Gangtok
Princely state capital, 1894–1947
गान्तोक
Today Gangtok, Sikkim, India. Same place, same name.
Key facts
- Historical name
- Gangtok
- Type
- Princely state capital
- Coordinates
- 27.3300° N, 88.6200° E(seed dataset)
- Governance
- Princely state
- Record confidence
- Medium confidence
- Identifiers
- Q186141
A princely state under a subsidiary alliance with the British Crown. Ruled by an Indian monarch and not part of British India in the statutory sense, though part of the wider Indian Empire.
Location
Pin placed at the coordinates recorded for this place. Colonial-era boundaries are not drawn.
Description
Capital of the Himalayan protected state of Sikkim from 1894, on the trade route from Bengal to Tibet.
Historical notes
Sikkim became a British protectorate under the Treaty of Tumlong (1861); the Younghusband mission to Tibet (1903-04) passed through, and the Nathu La trade route ran via Gangtok. Sikkim joined India in 1975.
Administrative history
Administrative parenthood changed over time. Each row states the years it is recorded for, and the source it comes from.
| Years | Relation | Unit | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| from 1901 | Part of | SikkimPrincely state · Princely stateSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | Medium confidencesource |
| from 1901 | Capital of | SikkimPrincely state · Princely stateSnapshot from the 1901 census and the Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31). End of the relationship not established; recorded as open rather than inferred. | Medium confidencesource |
Recorded names
Every documented spelling and transliteration held for this place. The historical name is canonical; modern names redirect to it.
| Name | Script | Type | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gangtok | Latin | Historical English | — |
| गान्तोक | Devanagari | Indigenous | — |
Records and references
- Imperial Gazetteer of India
- Imperial Gazetteer of India (1908-31), Vol. XII (12)
Sources
- Database· identityCC0
Wikidata (Q186141), Wikimedia Foundation
Wikidata, CC0 1.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Encyclopedia· generalCC BY-SA
Wikipedia: Gangtok, Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0
Retrieved 2026-08-29
- Gazetteer· administrativeLicence unverified
Digital South Asia Library, University of Chicago — the 1908–31 text is public domain, but DSAL's digital presentation states no licence; link-out only
Retrieved 2026-08-29
Sources tagged “Licence unverified” are linked to rather than reproduced. Scans and images are only displayed inline where the licence is confirmed permissive.