How to Cite

Lepcha, Charisma K.: The Scottish Mission in Kalimpong and the Changing Dynamics of Lepcha Society, in Viehbeck, Markus (Ed.): Transcultural Encounters in the Himalayan Borderlands: Kalimpong as a “Contact Zone”, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2017 (Heidelberg Studies on Transculturality, Volume 3), p. 71–91. https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.301.c4104

License (Chapter)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Identifiers (Book)

ISBN 978-3-946054-56-6 (PDF)
ISBN 978-3-946054-58-0 (Softcover)
ISBN 978-3-946054-57-3 (Hardcover)

Published

12/14/2017

Authors

Charisma K. Lepcha

The Scottish Mission in Kalimpong and the Changing Dynamics of Lepcha Society

Abstract “The Lepchas seem to be the most hopeful people for us in the hills,” wrote Rev. William Macfarlane of the Church of Scotland in his end of year report to his superiors. Compared to the Bhutias and the Ne­palis, he found that the indigenous Lepchas were the most responsive to the Gospel. Macfarlane’s arrival and the establishment of the Scottish Mis­sion initiated missionary work in Kalimpong. This was the beginning of the Lepchas’ cultural contact with the colonial power; these interactions set in motion the major socio-cultural changes that the Lepchas underwent after accepting Christianity. It has been argued that Christianity promoted “cultural dynamism” among Lepchas, but it is important to note that Chris­tianity also divorced them from many traditional practices. Their newfound religion facilitated their reception of new ideas and new practices. These were easily accepted and often imitated without fully understanding the consequences. Accepting these new ideas resulted in the creation of a new identity.