the post-independence period, the anti- dam movement that reverberated throughout Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kalimpong made the Lepchas value their ancestral land.