Jigme Namgyal (Bhutan)

Desi Jigme Namgyal of Bhutan (Dzongkha: འཇིགས་མེད་རྣམ་རྒྱལ; Wylie: jigs med rnam rgyal, 1825–1881) is a forefather of the Wangchuck Dynasty.

He served as 51st Druk Desi (Deb Raja, the secular executive) of Bhutan (1870–1873), and held the hereditary post of 10th Penlop of Trongsa.

While he was a high official of Trongsa, Jigme Namgyal married Ashi Pema Choki, the daughter of the 8th Trongsa Penlop (Tamzhing Choji family), Dasho Ugyen Phuntsho, by his wife, Aum Rinchen Pelmo (a daughter of Sonam Drugyel, 31st Druk Desi).

Jigme Namgyal launched a counter offensive with about 5000 men and succeeded in dislodging the British Imperial Force at Deothang.

[14] The most important contribution of Desi Jigme Namgyal made was the ushering in of peace, through a reduction of local feuds among the top leadership by gradually unifying the state over three decades, from the 1850s to 1870s.

The reduction of internal conflicts, especially after 1878, allowed for laying the foundation of the monarchy that in turn brought a peaceful era in Bhutan.

After Jigme Namgyal's reign, foreign relations could be conducted in a systematic and co-ordinated way, because the fragmentation of power among the top leadership could be avoided.

[4] In 1881, Desi Jigme Namgyal died, aged 55–56, at Simtokha Dzong in the Thimphu valley (first built in 1629) from a fall from a yak.

[17] Jigme Namgyal is the father of the first Druk Gyalpo King Ugyen Wangchuck, who founded the Bhutanese monarchy in 1907 after besting his rivals, the Penlop of Paro and allies, ending protracted civil war.