History of Bhutan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

's early history is steeped in mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

and remains obscure. It may have been inhabited as early as 2000 BC, but not much was known until the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

in the 9th century, when turmoil in Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

forced many monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

s to flee to Bhutan. In the 12th century, the Drukpa Kagyupa school was established and remains the dominant form of Buddhism in Bhutan today. The country's political history is intimately tied to its religious history and the relations among the various monastic schools and monasteries.

Bhutan is one of the only countries which has been independent throughout its history

Independence of Bhutan

Bhutan is one of the few countries which has been independent throughout its history like Nepal, never conquered, occupied, or governed by an outside power. Although there has been speculation that it was under the Kamarupa Kingdom or the Tibetan Empire in the 7th to 9th centuries, firm evidence...

, never conquered, occupied, or governed by an outside power. Although there has been speculation that it was under the Kamarupa Kingdom or the Tibetan Empire

Tibetan Empire

The historic name for the Tibetan Empire is different from Tibet's present name.Traditional Tibetan history preserves a lengthy list of rulers, whose exploits become subject to external verification in the Chinese histories by the seventh century. From the 7th to the 11th century a series of...

in the 7th to 9th centuries, firm evidence is lacking. From the time historical records are clear, Bhutan has continuously and successfully defended its sovereignty.

The consolidation of Bhutan occurred in 1616 when Ngawanag Namgyal, a lama

Lama

Lama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...

from western Tibet known as the Shabdrung Rinpoche, defeated three Tibetan invasions, subjugated rival religious schools, codified the Tsa Yig
Tsa Yig
The Tsa Yig is any monastic constitution or code of moral discipline based on codified Tibetan Buddhist precepts. Every Tibetan monastery and convent had its own Tsa Yig, and the variation in Tsa Yig content shows a degree of autonomy and internal democracy....

, an intricate and comprehensive system of law, and established himself as ruler over a system of ecclesiastical and civil administrators. After his death, infighting and civil war eroded the power of the shabdrung for the next 200 years when in 1885, Ugyen Wangchuck

Ugyen Wangchuck

Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...

was able to consolidate power and cultivated closer ties with the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

In 1907, Ugyen Wangchuck was elected as the hereditary ruler of Bhutan, crowned on December 17, 1907, and installed as the head of state Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King

Dragon King (Bhutan)

The Druk Gyalpo is the head of state of Bhutan. He is also known in English as the King of Bhutan...

). In 1910, King Ugyen and the British signed the Treaty of Punakha

Treaty of Punakha

The Treaty of Punakha was an agreement signed on January 8, 1910, at Punakha Dzong between the recently consolidated Kingdom of Bhutan and British India. The Treaty of Punakha is not a stand-alone document, but represents a modification of the Treaty of Sinchula of 1865, the prior working agreement...

which provided that British India would not interfere in the internal affairs of Bhutan if the country accepted external advice in its external relations. When Ugyen Wangchuck died in 1926, his son Jigme Wangchuck became the next ruler, and when India gained independence in 1947, the new Indian Government recognized Bhutan as an independent country. In 1949, India and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which provided that India would not interfere in Bhutan's internal affairs but would be guided by India in its foreign policy. Succeeded in 1952 by his son Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the Third Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan.He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first steps toward democratization...

, Bhutan began to slowly emerge from its isolation and began a program of planned development. Bhutan became a member of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

in 1971, and the National Assembly

National Assembly of Bhutan

The National Assembly is the elected lower house of Bhutan's new bicameral Parliament which also comprises the Druk Gyalpo and the National Council. It is the more powerful house.- Current National Assembly :...

was established and a new code of law, as well as the Royal Bhutanese Army and the High Court.

In 1972, Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the former King of Bhutan. He was the fourth Dragon King of Bhutan from 1972 until his abdication in favour of his eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in 2006...

ascended the throne at age 16. He emphasized modern education, decentralization of governance, the development of hydroelectricity and tourism and improvements in rural developments. He was perhaps best known internationally for his overarching development philosophy of "gross national happiness

Gross national happiness

The assessment of gross national happiness was designed in an attempt to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product .-Origins and meaning:The term...

." It recognizes that there are many dimensions to development and that economic goals alone are not sufficient. Satisfied with Bhutan's transitioning democratization process, he abdicated in December 2006 rather than wait until the promulgation of the new constitution in 2008. His son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, became King upon his abdication.

Origins and early settlement, AD 600–1600

Although knowledge of prehistoric Bhutan has yet to emerge through archaeological study, stone tools and weapons, remnants of large stone structures, and megaliths that may have been used for boundary markers or rituals provide evidence of civilization as early as 2000 BC. The absence of neolithic mythological legends argues against earlier inhabitation. A more certain prehistoric period has been theorized by historians as that of the state of Lhomon (literally, southern darkness) or Monyul (dark land, a reference to the Monpa aboriginal peoples of Bhutan), possibly a part of Tibet that was then beyond the pale of Buddhist teachings. Monyul is thought to have existed between 500 BC. and AD 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (southern Mon sandalwood country) and Lhomon Khashi (southern Mon country of four approaches), found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles, may also have credence and have been used by some Bhutanese scholars when referring to their homeland. Variations of the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

words Bhota-ant (end of Bhot) or Bhu-uttan (meaning highlands) have been suggested by historians as origins of the name Bhutan, which came into common foreign use in the late nineteenth century and is used in Bhutan only in English-language official correspondence. The traditional name of the country since the seventeenth century has been Drukyul—country of the Druk

Druk

The Druk is the "Thunder Dragon" of Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the Bhutanese Flag, holding jewels to represent wealth. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is called Druk Yul, or Land of Druk, and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo, Dragon Kings...

pa, the Dragon people, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect.

Some scholars believe that during the early historical period the inhabitants were fierce mountain aborigines, the Monpa, who were of neither the Tibetan or Mongol stock that later overran northern Bhutan. The people of Monyul practiced the shamanistic Bön religion, which emphasized worship of nature and the existence of good and evil spirits. During the latter part of this period, historical legends relate that the mighty king of Monyul invaded a southern region known as the Duars, subduing the regions of modern Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, and Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

in India.

Arrival of Buddhism

Buddhism was first introduced to Bhutan in the 7th century AD. Tibetan king Songtsän Gampo (reigned 627–49), a convert to Buddhism, ordered the construction of two Buddhist temples, at Bumthang

Bumthang

Bumthang may refer to:* Bumthang , officially Jakar* Bumthang District* Bumthang River* Bumthang Kingdom* Bumthang language* Bumthang Province* Bumthang Valley...

in central Bhutan and at Kyichu (near Paro

Paro, Bhutan

-History:Rinpung Dzong a fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley has a long history. A monastery was first built on the site by Padma Sambhava at the beginning of the tenth century, but it wasn't until 1646 that Ngawang Namgyal built a larger monastery on the old foundations, and for...

) in the Paro Valley. Buddhism was propagated in earnest in 746 under King Sindhu Rāja (also Künjom; Sendha Gyab; Chakhar Gyalpo), an exiled Indian

Indian people

Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...

king who had established a government in Bumthang at Chakhar Gutho Palace.

Buddhism replaced but did not eliminate the Bon religious practices that had also been prevalent in Tibet until the late sixth century. Instead, Buddhism absorbed Bon and its believers. As the country developed in its many fertile valleys, Buddhism matured and became a unifying element. It was Buddhist literature and chronicles that began the recorded history of Bhutan.

In 747, a Buddhist saint, Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava

Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...

(known in Bhutan as Guru Rimpoche and sometimes referred to as the Second Buddha), came to Bhutan from India at the invitation of one of the numerous local kings. After reportedly subduing eight classes of demons and converting the king, Guru Rimpoche moved on to Tibet. Upon his return from Tibet, he oversaw the construction of new monasteries in the Paro Valley and set up his headquarters in Bumthang. According to tradition, he founded the Nyingmapa sect—also known as the "old sect" or Red Hat sect—of Mahayana Buddhism, which became for a time the dominant religion of Bhutan. Guru Rimpoche plays a great historical and religious role as the national patron saint who revealed the tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

s—manuals describing forms of devotion to natural energy—to Bhutan. Following the guru's sojourn, Indian influence played a temporary role until increasing Tibetan migrations brought new cultural and religious contributions.

There was no central government during this period. Instead, small independent monarchies began to develop by the early ninth century. Each was ruled by a deb (king), some of whom claimed divine origins. The kingdom of Bumthang

Kingdom of Bumthang

The Kingdom of Bumthang was one of several small kingdoms within the territory of modern Bhutan before the first consolidation under Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1616. After initial consolidation, the Bumthang Kingdom became Bumthang Province, one of the nine Provinces of Bhutan. The region was...

was the most prominent among these small entities. At the same time, Tibetan Buddhist monks (lam in Dzongkha, Bhutan's official national language) had firmly rooted their religion and culture in Bhutan, and members of joint Tibetan-Mongol military expeditions settled in fertile valleys. By the eleventh century, all of Bhutan was occupied by Tibetan-Mongol military forces.

Rivalry among sects

By the tenth century, Bhutan's political development was heavily influenced by its religious history. Following a period in which Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

was in decline in Tibet

Tibet

in the eleventh century, contention among a number of subsects emerged. The Mongol

Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...

overlords of Tibet and Bhutan patronized a sequence of subsects until their own political decline in the fourteenth century. By that time, the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat school had, after a period of anarchy in Tibet, become a powerful force resulting in the flight to Bhutan of numerous monks of various minor opposing sects. Among these monks was the founder of the Lhapa subsect of the Kargyupa school, to whom is attributed the introduction of strategically built dzong. Although the Lhapa subsect had been successfully challenged in the twelfth century by another Kargyupa subsect—the Drukpa—led by Tibetan monk Phajo Drugom Shigpo

Phajo Drugom Shigpo

Phajo Drugom Shigpo [1184-1251 / 1208-1275] was a Tibetan Buddhist particularly important in the early spread of the Drukpa school to Bhutan where he is revered as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara...

, it continued to proselytize until the seventeenth century. The Drukpa spread throughout Bhutan and eventually became a dominant form of religious practice. Between the twelfth century and the seventeenth century, the two Kargyupa subsects vied with one another from their respective dzong as the older form of Nyingmapa Buddhism was eclipsed.

Consolidation and defeat of Tibetan invasions, 1616–51

In the seventeenth century, a theocratic government

Dual system of government

The Dual System of Government or Cho-sid-nyi is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribution of power between institutions varied over time and...

independent of Tibet

Tibet

an political influence was established, and premodern Bhutan emerged. The theocratic government was founded by an expatriate Drukpa monk, Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...

, who arrived in Bhutan in 1616 seeking freedom from the domination of the Gelugpa subsect led by the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

(Ocean Lama) in Lhasa. After a series of victories over rival subsect leaders and Tibetan invaders, Ngawang Namgyal took the title shabdrung (At Whose Feet One Submits, or, in many Western sources, Dharma Raja), becoming the temporal and spiritual leader of Bhutan. Considered the first great historical figure of Bhutan, he united the leaders of powerful Bhutanese families in a land called Drukyul. He promulgated a code of law and built a network of impregnable dzong, a system that helped bring local lords under centralized control and strengthened the country against Tibetan invasions. Many dzong were extant in the late twentieth century.

Circa 1627, during the first war with Tibet, Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

Jesuit Estêvão Cacella

Estêvão Cacella

Estêvão Cacella was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary.-Life:Cacella was born in Aviz in 1585, joined the Jesuits at the age of nineteen, and sailed for India in 1614 where he worked for some years in Kerala...

and another priest were the first recorded Europeans to visit Bhutan on their way to Tibet. They met with Ngawang Namgyal, presented him with firearms, gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

and a telescope

Telescope

A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...

, and offered him their services in the war against Tibet, but the shabdrung declined the offer. After a stay of nearly eight months Cacella wrote a long letter from the Chagri Monastery reporting the travel. This is a rare report of the Shabdrung remaining.

Tibetan armies invaded Bhutan around 1629, in 1631, and again in 1639, hoping to throttle Ngawang Namgyal's popularity before it spread too far. In 1634 Ngawang Namgyal defeated Karma Tenkyong

Karma Tenkyong

Karma Tenkyong , in full Karma Tenkyong Wangpo , was a king of Tibet who ruled from 1620 to 1642. He belonged to the Tsangpa Dynasty which had been prominent in Tsang since 1565. His reign was marked by the increasingly bitter struggle against the Gelugpa sect and its leader the Dalai Lama...

's army in the Battle of Five Lamas

Battle of Five Lamas

The Battle of Five Lamas was a battle in 1634 in which Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal prevailed over the Tibetan and Bhutanese forces allied against him...

. The invasions were thwarted, and the Drukpa subsect developed a strong presence in western and central Bhutan, leaving Ngawang Namgyal supreme. In recognition of the power he accrued, goodwill missions were sent to Bhutan from Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar is the district headquarters and the largest city of Cooch Behar District in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas and located at . Cooch Behar is the only planned town in North Bengal region with remnants of royal heritage...

in the Duars (present-day northeastern West Bengal), Nepal to the west, and Ladakh

Ladakh

Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...

in western Tibet. The ruler of Ladakh even gave a number of villages in his kingdom to Ngawang Namgyal.

Bhutan's troubles were not over, however. In 1643, a joint Mongol-Tibetan force sought to destroy Nyingmapa refugees who had fled to Bhutan, Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

, and Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

. The Mongols had seized control of religious and civil power in Tibet in the 1630s and established Gelugpa as the state religion. Bhutanese rivals of Ngawang Namgyal encouraged the Mongol intrusion, but the Mongol force was easily defeated in the humid lowlands of southern Bhutan. Another Tibetan invasion in 1647 also failed.

During Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...

's rule, administration comprised a state monastic body with an elected head, the Je Khenpo

Je Khenpo

The Je Khenpo , formerly called the Dharma Raj by orientalists, is the title given to the senior religious hierarch of Bhutan. His primary duty is to lead the Dratshang Lhentshog of Bhutan, which oversees the Central Monastic Body, and to arbitrate on matters of doctrine, assisted by lopons...

(lord abbot), and a theocratic civil government headed by the Druk Desi

Druk Desi

The Druk Desi ;The original title is Dzongkha: སྡེ་སྲིད་ཕྱག་མཛོད་; Wylie: sde-srid phyag-mdzod. was the title of the secular rulers of Bhutan under the dual system of government between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries...

(regent of Bhutan, also known as Deb Raja in Western sources). The Druk Desi was either a monk or a member of the laity

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...

—by the nineteenth century, usually the latter; he was elected for a three-year term, initially by a monastic council and later by the State Council (Lhengye Tshokdu). The State Council was a central administrative organ that included regional rulers, the shabdrung's chamberlains, and the Druk Desi

Druk Desi

. In time, the Druk Desi came under the political control of the State Council's most powerful faction of regional administrators. The Shabdrung

Shabdrung

Shabdrung , was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage...

was the head of state and the ultimate authority in religious and civil matters. The seat of government was at Thimphu

Thimphu

Thimphu also spelt Thimpu, is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961...

, the site of a thirteenth-century dzong, in the spring, summer, and fall. The winter capital was at Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

The Punakha Dzong, also known as Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag in Punakha, Bhutan. Constructed by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1637–38, it is the second oldest and second largest dzong in Bhutan and one of its most majestic structures...

, a dzong established northeast of Thimphu in 1527. The kingdom was divided into three regions (east, central, and west), each with an appointed ponlop, or governor, holding a seat in a major dzong. Districts were headed by dzongpon, or district officers, who had their headquarters in lesser dzong. The ponlop were combination tax collectors, judges, military commanders, and procurement agents for the central government. Their major revenues came from the trade between Tibet

Tibet

and India

India

and from land taxes.

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...

's regime was bound by a legal code called the Tsa Yig

Tsa Yig

The Tsa Yig is any monastic constitution or code of moral discipline based on codified Tibetan Buddhist precepts. Every Tibetan monastery and convent had its own Tsa Yig, and the variation in Tsa Yig content shows a degree of autonomy and internal democracy....

, which described the spiritual and civil regime and provided laws for government administration and for social and moral conduct. The duties and virtues inherent in the Buddhist dharma

Dharma

Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...

(religious law) played a large role in the new legal code, which remained in force until the 1960s.

Administrative integration and conflict with Tibet, 1651–1728

To keep Bhutan from disintegrating, Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...

's death in 1651 apparently was kept a carefully guarded secret for fifty-four years. Initially, Ngawang Namgyal was said to have entered into a religious retreat, a situation not unprecedented in Bhutan, Sikkim, or Tibet during that time. During the period of Ngawang Namgyal's supposed retreat, appointments of officials were issued in his name, and food was left in front of his locked door.

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal

Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...

's son and stepbrother, in 1651 and 1680, respectively, succeeded him. They started their reigns as minors under the control of religious and civil regents and rarely exercised authority in their own names. For further continuity, the concept of multiple reincarnation of the first shabdrung—in the form of either his body, his speech, or his mind—was invoked by the Je Khenpo

Je Khenpo

and the Druk Desi

Druk Desi

, both of whom wanted to retain the power they had accrued through the dual system of government

Dual system of government

. The last person recognized as the bodily reincarnation of Ngawang Namgyal died in the mid-eighteenth century, but speech and mind reincarnations, embodied by individuals who acceded to the position of Shabdrung

Shabdrung

Shabdrung , was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage...

, were recognized into the early twentieth century. The power of the state religion also increased with a new monastic code that remained in effect in the early 1990s. The compulsory admission to monastic life of at least one son from any family having three or more sons was instituted in the late seventeenth century. In time, however, the State Council became increasingly secular as did the successive Druk Desi, ponlop, and dzongpon, and intense rivalries developed among the ponlop of Tongsa

Trongsa Province

Trongsa Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.Trongsa Province occupied lands in central Bhutan corresponding somewhat to modern Trongsa District, although the power of the Trongsa Penlop extended far beyond his own realms, covering the entire east of Bhutan...

and Paro

Paro Province

Paro Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.Paro Province occupied lands in western Bhutan, corresponding approximately to modern Paro District. It was administered from the Paro Dzong in the town of Paro...

and the dzongpon of Punakha

Punakha Province

Punakha Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.Punakha Province occupied lands in western Bhutan, corresponding roughly to modern Punakha District. It was administered from the Punakha Dzong in the town of Punakha, and the ruling governor was known as the Penlop of Punakha, or...

, Thimphu

Thimphu Province

Thimphu Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.Thimphu Province occupied lands in western Bhutan, corresponding approximately to modern day Thimphu District...

, and Wangdue Phodrang

Wangdue Phodrang Province

Wangdue Phodrang Province was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.Wangdue Phodrang Province occupied lands in central Bhutan, corresponding roughly to modern day Wangdue Phodrang District...

.

During the first period of succession and further internal consolidation under the Druk Desi government, there was conflict with Tibet

Tibet

and Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

. Internal opposition to the central government resulted in overtures by the opponents of the Druk Desi to Tibet and Sikkim. In the 1680s, Bhutan invaded Sikkim in pursuit of a rebellious local lord. In 1700, Bhutan again invaded Sikkim, and in 1714 Tibetan forces, aided by Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

, invaded Bhutan but were unable to gain control.

Western outposts

During the 17th century Bhutan maintained close relations with Ladakh

Ladakh

, and assisted Ladakh in its 1684 war with Tibet. Ladakh had earlier granted Bhutan several enclaves near Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash is a peak in the Gangdisê Mountains, which are part of the Himalayas in Tibet...

in western Tibet; these were monasteries of the Drukpa sect and so fell under the authority of the Bhutanese Je Khenpo and the Shabdrung. These enclaves persisted under Bhutanese control even after the rest of western Tibet came under the control of the Dalai Lama and his Gelugpa sect. Not until 1959 were the Bhutanese enclaves seized by the Chinese. In addition to these outposts in Tibet, Bhutan for a time held monastic fiefs in Ladakh, Zanskar

Zanskar

Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...

, and Lahul (now part of India), as well as in Lo Manthang

Lo Manthang

Lo Manthang is a medieval walled city and Village Development Committee in Mustang District in the Dhawalagiri Zone of northern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 876 people living in 178 individual households....

and Dolpo

Dolpo

Dolpo is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park...

(now part of Nepal).

Civil conflict, 1728–72

Though the invaders were unable to take control, the political system remained unstable. Regional rivalries contributed to the gradual disintegration of Bhutan at the time the first British agents arrived.

In the early eighteenth century, Bhutan had successfully developed control over the principality of Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar

. The raja

Raja

Raja is an Indian term for a monarch, or princely ruler of the Kshatriya varna...

of Cooch Behar had sought assistance from Bhutan against the Indian Mughal

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

s in 1730, and Bhutanese political influence was not long in following. By the mid-1760s, Thimphu considered Cooch Behar its dependency, stationing a garrison force there and directing its civil administration. When the Druk Desi

Druk Desi

invaded Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

in 1770, Cooch Behari forces joined their Bhutanese counterparts in the offensive. In a succession dispute in Cooch Behar

Cooch Behar

two years later, however, the Druk Desi's nominee for the throne was opposed by a rival who invited British troops, and, in effect, Cooch Behar became a dependency of the British East India Company.

British intrusion, 1772–1907

Under the Cooch Behari agreement with the British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, a British expeditionary force drove the Bhutanese garrison out of Cooch Behar and invaded Bhutan in 1772–73. The Druk Desi petitioned Lhasa for assistance from the Panchen Lama

Panchen Lama

The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...

, who was serving as regent for the youthful Dalai Lama. In correspondence with the British governor general of India, however, the Panchen Lama instead punished the Druk Desi and invoked Tibet's claim of suzerainty over Bhutan.

Failing to receive help from Tibet, the Druk Desi signed a Treaty of Peace with the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

on April 25, 1774. Bhutan agreed to return to its pre-1730 boundaries, paid a symbolic tribute of five horses to Britain, and, among other concessions, allowed the British to harvest timber in Bhutan. Subsequent missions to Bhutan were made by the British in 1776, 1777, and 1783, and commerce was opened between British India and Bhutan and, for a short time, Tibet. In 1784, the British turned over to Bhutanese control Bengal Duars territory, where boundaries were poorly defined. As in its other foreign territories, Bhutan left administration of the Bengal Duars

Duars

The Dooars or Duars are the floodplains and foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Duar means door in Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Bengali languages, and the region forms the gateway to Bhutan from India. There were 18 passages or gateways through...

territory to local officials and collected its revenues. Although major trade and political relations failed to develop between Bhutan and Britain, the British had replaced the Tibetans as the major external threat.

Boundary disputes plagued Bhutanese–British relations. To reconcile their differences, Bhutan sent an emissary to Calcutta in 1787, and the British sent missions to Thimphu

Thimphu

in 1815 and 1838. The 1815 mission was inconclusive. The 1838 mission offered a treaty providing for extradition of Bhutanese officials responsible for incursions into Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, free and unrestricted commerce between India and Bhutan, and settlement of Bhutan's debt to the British. In an attempt to protect its independence, Bhutan rejected the British offer. Despite increasing internal disorder, Bhutan had maintained its control over a portion of the Assam Duars more or less since its reduction of Cooch Behar to a dependency in the 1760s. After the British gained control of Lower Assam

Lower Assam

Lower Assam or Western Assam is a region of Bharat situated in the great plains of the Brahmaputra valley. It was home to the mighty kingdom of Kamarupa . Guwahati, the largest city of North-East India is located here while Dispur, the capital of Assam is in Guwahati.-History:Ancient Lower Assam,...

in 1826, tension between the countries began to rise as Britain exerted its strength. Bhutanese payments of annual tribute to the British for the Assam Duars gradually fell into arrears, however. The resulting British demands for payment and military incursions into Bhutan in 1834 and 1835 brought about defeat for Bhutan's forces and a temporary loss of territory.

The British proceeded in 1841 to annex the formerly Bhutanese controlled Assam Duars, paying a compensation of 10,000 rupee

Rupee

The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...

s a year to Bhutan. In 1842, Bhutan gave up control to the British of some of the troublesome Bengal Duars territory it had administered since 1784.

Charges and countercharges of border incursions and protection of fugitives led to an unsuccessful Bhutanese mission to Calcutta in 1852. Among other demands, the mission sought increased compensation for its former Duars territories, but instead the British deducted nearly 3,000 rupees from the annual compensation and demanded an apology for alleged plundering of British-protected lands by members of the mission. Following more incidents and the prospect of an anti-Bhutan rebellion in the Bengal Duars, British troops deployed to the frontier in the mid-1850s. The Sepoy Rebellion in India in 1857-58 and the demise of the British East India Company's rule prevented immediate British action. Bhutanese armed forces raided Sikkim and Cooch Behar in 1862, seizing people, property, and money. The British responded by withholding all compensation payments and demanding release of all captives and return of stolen property. Demands to the Druk Desi went unheeded, as he was alleged to be unaware of his frontier officials' actions against Sikkim and Cooch Behar.

Britain sent a peace mission to Bhutan in early 1864, in the wake of the recent conclusion of a civil war there. The dzongpon of Punakha

Punakha Province

—who had emerged victorious—had broken with the central government and set up a rival Druk Desi

Druk Desi

while the legitimate Druk Desi sought the protection of the ponlop of Paro and was later deposed. The British mission dealt alternately with the rival ponlop of Paro

Paro Province

and the ponlop of Tongsa (the latter acted on behalf of the Druk Desi), but Bhutan rejected the peace and friendship treaty it offered. Britain declared war in November 1864. Bhutan had no regular army, and what forces existed were composed of dzong guards armed with matchlocks, bows and arrows, swords, knives, and catapults. Some of these dzong guards, carrying shields and wearing chainmail armor, engaged the well-equipped British forces.

The Duar War

Duar War

The Bhutan War was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864–1865.Britain sent a peace mission to Bhutan in early 1864, in the wake of the recent conclusion of a civil war there, under Ashley Eden...

(1864–65) lasted only five months and, despite some battlefield victories by Bhutanese forces, resulted in Bhutan's defeat, loss of part of its sovereign territory, and forced cession of formerly occupied territories. Under the terms of the Treaty of Sinchula, signed on November 11, 1865, Bhutan ceded territories in the Assam Duars and Bengal Duars, as well as the eighty-three-square-kilometer territory of Dewangiri in southeastern Bhutan, in return for an annual subsidy of 50,000 rupee

Rupee

s. The land that was to become Bhutan House

Bhutan House

Bhutan House is an estate located in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. The site is the traditional administrative Dzong for southern Bhutan, and also functioned as the administrative center for the whole of western Bhutan during the early years of consolidation...

was ceded from Bhutan

Bhutan

to British India in 1865 at the conclusion the Duar War

Duar War

and as a condition of the Treaty of Sinchula.

In the 1870s and 1880s, renewed competition among regional rivals—primarily the pro-British ponlop of Tongsa and the anti-British, pro-Tibetan ponlop of Paro—resulted in the ascendancy of Ugyen Wangchuck

Ugyen Wangchuck

Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...

, the Ponlop of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck had defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions in 1882-85. His victory came at a time of crisis for the central government, however. British power was becoming more extensive to the south, and in the west Tibet had violated its border with Sikkim, incurring British disfavor. After 1,000 years of close ties with Tibet, Bhutan faced the threat of British military power and was forced to make serious geopolitical decisions. The British, seeking to offset potential Russian advances in Lhasa, wanted to open trade relations with Tibet. Ugyen Wangchuck

Ugyen Wangchuck

Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...

, on the advice of his closest adviser Ugyen Dorji

Ugyen Dorji

Raja Ugyen Dorji was a member of the elite Dorji family and an influential Bhutanese politician. He served as the closest adviser to Ugyen Wangchuck, the hereditary Penlop of Trongsa and later First Druk Gyalpo...

, saw the opportunity to assist the British and in 1903-4 volunteered to accompany a British mission to Lhasa as a mediator. For his services in securing the Anglo-Tibetan Convention of 1904, Ugyen Wangchuck was knighted and thereafter continued to accrue greater power in Bhutan. Ugyen Dorji

Ugyen Dorji

, as well as his descendants

Dorji family

The Dorji family of Bhutan has been a prominent and powerful political family in the kingdom since the 19th century. The family has produced Chief Ministers, Prime Ministers, governors, and even monarchs...

, went on to maintain British favor on behalf of the government from Bhutan House

Bhutan House

in Kalimpong, India

India

Establishment of the hereditary monarchy, 1907

Ugyen Wangchuck

Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...

's emergence as the national leader coincided with the realization that the dual political system

Dual system of government

was obsolete and ineffective. He had removed his chief rival, the ponlop of Paro, and installed a supporter and relative, a member of the pro-British Dorji family

Dorji family

, in his place. When the last shabdrung died in 1903 and a reincarnation had not appeared by 1906, civil administration came under the control of Ugyen Wangchuck. Finally, in 1907, the fifty-fourth and last Druk Desi was forced to retire, and despite recognitions of subsequent reincarnations of Ngawang Namgyal, the shabdrung system came to an end.

In November 1907, an assembly of leading Buddhist monks, government officials, and heads of important families was held to end the moribund 300-year-old dual system of government

Dual system of government

and to establish a new absolute monarchy. Ugyen Wangchuck was elected its first hereditary Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King, reigned 1907–26). The Dorji family

Dorji family

became hereditary holders of the position of gongzim (chief chamberlain), the top government post. The British, wanting political stability on their northern frontier, approved of the entire development.

Britain's earlier entreaties in Lhasa had unexpected repercussions at this time. The Chinese, concerned that Britain would seize Tibet, invaded Tibet in 1910 and asserted political authority. In the face of the Chinese military occupation, the Dalai Lama fled to India. China laid claim not only to Tibet but also to Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim. With these events, Bhutanese and British interests coalesced.

On January 8, 1910, Sikkim Political Officer and Tibetologist Sir Charles Alfred Bell

Charles Alfred Bell

Sir Charles Alfred Bell K.C.I.E. , born in Calcutta, was a British-Indian tibetologist. He was educated at Winchester College. After joining the Indian Civil Service, he was appointed Political Officer in Sikkim in 1908...

engaged Bhutan and signed the Treaty of Punakha

Treaty of Punakha

. The Treaty of Punakha amended two articles of the 1865 treaty: the British agreed to double their annual stipend to 100,000 rupees and "to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan." In turn, Bhutan agreed "to be guided by the advice of the British Government in regard to its external relations." The Treaty of Punakha guaranteed Bhutan's defense against China; China, in no position to contest British power, conceded the end of the millennium-long Tibetan-Chinese influence. It also assigned land in Motithang

Motithang

Motithang is a north-western suburb of Thimphu, Bhutan. The Chubachu River divides the district from Kawajangsa further north and Chubachu district lies to the east....

(Thimphu

Thimphu

) and a hill station between Chukha

Chukha

Chukha District is one of the 20 dzongkhag comprising Bhutan. The major town is Phuentsholing which is the gateway city along the sole road which connects India to western Bhutan . Chukha is the commercial and the financial capital of Bhutan...

and Thimphu

Thimphu

to the British, assigning a portion of Kalimpong (Bhutan House

Bhutan House

) to Bhutan.

Much of Bhutan's modern development has been attributed by Bhutanese historians to the first Druk Gyalpo. Internal reforms included introducing Western-style schools, improving internal communications, encouraging trade and commerce with India, and revitalizing the Buddhist monastic system. Toward the end of his life, Ugyen Wangchuck was concerned about the continuity of the family dynasty, and in 1924 he sought British assurance that the Wangchuck family would retain its preeminent position in Bhutan. His request led to an investigation of the legal status of Bhutan vis-à-vis the suzerainty held over Bhutan by Britain and the ambiguity of Bhutan's relationship to India. Both the suzerainty and the ambiguity were maintained.

Development of centralized government, 1926–52

Ugyen Wangchuck

Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...

died in 1926 and was succeeded by his son, Jigme Wangchuck (reigned 1926–52). The second Druk Gyalpo continued his father's centralization and modernization efforts and built more schools, dispensaries, and roads. During Jigme Wangchuck's reign, monasteries and district governments were increasingly brought under royal control. However, Bhutan generally remained isolated from international affairs.

The issue of Bhutan's status vis-à-vis the government of India was reexamined by London in 1932 as part of the issue of the status of India itself. It was decided to leave the decision to join an Indian federation up to Bhutan when the time came. When British rule over India ended in 1947, so too did Britain's association with Bhutan. India succeeded Britain as the de facto protector of the Himalayan kingdom, and Bhutan retained control over its internal government. It was two years, however, before a formal agreement recognized Bhutan's independence.

Following the precedent set by the Treaty of Punakha

Treaty of Punakha

, on August 8, 1949, Thimphu signed the Treaty of Friendship Between the Government of India and the Government of Bhutan, according to which external affairs, formerly guided by Britain, were to be guided by India. Like Britain, India agreed not to interfere in Bhutan's internal affairs. India also agreed to increase the annual subsidy to 500,000 rupees per year. Important to Bhutan's national pride was the return of Dewangiri. Some historians believe that if India had been at odds with China at this time, as it was to be a decade later, it might not have acceded so easily to Bhutan's request for independent status.

Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952–72

The third Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the Third Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan.He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first steps toward democratization...

, was enthroned in 1952. Earlier he had married the European-educated cousin of the chogyal (king) of Sikkim and with her support made continual efforts to modernize his nation throughout his twenty-year reign. Among his first reforms was the establishment of the National Assembly — the Tshogdu

Tshogdu

The Tshogdu was the unicameral legislature of Bhutan until 31 July 2007. The legislature had a total of 150 members...

— in 1953. Although the Druk Gyalpo could issue royal decrees and exercise veto power over resolutions passed by the National Assembly, its establishment was a major move toward a constitutional monarchy.

When the Chinese communists took over Tibet in 1951, Bhutan closed its frontier with Tibet and sided with its powerful neighbor to the south. To offset the chance of Chinese encroachment, Bhutan began a modernization program. Land reform was accompanied by the abolition of slavery and serfdom

Slavery in Bhutan

Slavery in Bhutan was a common legal economic and social institution until abolition in 1958. In historical records, unfree labourers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolies, and serfs...

and the separation of the judiciary from the executive branch of government. Mostly funded by India after China's invasion of Tibet in 1959, the modernization program also included the construction of roads linking the Indian plains with central Bhutan. An all-weather road was completed in 1962 between Thimphu and Phuntsholing

Phuntsholing

Phuentsholing is a border town in southern Bhutan, and is the administrative seat of Chukha District. The town occupies parts of both Phuentsholing Gewog and Sampheling Gewog. Phuentsholing lies opposite the Indian town of Jaigaon, and cross-border trade has resulted in a thriving local economy...

, the overland gateway town on the southwest border with India. Dzongkha was made the national language during Jigme Dorji's reign. Additionally, development projects included establishing such institutions as a national museum in Paro and a national library, national archives, and national stadium, as well as buildings to house the National Assembly, the High Court (Thrimkhang Gongma), and other government entities in Thimphu. The position of gongzim, held since 1907 by the Dorji family

Dorji family

, was upgraded in 1958 to lonchen (prime minister) and was still in the hands of the Dorji. Jigme Dorji Wangchuck's reforms, however, although lessening the authority of the absolute monarchy, also curbed the traditional decentralization of political authority among regional leaders and strengthened the role of the central government in economic and social programs.

Modernization efforts moved forward in the 1960s under the direction of the lonchen, Jigme Palden Dorji

Jigme Palden Dorji

Jigme Palden Dorji was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck....

, the Druk Gyalpo's brother-in-law. In 1962, however, Dorji incurred disfavor with the Royal Bhutan Army

Royal Bhutan Army

The Royal Bhutan Army , or RBA, is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty against security threats. The King of Bhutan is the Supreme Commander in Chief of the RBA...

over the use of military vehicles and the forced retirement of some fifty officers. Religious elements also were antagonized by Dorji's efforts to reduce the power of the state-supported religious institutions. In April 1964, while the Druk Gyalpo was in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

for medical care, Dorji was assassinated in Phuntsholing by an army corporal. The majority of those arrested and accused of the crime were military personnel and included the army chief of operations, Namgyal Bahadur, the Druk Gyalpo's uncle, who was executed for his part in the plot.

The unstable situation continued under Dorji's successor as acting lonchen, his brother Lhendup Dorji

Lhendup Dorji

Dasho Lhendup Dorji was a member of the powerful and respected Dorji family of Bhutan. He served as acting Lonchen following the assassination of his brother, Lonchen Jigme Palden Dorji, on April 5, 1964...

, and for a time under the Druk Gyalpo's brother, Namgyal Wangchuck, as head of the army. According to some sources, a power struggle ensued between pro-Wangchuck loyalists and "modernist" Dorji supporters. The main issue was not an end to or lessening of the power of the monarchy but "full freedom from Indian interference." Other observers believe the 1964 crisis was not so much a policy struggle as competition for influence on the palace between the Dorji family

Dorji family

and the Druk Gyalpo's Tibetan consort, Yanki, and her father. Lhendup Dorji had earlier threatened to kill Yanki—his sister's rival—and ordered her arrest when, fearing for her life and that of her 2-year-old son by the Druk Gyalpo, she sought refuge in India during the political crisis. Lhendup also incurred the disapproval of the Druk Gyalpo by seeking to become sole regent of the kingdom after his brother's death, eliminating the Queen and the king's brother. Before returning to Bhutan from Switzerland, Jigme Dorji met with the Indian Secretary General and Foreign Secretary in Calcutta who offered Indian support, including paratroopers if necessary, to help the Druk Gyalpo restore order in the kingdom. Unable to regain the Druk Gyalpo's trust, Lhendup fled to London, while other supporters in the military and government fled to Nepal and Calcutta. Afterwards, in concurrence of the National Assembly, Lhendup Dorji and other family members were exiled in 1965. However, the exiles continued their attacks on the Druk Gyalpo and India, worsening relations between India and China. The tense political situation continued and in July 1965 there was an assassination attempt on the Druk Gyalpo. The Dorjis were not implicated in the attempt—which was described as a "private matter"—and the would-be assassins were pardoned by the Druk Gyalpo.

In 1966, to increase the efficiency of government administration, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the Third Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan.He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first steps toward democratization...

made Thimphu

Thimphu

the year-round capital. In May 1968, the comprehensive Rules and Regulations of the National Assembly revised the legal basis of the power granted to the National Assembly. The Druk Gyalpo decreed that henceforth sovereign power, including the power to remove government ministers and the Druk Gyalpo himself, would reside with the National Assembly. The following November, the Druk Gyalpo renounced his veto power over National Assembly bills and said he would step down if two-thirds of the legislature passed a no-confidence vote. Although he did nothing to undermine the retention of the Wangchuck dynasty, the Druk Gyalpo in 1969 called for a triennial vote of confidence by the National Assembly (later abolished by his successor) to renew the Druk Gyalpo's mandate to rule.

Diplomatic overtures also were made during Jigme Dorji Wangchuck's reign. Although always seeking to be formally neutral and nonaligned in relations with China and India, Bhutan also sought more direct links internationally than had occurred previously under the foreign-policy guidance of India. Consequently, in 1962 Bhutan joined the Colombo Plan for Cooperative, Economic, and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific known as the Colombo Plan, and in 1966 notified India of its desire to become a member of the United Nations (UN). In 1971, after holding observer status for three years, Bhutan was admitted to the UN. In an effort to maintain Bhutan as a stable buffer state, India continued to provide substantial amounts of development aid.

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck ruled until his death in July 1972 and was succeeded by his seventeen-year-old son, Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the former King of Bhutan. He was the fourth Dragon King of Bhutan from 1972 until his abdication in favour of his eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in 2006...

. The close ties of the Wangchuck

House of Wangchuck

The House of Wangchuck has ruled Bhutan since it was reunified in 1907. Prior to reunification, the Wangchuck family had governed the district of Trongsa as descendants of Dungkar Choji. They eventually overpowered other regional lords and earned the favour of the British Empire...

and Dorji families

Dorji family

were reemphasized in the person of the new king, whose mother, Ashi Kesang Dorji (ashi means princess), was the sister of the lonchen, Jigme Palden Dorji. Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who had been educated in India and Britain, had been appointed ponlop of Tongsa in May 1972 and by July that year had become the Druk Gyalpo. With his mother and two elder sisters as advisers, the new Druk Gyalpo was thrust into the affairs of state. He was often seen among the people, in the countryside, at festivals, and, as his reign progressed, meeting with foreign dignitaries in Bhutan and abroad. His formal coronation took place in June 1974, and soon thereafter the strains between the Wangchucks and Dorjis were relieved with the return that year of the exiled members of the latter family. The reconciliation, however, was preceded by reports of a plot to assassinate the new Druk Gyalpo before his coronation could take place and to set fire to the Tashichho Dzong (Fortress of the Glorious Religion, the seat of government in Thimphu

Thimphu

). Yanki (who had four children with the Druk Gyalpo, including two sons, between 1962–1972) was the alleged force behind the plot, which was uncovered three months before the coronation; thirty persons were arrested, including high government and police officials. However, Lawrence Sittling, secretary to Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, later reported that the assassination plot was a fabrication by a Chinese diplomat designed to alienate Bhutan from India. But the truth was not any more politically acceptable—those arrested were Tibetan Khampas rebels, trained in India, who were traveling through Bhutan on a mission to Tibet. (Encyclopaedia of Saarc Nations, Syed) Under pressure from China, the Bhutanese government demanded that the four thousand Tibetan refugees living in Bhutan either become Bhutanese citizens or go into exile. Most chose exile. (Syed)

International relations, 1972–present

When civil war broke out in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

in 1971, Bhutan was among the first nations to recognize the new government of Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, and formal diplomatic relations were established in 1973. An event in 1975 may have served as a major impetus to Bhutan to speed up reform and modernization. In that year, neighboring Sikkim's monarchy

Chogyal

The Chogyal were the monarchs of the former kingdoms of Sikkim and Ladakh, which were ruled by separate branches of the Namgyal family. The Chogyal, or divine ruler, was the absolute potentate of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when its monarchy was abrogated and its people voted to make Sikkim India's...

, which had endured for more than 300 years, was ousted following a plebiscite in which the Nepal

Nepal

ese majority outvoted the Sikkimese minority. Sikkim, long a protectorate of India, became India's twenty-second state.

To further ensure its independence and international position, Bhutan gradually established diplomatic relations with other nations and joined greater numbers of regional and international organizations. Many of the countries with which Bhutan established relations provided development aid. Moderization of daily life brought new problems to Bhutan in the late 1980s. Television broadcast was official introduced in Bhutan in 1999.

Assamese separatists

Several guerrilla groups seeking to establish an independent Assamese state in northeast India

India

have set up guerrilla bases in the forests of southern Bhutan, from which they launch cross-border attacks on targets in Assam. The largest guerrilla group is the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom

United Liberation Front of Asom

The United Liberation Front of Asom is a separatist group from Assam, among many other such groups in North-East India. It seeks to establish a sovereign Assam via an armed struggle in the Assam Conflict...

). Negotiations aimed at removing them peacefully from these bases failed in the spring of 2003. Bhutan is faced with the prospect of having to strengthen its token army force to evict the guerrillas.

Military action against Assamese separatists December 2003

On 15 December 2003 the Royal Bhutan Army

Royal Bhutan Army

began military operations against guerrilla camps in southern Bhutan, in coordination with Indian armed forces who lined the border to the south to prevent the guerrillas from dispersing back into Assam. News sources indicated that of the 30 camps that were target, 13 were controlled by ULFA, 12 camps by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland

National Democratic Front of Bodoland

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland, also known as NDFB or the Bodo Security Force, is a terrorist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Bodoland for the Bodo people in Assam, India. The founder of the organization, Ransaigra Nabla Daimary, alias Ranjan Daimary has been arrested and...

(NDFB), and 5 camps controlled by the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO). By January, government news reports indicated the guerillas had been routed from their bases.

Refugee community

In 1988, Bhutan was reported to have evicted some number of Nepali-speaking residents (Bhutanese reports say about 5,000 and Refugee reports says over 100,000) from districts in southern Bhutan, creating a large refugee community that is now being detained in seven temporary United Nations refugee camps in Nepal and Sikkim. The actual numbers are difficult to establish, as many of those in the camps are reported to be holding forged identity papers, and impoverished Nepalese citizens and started to migrate to the Nepalese community leaving their refugee camps. The reason for leaving refugee camps is to find a job or to avoid the poor living condition of the camp. However, after the UNHCR provided free shelter, food, and services to those living in camps, few of them returned back to the Refugee camps. As a result, the number of people living in the camps decreased exponentially. Although Bhutanese Government claims that only about 5000 initially left the country, the number of actual migration is more than that.

After years of negotiations between Nepal and Bhutan, in 2000 Bhutan agreed in principle to allow certain classes of the refugees to return to Bhutan. However the situation is at a standstill, after violence was committed on Bhutanese officials by the angered people in the camps. Significant unrest is now reported to be fermenting in the camps, especially as the United Nations terminates a number of educational and welfare programmes in an effort to force Bhutan and Nepal to come to terms.
As the Bhutanese government was unwilling to take them into their country many developed nations offered the Refugees to allow them to settle in their own countries which include USA and Australia. As many as 20,000 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in these countries. With less than 700,000 people living in Bhutan, if all the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal would return it would severely disturb the country's demography.

Shabdrung

In early 2007, reports alleged that the current Shabdrung

Shabdrung

Shabdrung , was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage...

, Pema Namgyel, who is a small child, has been held under house arrest in Bhutan

Bhutan

along with his parents since 2005.

Constitution

On March 26, 2005, "an auspicious day when the stars and elements converge favourably to create an environment of harmony and success"[1], the king and government distributed a draft of the country's first constitution, requesting that every citizen review it. A new house of parliament, the National Council, is chartered consisting of 20 elected representatives from each of the dzonghags, persons selected by the King. The National Council would be paired with the other already existing house, the National Assembly.

Per the Constitution, the monarchy is given a leadership role in setting the direction for the government as long as the King shall demonstrate his commitment and ability to safeguard the interests of the kingdom and its people.

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

On December 15, 2006, the fourth Druk

Druk

Gyalpo, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Jigme Singye Wangchuck is the former King of Bhutan. He was the fourth Dragon King of Bhutan from 1972 until his abdication in favour of his eldest son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in 2006...

, abdicated all of his powers as King to his son, Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, with a specific intention to prepare the young King for the country's transformation to a full-fledged, democratic form of government due to occur in 2008.

The previous King's abdication in favour of his son was originally set to occur in 2008 as well, but there was an apparent concern that the new King should have hands-on experience as the nation's leader before presiding over a transformation in the country's form of government. According to the national newspaper, the Kuensel

Kuensel

Kuensel is the national newspaper of Bhutan. It was the only local newspaper available in Bhutan until 2006 when two more newspapers were launched. The government of Bhutan owns 51 percent of Kuensel while 49 percent is held by the public.-History:...

, the previous King stated to his cabinet that "as long as he himself continued to be King, the Crown Prince would not gain the actual experience of dealing with issues and carrying out the responsibilities of a head of state. With parliamentary democracy to be established in 2008, there was much to be done; so it was necessary that he gained this valuable experience."

The fourth Druk Gyalpo further stated that "Bhutan could not hope for a better time for such an important transition. Today, the country enjoys peace and stability, and its security and sovereignty is ensured. After phenomenal development and progress, the country is closer than ever to the goal of economic self reliance. Bhutan’s relations with its closest neighbour and friend, India, has reached new heights. International organisations and bilateral development partners are ready to support Bhutan’s development efforts and political transformation."

External links

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Origins and early settlement, AD 600–1600

Arrival of Buddhism

Rivalry among sects

Consolidation and defeat of Tibetan invasions, 1616–51

Administrative integration and conflict with Tibet, 1651–1728

Western outposts

Civil conflict, 1728–72

British intrusion, 1772–1907

Establishment of the hereditary monarchy, 1907

Development of centralized government, 1926–52

Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952–72

International relations, 1972–present

Assamese separatists

Military action against Assamese separatists December 2003

Refugee community

Shabdrung

Constitution

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

See also

Works cited

External links