A BRIEF HISTORY OF BHUTAN

Little is known of prehistoric Bhutan. However, stone implements and megaliths marking places of worship or hunting grounds indicate that people lived here at the end of the Neolithic, around 2000 BC. During the first millennium BC, nomadic tribes of Indian or Tibeto-Mongol origin appear to have mixed with these native peoples from the prehistoric period.

The development of Buddhism

One has to wait until the 7th century to find the earliest texts referring to Bhutan. They relate the construction of the temples at Kyichu in the Paro valley and Jampa Lhakhang in that of Bumthang by the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, who reigned from 627 to 650. Through these acts, the monarch helped to spread Buddhism in the “southern valleys” where at that time animist and shamanic religions prevailed.

But it was with the arrival of the great Indian master Padmasambhava in the 8th century that Buddhism really began to spread throughout this Himalayan land. Known as Guru Rimpoche by the Bhutanese and Tibetans, Padmasambhava is said to have arrived in Bhutan in 747, invited to the country to cure a king who was on his deathbed. He meditated, taught Buddhism and had several temples built. The places he visited are still venerated today. Moreover, Padmasambhava hid sacred texts in various parts of the country; their profound meaning was incomprehensible to the people of the period. “Treasure-finders” known as tertöns in the local language would be led to discover them much later so as to complete the master’s teaching and finish his work. With the coming of Padmasambhava, Buddhsim began gradually to replace the local cults, sometimes incorporating certain beliefs from them. In the 9th century, many Tibetan lords who had fled to Bhutan joined the native people converted earlier. Buddhists in Tibet were persecuted during the reign of King Langdarma and these lords settled in the east of the country, where they formed small principalities.

The unification of the country

In 1616, due to a quarrel over the succession to the throne of Ralung, the seat of the drukpa-kagyu order in Tibet, Ngawang Namgyel had to flee to Bhutan. His arrival would be a major turning point in the country’s history and organisation. Ngawang Namgyel, who is still referred to as Shabdrung “He at whose feet one submits”, quickly imposed his political and religious authority throughout western Bhutan. In just a few years, he succeeded in bringing together all the independent principalities and initiating a process of unification. When he died in 1651 order had been restored almost everywhere.
The great fortresses of Simtokha, Punakha, Wangdiphodrang and Tongsa were built during his reign. While ensuring the country’s safety, they also served as relays for the central authority and its administration.
Resisting many invasions by the Tibetans and Mongols during the course of his reign, Ngawang Namgyel quickly became both feared and admired inside Bhutan and beyond its borders. His great sense of organisation enabled him to introduce order into the monasteries and to set up a religious hierarchy dominated by the Je Khenpo. He appointed a regent, the Desi, to head the civil administration, giving him temporal power throughout the country. This double system of government, known as chhoesi, remained in force in Bhutan until the creation of the hereditary monarchy in 1907. Because of his legacy in terms of administrative, legislative and religious reforms, Ngawang Namgyel is considered to be the principal architect of modern Bhutan.

The establishment of the monarchy

By the end of the 19th century, Ugyen Wangchuck became the undisputed master of the country. He then started a long process to strengthen the central power in order to recover the unity that Ngawang Namgyel had achieved 250 years before. He gradually rallied all the lords throughout the country to his cause and on 17 December 1907 was proclaimed King of Bhutan by an assembly including representatives of the clergy, Council of State and local governors. He took the title of Druk Gyalpo, thus ending the system of chhoesi. The position of Desi disappeared and only that of Je Khenpo remained as the spiritual leader of Bhutan.

But a new era really began with King Jigme Dorje Wangchuck, the third monarch to rule over the country. Born in 1928, he was crowned king in 1952. A reformer and man of progress, one of his first acts was to set up a national assembly in 1953. Known as the tshogdu, this comprised representatives of the people, civil administration and clergy. Other bodies were created one after another, in particular the Royal Council and a Council of Ministers. Jigme Dorje Wangchuck separated the judiciary from the executive, creating a High Court of Justice, and abolished serfdom.

His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck was born in 1955 and, when he succeeded his father, became the youngest monarch in the world. He was crowned in 1974 and has since continued a policy of development and modernisation while taking care to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of his country. On many occasions, he has demonstrated his determination to give greater responsibility to the Bhutanese people, by creating elected decision-making bodies in the villages and districts. A further proof of this desire to involve the people more was the 1998 Royal Decree giving power to the National Assembly to ratify or reject the nomination of Ministers, who were hitherto appointed solely at the King’s discretion. While the third King was the father of modern Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck seems destined to be the father of democracy. He wisely prepared Bhutan to enter the 21st century, maintaining a harmonious balance between a respect for tradition and a commitment to economic development. Bhutan is currently drafting a parliamentary constitution and is paving the way to a multiparty system.