Lepcha-Bhutia Relations in Sikkim from mid-Seventeenth Century to mid-Nineteenth Century: A Study of its Historiography

Abstract

A study of historiography of an incident, in the sense that it is the history of history of the incident induces a new dimension in the discourse. The centrality of the study is shifted from narratives to synchronicity and dia-chronicity and to ideology and culture. Taking the example of Lepcha-Bhutia relations in Sikkim which has meandered through both cordiality and discord I propose to argue in the following pages that the historical construction is not singular.