Gaeboo Achyok () or Gyalpo Ajok () was a Lepcha chieftain of a principality based at Damsang, presently in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal, India.
Achyok faced active threats from Bhutan and formed an alliance with Tibet; the conflict resulted in several wars until Achyok was captured at Daling and executed.
Name
Achyok is a Lepcha name, which is more accurately transliterated as áchúk. The Tibetan spelling — — can be variously transliterated as "Achuk", "Achok", "Achog", and "Ajok". Some Tibetan and Bhutanese sources also use the spelling "Amchok".
Honorific
Lepchas honor him with Gyebú, translating to "great". The Tibetans refer to him as a Gyalpo, meaning "king". In contrast, the Bhutanese address him as a Monpa (low-lander), regarding him as their rebel-subject.
Historical context
The region consisting of present-day Sikkim, Chumbi Valley and western Bhutan was largely a frontier territory since early seventeenth century. Not held by any major power, its primary inhabitants were Indian tribes, Lepchas and Bhutias.
In the early 17th century, Tibetans started to immigrate and settle in the region due to a variety of causes including sectarian persecution. In 1642, the royal house of Chogyals was founded in Western Sikkim, ostensibly as an alliance between Lepchas and these immigrants. Around the same time, the Bhutanese state was getting unified under Ngawang Namgyal and would enter into a protracted conflict with an expansionist Tibet — the first war was fought in late 1650s, which the Tibetans lost comprehensively.
Biography
Rise to power
The first mention of Gaeebo Achyok is found in the biography of Kunchok Gyaltshan. C. 1634, Kunchok Gyaltshan, a Tibetan monk of the Barawa sect was exiled from Bhutan along with his followers for not supporting the Namgyal regime. He went on to settle in Damsang — a strategic location on a ridge overlooking the Rhenock valley and the Jelep La route to Tibet. Gyaltshan constructed several small monasteries in and around the region; he is said to have received all necessary approvals from the Chogyals.
In the meanwhile, Bhutan's religio-military assault kept on the rise with chronicles recording a dispatch of forces to nearby Dagana in 1650, to subdue recalcitrant monpas — this might have affected Damsang as well. Despite these hurdles, including what he notes to be an increased presence of Bhutanese monks, Gyaltshan managed to exert significant command in the local population. In 1660, he chose to return to his home monastery — in Tibet — for a vacation.
By the time he returned c. 1663, more Lamas from Bhutan had encroached on his territories and a local Lepcha chieftain, Gaeebo Achyok, had assumed control. Gyaltshan did not resist these encroachments and ventured northwards. The extent of Achyok's sovereignty at this stage remains uncertain.
Conflict with the Bhutanese
Soon afterwards, the Bhutanese Lamas began to exert pressure on the Lepchas, aided by their regional fortress at Daling, which was probably an old Lepcha fort usurped by the Bhutanese in the war of 1650s. In 1668 Gaeboo Achyok sought assistance from the 5th Dalai Lama, and had an audience with him at Lhasa; that, Bhutanese expansions had triggered conflicts with the Tibetans on multiple fronts, he expected a favorable response. Two months later, Tibet sent multiple columns of army to invade Bhutan in support of Achyok as well as a certain Nyingma lama of Merak.
The invasion was unsuccessful for Tibet — and for Achyok, by extension — and the troops had to be withdrawn. An armistice was called by the lamas of Tashilhunpo and other monasteries. In the post-war negotiations, both Tibet and Bhutan claimed Achyok's territory as theirs. Finally, a peace treaty was signed in 1669 which called for observation of the status-quo till 1675.
Death
Early in 1675, Achyok informed the Tibetans that the Bhutanese were secretly preparing for an all-out offensive against him before the expiry of the peace treaty. While routine border incursions were commonplace, this was an unprecedented development and the Dalai Lama ordered a preemptive attack, which was carried out, burning a frontier outpost at Tendung. Protracted diplomatic negotiations including on the status of Achyok's territory followed at Phari (var. Phag Ri), with Bhutan claiming all rights to Achyok's territory. By the September 1675, Dalai Lama had unwillingly conceded to Bhutan's hardball tactics but in return, he stopped all border-trade with Bhutan.