The name Ilam comes from the Limbu language, where 'IL' means twisted and 'Lam' means road. Before Nepal's unification, Ilam was one of the ten self-ruling states of Limbuwan, ruled as a confederate state by King Hangshu Phuba Lingdom of the Lingdom dynasty until 1813 AD. The Gorkha-Limbuwan Treaty of 1774 and the Gorkha-Sikkim conflict led to its unification with Gorkha, making Ilam the last of the ten Limbuwan kingdoms to join Nepal, with the King of Gorkha granting its ruler full autonomy and Kipat rights. During the Maoist insurgency Ilam was much in the news, as Maoists launched frequent massive attacks from the district. Today Ilam is one of Nepal's developing districts, famous for Ilam Orthodox Tea exported to Europe, Australia and the United States, with an economy built on tea, cardamom, ginger, potato, broom grass and dairy products like chhurpi.
Researched by the ChillNepal team from published sources. Spot something out of date? Tell us from the place's page.
