[10] According to legend, Khye Bumsa, a 14th-century prince from the Minyak House in Kham in eastern Tibet, received a divine revelation instructing him to travel south to seek his fortunes.

[citation needed] The Nepalese then attacked Sikkim, overrunning most of the region including the Terai.

This prompted the British East India Company to attack Nepal in 1814, resulting in the Anglo-Nepalese War.

[13] After disarming the palace, a referendum on the monarchy was held under questionable circumstances, in which the Sikkimese people supposedly overwhelmingly voted to abolish the monarchy, and the new parliament of Sikkim, led by Kazi Lhendup Dorjee, proposed a bill for Sikkim to become an Indian state, which was promptly accepted by the Government of India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

[13][16] In culture and religion, Sikkim was linked closely with Tibet, from which its first king migrated, and Bhutan, with which it shares borders.