Long before Kalimpong was a town, the hills around Pedong belonged to a Lepcha kingdom with its seat at Damsang. Its best-remembered ruler was Gaeboo Achyuk, also written Gyalpo Ajok, who lived in the late seventeenth century. Lepchas remember him as a king who united their people across a wide stretch of the hills.
His kingdom sat between powerful neighbours. Achyuk allied with Tibet against Bhutan, and in a war in the late 1670s he captured a Bhutanese outpost at Dalingkot. The Bhutanese took it back and later executed him. After that, the Kalimpong hills came under Bhutanese rule, which lasted until the British annexed them in 1865.
The stone ruins of his fort still stand on a ridge near Pedong. Local stories say spirits helped carry the great round stones up from the Reshi river, that tunnels and treasure lie hidden beneath, and that Bhutanese visitors once feared the place. These are tales handed down over generations, told with relish by local guides.
Every year on 20 December, Lepchas from Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim gather at Damsang to mark Gaeboo Achyuk's birthday with prayers, speeches and songs. From Sillery Gaon the fort is a short drive and walk away.
Sources
- Jelep La (Wikipedia, history section)
- Algarah (Wikipedia, history section)
- Lepcha people (Wikipedia)
- Told locally in Pedong and Sillery Gaon
Legends are retold differently from village to village. Where a story is told locally rather than written down, we say so.
