Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/214

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102 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — SIKKIM

to Duzdap on the Persian border, and also a short line from Khanai toHindu- bagh, a distance of about 45 miles, were completed in 1917.

There is a complete and frequent postal service in British and adminis- tered territory, extending to Kalat and through Duzdapto Seistan andMeshed.

A network of telegraph wires covers the north-eastern portion of the Province and extends to Kalat, and westwards via. Nushki to Killa Robat. where it connects with the Indo-European system, while a further line laid down in 1907 connects India with Persia and Europe, via Las Bela, Panjgur, and Nok Kundi.

Agent to Governor- General in Batechistdn. — The Hon. Lieut. -Colonel A. B. Dew, C.S.I., CLE.

Works of Reference.

The Administration Report of the Baluchistan Agency. Annual. Calcutta.

Accounts relating to the Trade by Land of British India with Foreign Countries. Annual. Calcutta.

Census of India, 1911. Baluchistan.

Aitchison's Treaties.

The District Gazetteers of Baluchistan.

Floyer (E. A.), Unexplored Baluchistan. London, 1882.

Holdich(8\T T. H.), The Indian Borderland. London, 1901.

Hughes (A. W.), The Country of Baluchistan. London, 1877.

MacQregor (Sir C), Wanderings in Baluchistan. London, 1882.

MeLeod Innes (General J. J.), Life and Times of General Sir James Browne. London, 1905.

McMahon (Sir A. H.) and Holdich (Sir T. H.), Papers on the North-Western Border- lands of Baluchistan in ' Geographical Journal.' Vol. ix. pp. 392-416. London, 1897.

Oliver (E. E.), Across the Border, or Pathanand Baluch. London, 1891.

Bonaldshay (Earl of), Sport and Politics under an Eastern Sky. Edinburgh, 1902.

Thornton (T. H.), Life of Colonel Sir B. Sandeman. London, 1895.

SIKKIM.

An Indian State in the Himalayas, bounded on the N. by Tibet, on the E. by the Tibetan district of Chumbi, and by Bhutan, on the S. by the British district of Darjiling, and on the W. by Nepal. Extreme length from N. to S. 70 miles ; extreme breadth, 50 miles ; area, 2,818 square miles.

In March, 1890, a treaty was signed by the Viceroy of India and the Chinese representative, by which the British protectorate over Sikkim is recog- nised by China. The British Government hts direct and exclusive control over the foreign relations. The present Maharaja is H.H. Tashi Namoyai.,. CLE., who succeeded on December 5, 1914. His Highness and the mem- bers of the Council carry on the administration, full powers having been granted to him in April, 1918.

Population in 1911, 87,920. The inhabitants are Bliutias, Lepehai-, and Nepalese, the last-named being now the most numerous. Principal towns are Gangtok, the capital, Rhenok, Pakyong, Rangpo, Laclnn. and Lachung. The State religion is Buddhism, but the majority of the people arc Hindu.

The gross revenue is about 37,0002. per year. The landlords exeiuise a limited jurisdiction within their districts; important cases being referred to the Sikkim chief court.

Sikkim produces rice, Indian corn, and other millets, cardamoms, oranges, apples, and woollen cloth. Fruit gardens are maintained by the State. There are extensive forests in the State and wide tracts of unoccupied waste. The principal trade route from Bengal to Tibet passes