Told in the hills
Damsang and the road to Jelep La
Lepcha tradition holds that the Lepcha chief Gaeboo Achyok built Damsang Fort on a ridge near Algarah around 1690, to resist the Bhutanese who were pushing into the hills east of the Teesta. Oral histories tell that stones were carried up from the Reshi river, and that Achyok was finally killed by treachery. Bhutan held the area for the next century and a half, and Damsang was later used against the forces of the East India Company. It fell into ruin after the Duar War of 1864–65.
When Bhutan ceded the Kalimpong tract under the Treaty of Sinchula in 1865, Algarah found a new role. It lay on the trade route from Kalimpong to Jelep La, the pass into Tibet's Chumbi Valley, and caravans of mules loaded with wool, furs and yak tails passed through its bazaar for nearly a century. The trade ended after the 1962 war closed the pass. Every 20 December, Lepchas from Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim still gather at Damsang to remember Gaeboo Achyok.
Pinned to the board
Did you know
Algarah is the headquarters of the Lava community development block of Kalimpong district.
Lepchas from Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Sikkim gather at Damsang Fort near Algarah every 20 December to mark the birthday of Gaeboo Achyok.
Algarah lies on the historical trade route from Kalimpong to Tibet via the Jelep La pass, which closed after the 1962 India–China war.
