Palden Thondup Namgyal

Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Palden Thondup Namgyal Template:Post-nominals (Sikkimese: Template:Bo-textonly; Wylie: dpal-ldan don-grub rnam-rgyal; 23 May 1923 – 29 January 1982) was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of the Kingdom of Sikkim.

Biography

Palden thondup Namgyal was born on 23 May 1923 at the Royal Palace, Park Ridge, Gangtok.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

At six, he became a student at St. Joseph's Convent in Kalimpong,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but had to terminate his studies due to attacks of malaria.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> From age eight to eleven he studied under his uncle, Rimpoche Lhatsun, in order to be ordained a Buddhist monk; he was subsequently recognised as the reincarnated leader of both Phodong and Rumtek monasteries.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He later continued his studies at St. Joseph's College in Darjeeling and finally graduated from Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, in 1941.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His plans to study science at Cambridge were dashed when his elder brother, the crown prince, a member of the Indian Air Force was killed in a plane crash in 1941.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He underwent training for Indian Civil Service at Dehradun I.C.S. Camp.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Namgyal served as adviser for internal affairs for his father, Sir Tashi Namgyal, the 11th Chogyal, and led the negotiating team which established Sikkim's relationship to India after independence in 1949.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He married Samyo Kushoe Sangideki in 1950, a daughter of an important Tibetan family of Lhasa,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and together they had two sons and a daughter. Samyo Kushoe Sangideki died in 1957.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1963, Namgyal married Hope Cooke, a 22-year-old American socialite from New York City;<ref>"Invitation card for the marriage of Palden Thondup Namgyal and Hope Cooke Namgyal (Gyalmo), 20 Mar 1963". Marriage of Palden Thondup Namgyal and Hope Cooke Namgyal (Gyalmo), British Library, EAP 880/1/5/52. Gangtok. 1963. p. 39. Retrieved 30 September 2022.</ref> she was a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers in the state of New York.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The marriage brought worldwide media attention to Sikkim. The couple, who had two children, divorced in 1980.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shortly after Namgyal's marriage, his father died and he was crowned the new Chogyal on an astrologically favourable date in 1965.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1975Template:Explain, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India.

In April of that year, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal's palace guards. A referendum on abolishing the monarchy was held in the Kingdom of Sikkim on 14 April 1975 and the people of Sikkim voted 59,637 to 1,496 for Indian statehood and the ouster of their Chogyal, or ruler, Palden Thondup Namgyal, who was under Indian army guard in his palace in Gangtok.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In November 1976, Namgyal allegedly attempted suicide by consuming barbiturates and was airlifted to IPGMER and SSKM Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was successfully treated by Professor Dr. Amal Kumar Bose, Head of the Department of Anesthesia and Respiratory Care Unit at the SSKM hospital.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Namgyal died of cancer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, United States on 29 January 1982. He was 58 years old at the time of his death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Upon his death, 31 members of the State Legislative Assembly offered khadas to the Chogyal as a mark of respect.

Other interests

Namgyal was an amateur radio operator, call-sign AC3PT, and was a highly sought after contact on the airwaves.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The international callbook listed his address as: P.T. Namgyal, The Palace, Gangtok, Sikkim.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He financed the documentary Sikkim (1971) by Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

Namgyal shaped a "model Asian state" where the literacy rate and per capita income were twice as high as neighbours Nepal, Bhutan and India.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

His first son, the former crown prince Tenzing Kunzang Jigme Namgyal, died in 1978 in a car accident.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His second son from his first marriage, Tobgyal Wangchuk Tenzing Namgyal, was named the 13th Chogyal, but the position no longer confers any official authority.

His son from his second marriage, Palden Gyurmed Namgyal, moved to New York aged nine with his mother and sister, being educated at Dalton School. He would go on to work for JPMorgan Chase, becoming a managing director. He was dismissed in 2003 following an incident of sexual harassment against a colleague.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>