Bhutia Boarding School, Darjeeling

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Bhutia Boarding School, Darjeeling, was started in 1874. Its first director was Sarat Chandra Das, with Ugyen Gyatso, a Tibeto-Sikkimese monk, as a Tibetan professor. The school was opened by Sir George Campbell, the Lieutenant Governor of British Bengal. It aimed to educate young Tibetans and Sikkimese boys living in Sikkim or Darjeeling. Some say it also trained interpreters, geographers, and explorers for possible British interests in Tibet. Students learned English, Tibetan, and how to read topography.

In 1879, Sarat Chandra Das and Ugyen Gyatso traveled to Tibet as secret agents for British India to gather information. The school’s opening happened alongside educational efforts by William Macfarlane, a Scottish missionary; there may have been cooperation or shared goals between them. In 1891, the Bhutia Boarding School merged with the Darjeeling Zilla School to form Darjeeling High School.