through unknown terms. By the time the British came on the scene, the area up to the Cho La–Jelep La range was under the control of Sikkim, and the Chumbi Valley beyond it was considered Tibet proper. British Raj period After the annexation of Kalimpong from Bhutan, the British started to constructing a cart road to Jelep La in 1884. This was viewed with some apprehension by the Tibetans and in 1886 a small Tibetan militia occupied the region around the pass. In May 1888, the Tibetans attacked the British but were warded off by a British Expeditionary Force. Later in September the same year the British regained control of the area around the pass. With the growing Russian influence in Tibet, a British expedition was sent via Jelep La to Lhasa in 1904 led by Colonel Francis Younghusband. This expedition was met by hostile Tibetan forces which were defeated by the British. A trade agreement was then forced on the Tibetans in the absence of the 13th Dalai Lama, who had fled to Mongolia. In 1910, to escape a Chinese invasion, the 13th Dalai Lama "accompanied by six ministers and a small escort" which included his close aide, diplomat and military figure Tsarong Dzasa, fled via Jelep La to Sikkim and Darjeeling, where he stayed almost two years. During this period he was invited to Calcutta by the Viceroy, Lord Minto, which helped to restore relations with the British. Modern period After India's independence in 1947, Sikkim, which was then a monarchy, agreed to a special protectorate status and gave India the status of a suzerain nation and its defence and foreign affairs were managed by India. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 and suppression of the Tibetan uprising in 1959, the passes into Sikkim became a conduit for refugees from Tibet before being closed by the Chinese. During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, there were border skirmishes between the Indian and Chinese armed forces in and around the passes of Jelep La and Nathu La - this was despite Sikkim still being a separate Kingdom at that stage. After the war the two passes were closed. Sikkim became a part of India in early 1975 following a referendum. With the recent thawing in relations between India and China, plans are afoot to reopen the Jelep La (following the July6, 2006 reopening of the Nathu La). See also