History of Bhutan
[4] 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.
Guru Rimpoche plays a great historical and religious role as the national patron saint who revealed the tantras—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.
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.
He promulgated a code of law and built a network of impregnable forts (dzong), a system that helped bring local lords under centralized control and strengthened the country against Tibetan invasions.
The invasions were thwarted, and the Drukpa subsect developed a strong presence in western and central Bhutan, leaving Ngawang Namgyal supreme.
The duties and virtues inherent in the Buddhist dharma (religious law) played a large role in the new legal code, which remained in force until the 1960s.
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.
For further continuity, the concept of multiple reincarnation of the first Zhabdrung—in the form of either his body, his speech, or his mind—was invoked by the Je Khenpo and the Druk Desi, both of whom wanted to retain the power they had accrued through the dual system of government.
Ladakh had earlier granted Bhutan several enclaves near Mount Kailash in western Tibet; these were monasteries of the Southern branch of the Drukpa sect and so fell under the authority of the Bhutanese Je Khenpo and the Zhabdrung.
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.
[23] Failing to receive help from Tibet, the Druk Desi signed a Treaty of Peace with the British East India Company on 25 April 1774.
Bhutan had no regular army, and what forces existed were composed of dzong guards armed with matchlocks, bows and arrows, swords, knives, and catapults.
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.
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.
Finally, in 1907, the fifty-fourth and last Druk Desi was forced to retire, and despite recognitions of subsequent reincarnations of Ngawang Namgyal, the Zhabdrung system came to an end.
[26] On January 8, 1910, Sikkim Political Officer and Tibetologist Sir Charles Alfred Bell engaged Bhutan and signed the Treaty of Punakha.
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.
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.
Mostly funded by India after China's Tibetan uprising in 1959, the modernization program also included the construction of roads linking the Indian plains with central Bhutan.
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.
Other observers believe the 1964 crisis was not so much a policy struggle as competition for influence on the palace between the 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.
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.
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).
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.
(Syed) When civil war broke out in Pakistan in 1971, Bhutan was the first nation to recognize the new government of Bangladesh, and formal diplomatic relations were established in 1973.
Significant unrest was now reported to be fomenting in the camps, especially as the United Nations terminated a number of educational and welfare programmes in an effort to force Bhutan and Nepal to come to terms.
On March 26, 2005, "an auspicious day when the stars and elements converge favourably to create an environment of harmony and success", the king and government distributed a draft of the country's first constitution, requesting that every citizen review it.
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.
