Author:

Dr. Chhawang Subba
Assistant Professor
Department of History
University of Gour Banga
Malda,West Bengal,India

Email: csubba0082@gmail.com

Abstract::Abstract: Darjeeling district is one of the few places in India where diverse ethnic, religious,
linguistic and culturally different people and community lived in cooperation and harmony since
decades. Basically, Lepchas and Limbus are regarded as the natives of Darjeeling hills, with their
kingdom sometimes touching the boundaries of Punrea in Bihar. Gradually, the demographic pattern
of Darjeeling changed and Nepali speaking people became dominant and majority in numbers. With
this, the fluctuation in the population growth had been noticed in Darjeeling. This growth has become
more rapid from the second half of the twentieth century. The annexation of Siliguri and the inclusion
of Kalimpong to Darjeeling in 1860s paved the way for other communities to register their presence
in the area. After the year 1961, a huge number of Buddhists began to settle in various areas of
Darjeeling hills, while in the plains of Siliguri, the number of Bengali speaking people abruptly rose
especially after the Partition in 1947. All these changes in demographic pattern had significantly
affected the ethno-religious and cultural landscape of Darjeeling district. This seminar paper tends to
find those changes and its consequences in the society and culture of Darjeeling.

Key Words::Darjeeling, Demography, Native People, Migration, Re-settlement etc.