Cite
MLA
“The reverse at Rinchenpong.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/rinchenpong-1860/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). The reverse at Rinchenpong. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/rinchenpong-1860/
The small British force that occupied Rinchenpong was attacked and fell back to Darjeeling, which led to the larger expedition of 1861.
01Darjeeling and the Sikkim darbar
Sikkim had granted the Darjeeling hill to the Company in 1835, and relations soured from then on. In 1849 Dr Archibald Campbell, the Superintendent of Darjeeling, and the botanist Joseph Hooker were seized while travelling in Sikkim, and the British annexed the Sikkim Terai in reprisal. The Dewan Namguay, the most powerful man at the court, was blamed for that and for later raids and kidnappings across the border. In November 1860 Campbell crossed the Rammam river with a small force to press British demands.
02Retreat and the treaty of 1861
The force under Captain Murray reached Rinchenpong, the ridge above the monastery country of West Sikkim, and held it for a while. The Sikkimese gathered round it and attacked, and the British, short of men and supplies, fell back to Darjeeling. The setback was answered in early 1861. A stronger column under Colonel Gawler, with Ashley Eden as envoy, marched to Tumlong, the capital, and on 28 March 1861 the Treaty of Tumlong was signed. Namguay was banished and Sikkim came under British protection.
A minor repulse, but it set off the march to Tumlong and the treaty that made Sikkim a British protectorate until 1947.
