history of sikhim and its eulees. 27 



Population, Tribes, and Chief Families of Sikhim. 



A census taken in Sikhim in February 1891 roughly divides the 

 population as follows : — 



Of the above, the Limbus, Gurungs, Murmis, Khambus, and Mangars 

 are more or less allied, while the others, excepting the Lepeha and 

 Bhutea, are later immigrants from beyond the Arun in Nepal : thus, 

 roughly speaking, it may be said that there are three main stocks in 

 Sikhim : — 



the oldest and perhaps aboriginal inhabitants of Sikhim were 

 the "Rong," or, as we know them from their Nepalese 

 title, " the Lepchas;"* 

 the next in importance, if not in antiquity, come the Kham-pa 

 or Kham-ba, the immigrants from the Tibetan province of 

 Khams ; commonly called Bhuteas ; 

 while the Sikhim Limbus rank as last and least: these belong 

 to what Mr. Risley styles the Lhasa Gotra, as they are 

 believed to have migrated to Sikhim from Shigatsi, P^nam, 

 Norpu, Khyongtse, Samdubling, and Gyangtse, places in 

 the Tibetan province of Tsang, south of the Tsanpo. 

 All the families in Sikhim belong to one or other of these strains, 

 or to an admixture of them, as intermarriages are allowed. 



* Dr. Waddell in a separate article has shown that the Lepchas are probably Indo- 

 Chinese cognate with the tribes of the Naga Hills, and entered the Sub- Himalayas »id the 

 Assam valley. 



