Slavery in Bhutan
Encyclopedia
Slavery in Bhutan was a common legal economic and social institution until abolition in 1958. In historical records, unfree labour
ers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolie
s, and serf
s. These labourers originated mostly in and around Bhutan
, Assam
, and Sikkim
, and were the backbone of Bhutan's pre-money feudal economy.
Bhutan abolished slavery
as part of modernization reforms at the behest of the Third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
, who ascended to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25. In breaking with slavery and feudalism, King Jigme Dorji enacted legal reforms, awarding citizenship and outright ownership of land to former slaves.
economy in the 19th century and modernization programs in the mid-20th century, the economy of Bhutan
was based entirely on payment in kind and in labour, including unfree labour
. In the feudal land tenure
system, in which all land was held by the sovereign and populated by tenants, serfdom and service to mesne lord
s was commonplace. Ordinary citizens, for their part, were bound by the driglam namzha
to do work
such as dzong construction as part of their tax obligation to the state. The gradual transition to a feudal money economy was prompted by Bhutanese military and territorial losses to the British, which resulted in annual cash subsidies the Bhutanese government. These money revenues eventually replaced unfree labour
as the backbone of the Bhutanese economy
.
Bhutan
had an underclass
of prisoners of war
and their descendants, who were generally treated as serfs or even as slaves. This class of slave was the most common, however many others were aboriginal or indigenous tribal peoples originally living in scattered villages throughout Bhutan. Criminal freemen facing capital punishment
were sometimes spared and made slaves for life. Slave status was inherited, and the value of slaves varied according to age, caste
, and sex; an adult high-caste male cost about 20 Rupee
s at market, while a low-caste female could sell for 3 Rupees. During the 18th century, hundreds of Brahmin
s were imported as slaves into Bhutan every year.
By the 19th century, Bhutan
had developed a slave trade with Sikkim
and Tibet
. During this time, the kidnapping of British subjects as slaves, as well as the repatriation of escaped Bhutanese slaves, became major points of contention amid rising hostilities between Bhutan
and British India. The British position was to allow slaves to return of their own will, but not to repatriate them to Bhutan. (Cf. non-refoulement
)
During the 19th century, the British also grappled with slavery in neighboring Sikkim
and Cooch Behar
. By 1877, slaves from Bhutan were regarded by the British as Bhutanese refugees. Meanwhile, the slave trade remained a lucrative source of profit to local Bhutanese officials near the Indian border.
In the early 20th century, Bhutan limited the slave trade as it developed laws reflecting the chattel nature of slaves. King Ugyen Wangchuck
's 1916 reforms of the Tsa Yig
legal code prohibited the sale and purchase of slaves
, and limited the use of coolie
s by state officers to occasions where the health of the officer required such. Otherwise, the institution of slavery was left intact despite reform: slaves attempting to escape were to be detained, and anyone who harbored an escaped slave was to "make good
the slave." However, if one returned an escaped slave, the owner faced a legal obligation to compensate him for his time and effort.
, and Monpa) as well as prisons in Ngalop
areas of western Bhutan were domestic sources of slaves. Outside Bhutan proper, various ethnic groups of the Assam
Duars
including the Mechi
were subject to taxation and slaving such that entire villages were abandoned when the British examined the region in 1865. Slaves acquired from Indian Assam, where slaves constituted 5–9% of the total population, were often born slaves or already enslaved as condemned criminals.
Culturally and linguistically part of the populations of West Bengal
or Assam
, these slaves were mostly caste
Hindus
and practiced wet-rice and dry-rice agriculture. Indian slaves were generally brought to Bhutan
from tribal areas. Many slaves who arrived since the 1800s were the forefathers of modern Lhotshampa
, a heterogeneous community of Nepal
ese origin in southern Bhutan.
As slaves of the state, many slave communities were concentrated in traditional population centers such as Thimphu
and Punakha
.
in and around dzongs, which served as administrative centers. Although slaves had no personal or professional liberty, they filled military and administrative ranks within the government, including high posts, a silver lining of upward mobility. The Royal Government placed male youths in the service of the palace and in provincial administrative centers. This provided generations of technically competent, politically dependable cadres serving lifelong roles. Female slaves, however, were used mainly as sex slaves in brothel
s.
There was no substantial difference between the state and treatment of feudal serf
s and chattel slaves in pre-modern Bhutan. Slaves and servile classes attached to land grants were regularly traded as a showing of goodwill among rulers of neighboring states. Notably, women in pre-modern Bhutan
were treated markedly poorly, likened by Westerners to "slaves."
's modernization efforts, land reform was accompanied by the abolition of slavery and serfdom. After abolition, many ex-slave communities were near traditional population centers because it was there that they had been pressed into service to the state. Many of these former slaves and their descendants have remained in urban centers, supporting and joining an emerging rentier
class.
Rural slaves including many Lhotshampa
, who had developed malaria
l jungles into productive agricultural lands, feared eviction and deportation. With the enactment of land reform and the Nationality Act of 1958
, they were granted citizenship and began to prosper. In part because the manumission of slaves and serfs was accompanied by land redistribution awarding them outright ownership, slavery left no legacy in Bhutan comparable to that of African Americans in the United States
.
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
ers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s, and serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s. These labourers originated mostly in and around Bhutan
Bhutan
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...
, 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...
, and Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, and were the backbone of Bhutan's pre-money feudal economy.
Bhutan abolished slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
as part of modernization reforms at the behest of 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...
, who ascended to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25. In breaking with slavery and feudalism, King Jigme Dorji enacted legal reforms, awarding citizenship and outright ownership of land to former slaves.
History
Before the introduction of a moneyMoney
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
economy in the 19th century and modernization programs in the mid-20th century, the economy of Bhutan
Economy of Bhutan
The economy of Bhutan, one of the world's smallest and least developed, is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and...
was based entirely on payment in kind and in labour, including unfree labour
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
. In the feudal land tenure
Land tenure
Land tenure is the name given, particularly in common law systems, to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land . The sovereign monarch, known as The Crown, held land in its own right. All private owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants...
system, in which all land was held by the sovereign and populated by tenants, serfdom and service to mesne lord
Mesne lord
A mesne lord was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. A mesne lord did not hold land directly of the king, that is to say he was not a tenant-in-chief. His subinfeudated estate was called a "mesne estate"...
s was commonplace. Ordinary citizens, for their part, were bound by the driglam namzha
Driglam namzha
The Driglam Namzha is the official behaviour and dress code of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It governs how citizens should dress in public and how they should behave in formal settings. It also regulates a number of cultural assets such as art and architecture...
to do work
Corvée
Corvée is unfree labour, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by the state or a superior . The corvée was the earliest and most widespread form of taxation, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization...
such as dzong construction as part of their tax obligation to the state. The gradual transition to a feudal money economy was prompted by Bhutanese military and territorial losses to the British, which resulted in annual cash subsidies the Bhutanese government. These money revenues eventually replaced unfree labour
Unfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
as the backbone of the Bhutanese economy
Economy of Bhutan
The economy of Bhutan, one of the world's smallest and least developed, is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists largely of subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rugged mountains dominate the terrain and...
.
Bhutan
Bhutan
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...
had an underclass
Underclass
The term underclass refers to a segment of the population that occupies the lowest possible position in a class hierarchy, below the core body of the working class. The general idea that a class system includes a population under the working class has a long tradition in the social sciences...
of prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
and their descendants, who were generally treated as serfs or even as slaves. This class of slave was the most common, however many others were aboriginal or indigenous tribal peoples originally living in scattered villages throughout Bhutan. Criminal freemen facing capital punishment
Capital punishment in Bhutan
In Bhutan, capital punishment has been abolished since March 20, 2004 and is currently prohibited by the 2008 Constitution. The prohibition appears among a number of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Bhutanese Constitution...
were sometimes spared and made slaves for life. Slave status was inherited, and the value of slaves varied according to age, caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, and sex; an adult high-caste male cost about 20 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 at market, while a low-caste female could sell for 3 Rupees. During the 18th century, hundreds of Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
s were imported as slaves into Bhutan every year.
By the 19th century, Bhutan
Bhutan
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...
had developed a slave trade with Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
and 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...
. During this time, the kidnapping of British subjects as slaves, as well as the repatriation of escaped Bhutanese slaves, became major points of contention amid rising hostilities between Bhutan
Bhutan
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...
and British India. The British position was to allow slaves to return of their own will, but not to repatriate them to Bhutan. (Cf. non-refoulement
Non-refoulement
Non-refoulement is a principle in international law, specifically refugee law, that concerns the protection of refugees from being returned to places where their lives or freedoms could be threatened...
)
During the 19th century, the British also grappled with slavery in neighboring Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
and 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...
. By 1877, slaves from Bhutan were regarded by the British as Bhutanese refugees. Meanwhile, the slave trade remained a lucrative source of profit to local Bhutanese officials near the Indian border.
In the early 20th century, Bhutan limited the slave trade as it developed laws reflecting the chattel nature of slaves. King 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...
's 1916 reforms of 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....
legal code prohibited the sale and purchase of slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, and limited the use of coolie
Coolie
Historically, a coolie was a manual labourer or slave from Asia, particularly China, India, and the Phillipines during the 19th century and early 20th century...
s by state officers to occasions where the health of the officer required such. Otherwise, the institution of slavery was left intact despite reform: slaves attempting to escape were to be detained, and anyone who harbored an escaped slave was to "make good
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
the slave." However, if one returned an escaped slave, the owner faced a legal obligation to compensate him for his time and effort.
Slave demography
Slaves originated from multiple sources, both inside and outside Bhutan. Tribal areas of central, southern, and eastern Bhutan (e.g., Lhop, LepchaLepcha people
The Lepcha or Róng people , also called Róngkup , Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup , and Rongpa , are the aboriginal people of Sikkim, who number between 30,000 and 50,000...
, and Monpa) as well as prisons in Ngalop
Ngalop
The Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
areas of western Bhutan were domestic sources of slaves. Outside Bhutan proper, various ethnic groups of the 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...
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...
including the Mechi
Mech tribe
Mech tribe is one of the scheduled tribes of India and belong to Bodo-Kachari group of tribes. They belong to Mongoloid race and speak mainly Bodo language, which is a Tibeto-Burman dialect but have got influenced by the Assamese language. The Mech people live in the Dooars region of West Bengal...
were subject to taxation and slaving such that entire villages were abandoned when the British examined the region in 1865. Slaves acquired from Indian Assam, where slaves constituted 5–9% of the total population, were often born slaves or already enslaved as condemned criminals.
Culturally and linguistically part of the populations of 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...
or 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...
, these slaves were mostly caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and practiced wet-rice and dry-rice agriculture. Indian slaves were generally brought to Bhutan
Bhutan
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...
from tribal areas. Many slaves who arrived since the 1800s were the forefathers of modern Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
, a heterogeneous community of 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...
ese origin in southern Bhutan.
As slaves of the state, many slave communities were concentrated in traditional population centers such as 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...
and Punakha
Punakha
thumb|right|Punakha Dzong and the [[Mo Chhu]]Punakha is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu and it...
.
Treatment of slaves
The majority of slaves in Bhutan were bound to government service. Others cleared the humid malarial jungles of south Bhutan to develop the nation's agricultural lands. Foremost, slaves were the primary source of government labourUnfree labour
Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery as well as all other related institutions .-Payment for unfree labour:If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms:...
in and around dzongs, which served as administrative centers. Although slaves had no personal or professional liberty, they filled military and administrative ranks within the government, including high posts, a silver lining of upward mobility. The Royal Government placed male youths in the service of the palace and in provincial administrative centers. This provided generations of technically competent, politically dependable cadres serving lifelong roles. Female slaves, however, were used mainly as sex slaves in brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s.
There was no substantial difference between the state and treatment of feudal serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s and chattel slaves in pre-modern Bhutan. Slaves and servile classes attached to land grants were regularly traded as a showing of goodwill among rulers of neighboring states. Notably, women in pre-modern Bhutan
Women in Bhutan
Although officially the government of Bhutan has encouraged greater participation by the women in Bhutan in political and administrative life, male members of the traditional aristocracy dominate the social system. Economic development has increased opportunities for women to participate in fields...
were treated markedly poorly, likened by Westerners to "slaves."
Abolition and legacy
As part of King Jigme Dorji WangchuckJigme 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...
's modernization efforts, land reform was accompanied by the abolition of slavery and serfdom. After abolition, many ex-slave communities were near traditional population centers because it was there that they had been pressed into service to the state. Many of these former slaves and their descendants have remained in urban centers, supporting and joining an emerging rentier
Rentier
A rentier is an entity that receives income derived from economic rents, which can include anything from the income derived from intellectual property to real estate. Associated terms include* Rentier capitalism* Rentier state...
class.
Rural slaves including many Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
, who had developed malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
l jungles into productive agricultural lands, feared eviction and deportation. With the enactment of land reform and the Nationality Act of 1958
Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1958
The Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1958, officially the Nationality Law of Bhutan, 1958, is a decree by the Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, recognizing the definition of a Bhutanese citizen...
, they were granted citizenship and began to prosper. In part because the manumission of slaves and serfs was accompanied by land redistribution awarding them outright ownership, slavery left no legacy in Bhutan comparable to that of African Americans in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
See also
- History of BhutanHistory of BhutanBhutan's early history is steeped in mythology and remains obscure. It may have been inhabited as early as 2000 BC, but not much was known until the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism in the 9th century, when turmoil in Tibet forced many monks to flee to Bhutan. In the 12th century, the Drukpa...
- Human rights in BhutanHuman rights in BhutanIn general, the status of human rights in Bhutan is good. The greatest concern is the status of Bhutanese refugees and the protection of the Lhotshampa Nepalese minority remaining in Bhutan...
- Immigration in BhutanImmigration in BhutanImmigration in Bhutan has an extensive history and has become one of the country's most contentious social, political, and legal issues. Since the twentieth century, Bhutanese immigration and citizenship laws have been promulgated as acts of the royal government, often by decree of the Druk Gyalpo...
- Rentier capitalismRentier capitalismRentier capitalism is a term used in Marxism and sociology which refers to a type of capitalism where a large amount of profit-income generated takes the form of property income, received as interest, intellectual property rights, rents, dividends, fees, or capital gains.The beneficiaries of this...
- Rentier stateRentier stateA rentier state is a term in political science and international relations theory used to classify those states which derive all or a substantial portion of their national revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients.- Usage :...
- Slave trade
- Slavery in ChinaSlavery in ChinaSlavery in China has taken various forms throughout history. Never as absolute as its Muslim or European models, Chinese slavery still often viewed its objects as "half-man, half-thing"...
- Slavery in IndiaSlavery in IndiaThe history of slavery in India is complicated by the presence of factors which relate to the definition, ideological and religious perceptions, difficulties in obtaining and interpreting written sources, and perceptions of political impact of interpretations of written sources...