DEMOGRAPHIC STATUS AND POSITION OF BHUTIA’S IN SIK-KIM

Abstract

The study of demographic pattern of any society is important as it allows us to understand the nature in which our population changes over time and leaves its impact in the changing socio-economic and political scenario. Sikkimese society can be described as multi-ethnic segmented society which is an attribute of tribal social formation and not a multi-caste hierarchical society found in other parts of India.  Historically, Sikkim was predominantly ruled by the Bhutia’s, migrated from Tibet since 13th century. With time, the status and position of Bhutia’s in Sikkim underwent  great changes. The paper is an attempt to study the demographic status of Bhutia’s in Sikkim. As  per the census record Bhutia’s were the largest community in Sikkim in early years. However, consequent changes occurred with the increase of migrated  population in Sikkim, which became  threat to the long existing position of Bhutia’s as the dominant community.  The paper relies on the available population census records for studying the demographic profile of communities in Sikkim. It is seen that the population of Sikkim has consistently increased. It is found out that there has been not much progress in Bhutia population as compared to population of the state.