history of Bhutan

history of Bhutan, a survey of the notable events and people in the history of Bhutan. A historically remote kingdom located along the Himalayas, Bhutan became less isolated during the second half of the 20th century and transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy in 2008. The capital, Thimphu, is in the west-central part of the country and has served as Bhutan’s official seat of government since 1962.

Bhutan’s rugged mountains and dense forests long rendered it almost inaccessible to the outside world, and the country’s rulers reinforced this isolation by banning foreigners until well into the 20th century. Then, under pressure from neighbouring countries with strategic interests in Bhutan, a slow change began. In committing to policies of social and administrative reform coupled with economic development, Bhutan began to cultivate its international contacts.

The emergence of Bhutan

The historical origins of Bhutan are obscure. It is reported that some four to five centuries ago an influential lama from Tibet, Sheptoon La-Pha, became the king of Bhutan and acquired the title of dharma raja. Bhutan probably became a distinct political entity about this period. La-Pha was succeeded by Doopgein Sheptoon, who consolidated Bhutan’s administrative organization through the appointment of regional penlops (governors of territories) and jungpens (governors of forts). Doopgein Sheptoon exercised both temporal and spiritual authority, but his successor confined himself to only the spiritual role and appointed a minister to exercise the temporal power. The minister became the temporal ruler and acquired the title of deb raja. This institution of two supreme authorities—a dharma raja for spiritual affairs and a deb raja for temporal matters—existed until the death of the last dharma raja in the early 20th century. Succession to the spiritual office of dharma raja was dependent on what was considered a verifiable reincarnation of the deceased dharma raja, and this person was often discovered among the children of the ruling families. When the last dharma raja died in the 1930s, no reincarnation was found, and the practice and the office ceased to exist.

More From Britannica

Bhutan: History of Bhutan

For much of the 19th century Bhutan was plagued by a series of civil wars as the governors of the various territories contended for power and influence. The office of the deb raja, in theory filled by election by a council composed of penlops and jungpens, was in practice held by the strongest of the governors, usually either the penlop of Paro or the penlop of Tongsa. Similarly, the penlops, who were to be appointed by the deb raja, in practice fought their way into office. Throughout most of Bhutanese history a continuous series of skirmishes and intrigues took place throughout the land as superseded jungpens and penlops awaited an opportunity to return to power.

In 1907, after the dharma raja had died and the deb raja had withdrawn into a life of contemplation, the then strongest penlop, Ugyen Wangchuk of Tongsa, was “elected” by a council of lamas, abbots, councillors, and laymen to be the hereditary king (druk gyalpo) of Bhutan. The lamas continued to have strong spiritual influence.

Relations with China, India, and Great Britain

Despite its long-standing tendency to isolate itself from the rest of the world, Bhutan was the object of several foreign invasions in the centuries after its establishment. In 1720 a Chinese imperial army invaded Tibet and established suzerainty over both Tibet and Bhutan. Control over Bhutan changed several times thereafter, and the country’s exact territorial extent was not clear. The British intervened in Bhutan in 1772–73 and again in 1864–65, at which time the defeated Bhutanese signed a treaty ceding control of their southern border passes to the British. The Bhutanese also agreed to accept British mediation in any future disputes between Bhutan and its neighbours in return for an annual British subsidy.

Ugyen Wangchuk became Bhutan’s druk gyalpo in 1907 with British approval, and in 1910 the Bhutanese government agreed in a treaty to continue to be guided by Great Britain in external affairs in return for an increased annual subsidy and the promise of noninterference in Bhutan’s internal affairs. In subsequent decades, Bhutan gradually became oriented toward British-ruled India, though much of its trade was still with Tibet.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe

In August 1949 Bhutan concluded a treaty with newly independent India, whereby that country assumed Britain’s former role toward Bhutan. As part of this arrangement, India paid an annual subsidy to Bhutan, and a strip of land in the Duars of Assam, known as the Dewangiri, was transferred to Bhutan. India also refrained from interfering in the country’s internal administration.

When the People’s Republic of China took control of Tibet in 1950, Bhutan was prompted to strengthen its ties with India. China’s suppression of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and its vague assertions of sovereignty over some Bhutanese territory lent urgency to the Chinese threat, and in the 1950s India took measures to strengthen its defensive garrisons along Bhutan’s northern border with Tibet. The building of a road network inside Bhutan and toward India was initiated, and the arrival of the first automobiles was a significant step toward ending Bhutan’s geographical isolation.

The end of absolute monarchy to the present

Beginning in the early 1960s, King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk embarked on a program to reform the country’s economy and its quasi-feudal social system. New roads and hospitals were built, and a system of secular schools was established as an alternative to education in Buddhist monasteries. Transformation of the social system began with the abolition of slavery, the restriction of Bhutia polyandry and Nepalese polygamy, and a slight liberalization of royal rule. Bhutan’s government institutions were also restructured, though the king retained firm control over the country’s political life. Political instability occasionally surfaced, notably in 1964, when the prime minister was murdered in a dispute between rival political factions, and in 1965, when an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on the king himself. Limited numbers of tourists were permitted to enter the country beginning in the 1970s, and in 1971 Bhutan officially ended its political isolation by joining the United Nations.

In 1972, 16-year-old Jigme Singye Wangchuk succeeded his father as king. The new king agreed to abide by the treaty with India and also sought to improve ties with China. Jigme Singye Wangchuk continued his father’s reform and development policies, channeling money into infrastructure, education, and health, but he also tried to preserve Bhutan’s rich cultural heritage and natural environment. In 1988 Bhutan launched a national policy demanding that everyone adhere completely to Buddhist traditions. Bhutanese of Nepalese origin, who constituted between one-third and one-half of Bhutan’s residents (Bhutan’s government claimed the former, Bhutan’s Nepalese the latter) and who were primarily Hindu, viewed the policy as an attempt to suppress Nepalese culture. Violent protests and ethnic antagonism broke out, and thousands of Bhutan’s Nepalese residents fled to Nepal (Bhutan’s government claimed that many of the Nepalese had resided in the country illegally). By the early 1990s it was estimated that some 100,000 Nepalese from Bhutan were housed in refugee camps in Nepal; the governments of Bhutan and Nepal held regular meetings to resolve the refugee issue but still had not reached a final agreement after several decades.

At the same time, Jigme Singye Wangchuk moved to democratize Bhutan. In the late 1990s he relinquished absolute authority. Although the king continued to wield significant power, particularly over security issues, he shared power with the Council of Ministers, whose chair developed into a de facto prime minister. The king also persuaded members of the Tshogdu (Bhutan’s national assembly, partly elected by village headmen and partly appointed by the king and the monastic order) to accept a provision that would allow the assembly to call for a vote of confidence on the monarch and even potentially require him to abdicate. In addition, at the behest of the king, extensive efforts were directed toward establishing a written constitution for Bhutan. Efforts were also made toward opening up the kingdom to free exchange of ideas. In 1999 the government lifted its prohibitions on television broadcasting and allowed its citizens access to the Internet.

By the turn of the 21st century, Bhutan had moved to embrace democracy as well as to eliminate vestiges of its historical isolation from all angles—geographic, political, economic, social, and technological. Accelerating this initiative was the abdication of the king in 2006 and the transfer of the throne to his politically progressive son, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk. By the end of 2007 the country had held direct elections—the first in its history—for the National Council, the upper house of a new bicameral parliament. Elections in March 2008 for the National Assembly, the lower house of the new parliament, marked the completion of the change to a democratic system.

In the decade that followed, both democracy and economic development showed promising growth and success. Though the unresolved refugee crisis left the refugees in Nepal excluded from the political process, Bhutan continued to increase political participation within the country and held competitive elections every five years. Three different political parties won in the country’s first three elections. Economic growth was among the most rapid in the world, and extreme poverty was nearly eradicated. The development of both democratic institutions and economic growth was reinforced by a number of successful initiatives, such as a substantial increase in school enrollment and youth literacy.

Much of Bhutan’s headway came from India’s interest and investment in the country, which holds significant geostrategic importance to India. Bhutan’s position as a middleman and a buffer between Indian and Chinese interests was put on display in the summer of 2017 when a standoff occurred between Indian and Chinese troops in a small plateau claimed by the two countries and by Bhutan. The standoff occurred after Bhutan noticed Chinese workers attempting to build a road along the plateau, prompting India to send troops to the construction site. Hundreds of troops from each side amassed at the site, and thousands of others were in the vicinity. Though India and China both withdrew from the plateau after two months, both countries have since fortified their military presence in the region.