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Fig. 1: Map of the Kingdom of Bhutan. Geographical zones: Great Himalayas (light gray), Inner Himalayas (white), Sub-Himalayas (dark gray). Redrawn by R. Blumer from Schicklgruber and Pommaret, eds. 1997: 11, and from Armington 1998: 31.
The Kingdom of Bhutan, or Druk Yul, has a surface of 46'500 km2 (Fig. 1). The country is encompassed by Tibet (occupied by China) to the north, by Arunachal Pradesh (India) to the east, by Assam (India) to the southeast, by West Bengal (India) to the southwset, and by Sikkim (India) to the west. Nepal, which is located to the west, and Bangladesh to the south, do not share any border with Bhutan but lie not far. The country stretches from 88°45’ to 92°10’ eastern longitude and from 26°40’ to 28°15’ northern latitude. Bhutan can be divided in three geographical zones (Fig. 1). The first is the hill zone, also called the Sub-Himalaya, in which the climate is warm and wet, thus not specially healthy during monsoon time. The second is the central belt or Inner Himalaya, consisting in mountain ridges and valleys receiving limited rainfall. The third consists in high mountains chains, the Great Himalaya, also described as the area of everlasting snow. 1. The central belt of Bhutan
On the western side of this belt, we find the Black Mountains; to the east, there is a chain of hills stretching almost linearly from south to north. The central belt itself is cut by two main rivers. The Mangde chu 8 runs from the northern Himalayan peaks through narrow gorges down to Trongsa (Fig. 1). The valley is gently broadening from there and opens on an area where many fertile rice terraces are arranged along its flanks. To the east, the Bhumtang chu drains four culturally rich valleys before it flows into the Mangde chu: the Choskhor valley, also called the Bhumtang valley, the Tang valley, the Ura valley, and the Chhume valley. The Choskhor (or Bhumtang) valleyHere, the altitude (2650m) does not enable rice cultivation. The missing crop is replaced with large buckwheat fields covering the valleys. At the foot of the Choskhor valley, the town of Jakar is the major commercial center of the region (Fig. 1). Jakar dzong, the fortified monastery of the town, has been built in 1667
atop a promontory overlooking the Choskhor valley. The actual monument is said
to be the largest dzong in Bhutan,
with its circumference of more than 1500 m (Armington 1998: 216). Every winter,
the main monastic community of Trongsa
(Fig. 1) comes to Jakar to take
their winter quarters in the dzong.
Every year when the monks arrive, a ceremonial commemoration of the victory of
1644 over the Tibetan invaders coming from Lhobrak takes place. 2. History
The origin of the name “Bhutan” is still unclear today. All the etymological or historical interpretations suggest a link with Tibet. Some authors state that “Bhutan” is a contraction of “Bhota” or “Bod”, meaning Tibet, and of “tan” which would be a variant of the suffix “stan” found in numerous Indo-Persan geographical names like Hindustan or Baluchistan (Renni 1865:3, cited in Mathou 1998:35-36). There are indeed plenty of interpretations of this name, but we have to admit that Bhutan has not only numerous and evident geographical links with the old Bod country (Tibet), but a very strong historical affinity with it too. The origin of Bhutan is yet unclear
and hidden in mythology and traditions. The scarcity of sources should lead us
to the strongest caution when evocating the chronological references prior to
the 17th century. Lacking results of archaeological excavations, the
entire prehistoric period is almost completely unknown. The identification of
megaliths, discovered from place to place in the country, could indicate that
the first peopling of Bhutan occurred more than 2000 years before Christ (Pommaret
1991: 52, in Mathou 1998: 70). Moreover, the available references often
contradict each other. Broad divergences exist between the authors and scholars
of the Bhutanese past. Nevertheless, one can state that the
influence of Tibet over the Bhutanese history, and over the territories
existing prior to the rise of the modern Bhutanese state, started at latest
during the 7th century and disappeared during the 17th
century, when the political unification of the country and the creation of the
first Bhutanese institutions occurred. a. Prehistoric times
India seems to be the first influence on Bhutan, particularly the Kingdom of Cooch Behar, known today as the Indian state of West Bengal. This influence vanished around the 7th century, at the time when Tibet gained in power. The first inhabitants of Bhutan were
adepts of Bön, an animist tradition,
which represented the main religion throughout all the Himalayan area prior to
the advent of Buddhism. b. Buddhism
Buddhism was eventually introduced into the country during the 2nd century AD, but most scholars state that the first Buddhist temples were built during the 7th century. In fact, the first visit of Guru Rimpoche, the Padmasambhava Master, or Precious Master, in the Bhumtang area marked the beginning of Buddhism in Bhutan. The history of the conversion to
Buddhism of a king of Bhumtang in 746 demonstrates that the Bhutanese valleys
were inhabited by a population of yet unknown origin at the time of Guru
Rimpoche. Those were probably of mongoloïd stock if we trust the ancient names
found throughout Bhutan (Pommaret 1991: 53). During all the period of Tibetan
influence, the political history is intermingled with the history of religion.
The Tantric Buddhism coming from Tibet replaced the local worship practices,
although without eliminating them completely. On the contrary, it became richer
of their inputs and became rapidly a vector of cultural integration. (Mathou
1998: 36). This Tibetan influence became concrete through two successive
waves of immigration and conversion corresponding to both great religious
expansion phases of Tibet. The first phase takes place from the
7th until the 8th century. It is at the time of the
advent of the famous Tibetan King Songsten Gampo (627-649) that the proper
history of the valleys constituting the actual Bhutan starts. In the middle of
the 7th century, the one which is considered as the founder of
Tibet, converts to Buddhism, which he contributed to diffuse. He proceeded to a
few incursions in the “Southern Valleys”. He
built twelve temples there. Two of them, Kyichu in Paro and Jampey in
the Choskhor valley of Bhumtang are still in place today
(Fig. 1).
Numerous tales from the oral tradition are telling about old contacts between
Tibet and the “Southern Valleys”. The religious advent of the king
Trisong Detsen (755-797), marking the climax of the monarchy, enabled Tantric
Buddhism (Vajrayana) to become the
state religion of Tibet in 779. This branch of Buddhism, which later will give
rise to Lamaism, has been introduced by a theology scholar of Indian origin,
Guru Rimpoche (Mathou 1998: 39). This scholar has been invited by Trisong
Detsen in order to supervise the building of the first Tibetan monasteries.
Through perpetual contacts between Tibet and Bhutan, the Nyingmapa school,
which he founded, became the dominant religion of Bhutan. Guru Rimpoche is
still playing a very important role today in the religious and historical
iconography of Bhutan, for which he is considered as the saint patron (Mathou
1998: 40). A story tells that Guru Rimpoche has been invited by the king of
Bhumtang to heal him. The megalith standing today in the region of Shemgang,
south of the Black Mountains, is said to have been erected at this time to
commemorate this healing event (Mathou 1998: 40). Guru Rimpoche visited most of
the “Southern Valleys”. Each of his stops in this region became a famous
pilgrimage place. The second phase of Buddhism
diffusion from the Tibetan center began in the 9th century. Tibet
lost again is role as a diffusion center with the death of King Ralpachen
(805-838), murdered by his own brother Langdarma (803-842) who was later killed
by Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje, a monk. This time is marking the end of the hereditary
royal lineage in Tibet. Since Tibet was cut from his Indian roots, Buddhism
lost its strength. A few aristocrats and masters chose this moment to move to
the "Southern Valleys". It is only after the revival of
Buddhism in Tibet, corresponding to the advent of new religious schools and to
the activities of the tertön, that
the religion spread again in Bhutan. The tertön
were the "treasure finders" who rediscovered mystical texts or
relicts written by Guru Rimpoche or by his disciples, many years and up to many
centuries after the authors had hidden them in secret places (Mathou 1998: 42).
In the Bhumtang valley, the Lake Membartsho became such a sacred place (Fig. 2) after the famous tertön Pema
Lingpa (1450-1521) (Fig. 4) discovered there some of the treasures of Guru
Rimpoche. Invited to go to Tibet by the king
Yeshe-Ö, the Indian wise man Atisa is at the origin of the revival. Referring
to the table of the religious schools (Fig. 3), one will notice that those
spiritual schools and traditions developed in a very complex way in about one
century. Concerning Bhutan, we will especially remember the Drukpa school,
which would eventually become the leading tradition in Bhutan, and was so
strongly embedded that their tradition was identified as the local culture. Founded in Tibet by Tsangpa Gyare
Yeshe Dorji (1161-1211), the Drukpa school was inspired by the learning of the Phagmodrukpa. Their doctrine was
introduced to Bhutan by Phajo Drugom Shigpo (1208-1276), a Tibetan from the
Kham region, who lived in Thimpu and founded the Tango monastery
(Fig. 1) (Mathou 1998: 43). Although the progression of the Drukpa was steady, other
schools continued to settle to Bhutan between the 12th and the 17th
century, period dominated by the teeming and complexity of religious rivalries. Among those schools, the ancient
order of the Nyingmapa insured its durable presence in Bhutan. The Bhumtang
region, which Padmasambhava converted personally, almost gained an autonomous
religious statute compared to the neighboring valleys. This region has only
been conquered by the Drukpa during the middle of the 17th century.
Longchen Rabjampa (1308-1363), one of the biggest masters of the Nyinmapa
school, settled in Bhumtang after he fled from Tibet where he was opposed to
the local authorities. He founded the monasteries of Samtenling, of Shingkhar,
and of Ugyen Chhoeling. It is also in Bhumtang that Pema Lingpa was born and
died (1450-1521) (Fig. 4). He was recognized as the double reincarnation
of Padmasambhava and of Longcen Rabjampa, and became the most famous Nyingmapa tertön. His descendants extended their
influence over the eastern and central parts of the country where they built
monasteries too, among them the monasteries of Dramitse, in the region of
Trashigang
(Fig. 1), and of Gante in the Black Mountains. Before they could claim their
supremacy, the Drukpa had to face the influence of the "five groups of
opposed lamas": the Kathogpa (of Nyingmapa tradition), the Nenyingpa
(absorbed by the Gelugpa tradition), the Chazampa and the Barawa, federated in
their common fight against the rising Lhapa school. Buddhism diffused progressively in
the "Southern Valleys" and transformed the traditional society in
depth, but without pacifying it. During this period, Bhutan was far from having
a central government. It was a mosaic of small territorial units of dithered
and precarious statutes, with conflicting relationships to one another (Mathou
1998: 45). Each of these territories had its own theocratic king. It seems that
the most important of these microstates was Chhoekhor, in the Bhumtang valley,
where a hereditary theocracy eventually federated neighboring principalities. c. The theocracy and the Chhoesi (17th
century – 1907)
Bhutan had to wait until the 17th century to look like a unified entity; the event leading to this new situation was a religious dispute in Tibet. Ngawang Namgyel (Fig.
5), born in
1594 in the Gya family, has been recognized as the reincarnation of Kunkhen
Padma Karpo (1527-1592), great scholar of the Drukpa school, himself reincarnation
of the Drukpa founder Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorji. The strong prince of Tsang,
Phuntsho Namgyel, who reigned in Tibet at this time, refused to recognize his
religious legitimacy. Finding no compromise with the ruler, Ngawang Namgyel
went on exile to the "Southern Valleys" where he arrived at the age
of 22 years. Surrounded by his congregation, he
took the head of the Drukpa school, which influence did not cease to grow since
the 13th century. Taking the shabdrung
title ("in front of his feet one
bows down"), he roamed the "Southern Valleys" to realize the
religious unity of the country and triumphed over all local rivalries. In 1620,
he supervised the building of the Cheri monastery in the valley of Thimpu, he
installed there about thirty monks who were at the origin of the monastic order
(the dratshang), which eventually
became the dorsal spine of the new power based alternately in Thimpu and in
Punakha. The Tibetan invasionsIn 1629, 1634, and again in 1639, Ngawang Namgyel repelled the assaults directed from Tibet by the prince (and his descendants) who made him initially flee to Bhutan (Mathou 1998: 49). After the setback of the third Tibetan invasion tentative, it seems that the shabdrung found a provisional compromise with its northern neighbors, thus enabling Bhutan to relish a factual independence (Mathou 1998: 49). This peace was of short duration and the shabdrung could only realize the stabilization of the border of the nascent state in 1650. In the meantime, the Gelugpa, assisted by Mongolian troops, proceeded to numerous offensives against Bhutan. The first of them, in fact the fourth Tibetan invasion, occurred in 1644 in reaction to the support the shabdrung expressed to the Garpa family, which had organized a revolt against the power of the new masters of Lhasa. The last invasion happened in 1649. All these attacks have lead to routed Tibetan troops and to the enforcement of the shabdrung's power in the "Southern Valleys" and abroad (Mathou 1998: 50). Most of the local monarchs showed him allegiance, as well as many neighboring monarchs. The fame of the shabdrung even reached Western Europe, since he welcomed two Portuguese Jesuit fathers, Estevao Cacella and Joao Cabral, first Europeans who ever entered Bhutan. The shabdrung became the spiritual and temporal chief of a vast
territory where he supervised the building of dzongs. He built some more near the country borders. Finishing his
earthly work, he decided to retire in 1651 to meditate, thus sixteen years
after his arrival in Bhutan. But before he retired, he created institutions,
which succeeded him more than two centuries. His system, inspired by the
theocratic state of the dalaï-lama, was based on the existence of a dyarchy. In
fact, he wanted to separate the spiritual function from the civil affairs. He
delegated his powers to two representatives, the druk desi charged of the secular administration, and the je khenpo placed at the head of the
clergy (Mathou 1998: 51). The name of this system is the chhoesi. The shabdrung defined
an electoral process for the successions of the druk desi, process based on a theocratic consensus between the
people, the clergy, and a kind of council, the lhungye tsok, created in 1651 to assist him. The druk desi, revocable by this council,
was disigned for a three years mandate. The je
khenpo, determined by the clergy, had a mandate of same duration. It had to
administer the religious affairs while the druk
desi had the role of a king in a monarchial system, thus leading the
military and fiscal affairs, the justice, and the nomination of the
functionaries. In his every day task, the "king" was assisted by a
" minister council", the shung
lhen tshog, composed of high dignitaries of the state, like the lami zimpon, personal secretary of the shabdrung, the shung droenyer, kind of prime minister, and the kaylon, sort of state minister. As we
can judge, the shabdrung installed a
highly structured administration (Mathou 1998: 53). Ideal in theory, the dyarchy soon
diverged from the model imagined by its founder. It seems that the shabdrung died soon after his
retirement, thus soon after the beginning of the chhoesi system. But his death has only been announced in 1705 in
order to impeach the succession crisis. Between 1705 and 1907, date marking
the end of the chhoesi, Bhutan went
through a period of inner chaos propitious to foreign aggressions and to the
destabilization of the territorial unity. From 1705 to 1734, the country was
almost divided in two distinct territories due to the rivalry opposing both
main factions claiming the shabdrung's
heritage. Each of them appealed to Tibet to support its cause. This was a rare
occasion for Tibet to interfere in the inner affairs of Bhutan. The country's
intestine quarrels, during more than two centuries, favored the rise in power
of the local governors. This was the most striking fact of this period, from
the middle of the 18th century until the end of the 19th
century. The present chapter is not the place to tell the complete stories of
those monarchs for which the namthar
(the Bhutanese annals) kept only a selective memory. d. The monarchy
The end of the chhoesi was the logic end of the anarchy, which was installed in the country since numerous years, and of the inefficiency of the institutions created by the first shabdrung. Ugyen Wangchuck was the first man to draw the conclusions for this situation (Mathou 1998: 61). Since the penlop (governor) of Trongsa had just been assassinated in 1883, Ugyen Wangchuck prepared an army and marched on Bhumtang to crush the active rebellion. He wanted to restore the situation in which Trongsa was the stronghold of the Bhutanese territory. In 1888, he was the absolute master of Bhutan. Finishing the military and political conquest, he designated a druk desi to take the head of the country and worked to broaden his supporting base. He was able to conquer as well inner support as the sympathy of the Empire of the British Indies, thus establishing the national unity at his profit. He designated personally chosen persons for the key-responsibilities of the state, like for example Ugyen Kasi Dorji, renowned Bhutanese merchant, far parent of Ugyen Wangchuck, who would play a capital role in his double enterprise: he had to act as "foreign minister" and he received the responsibility to handle the Nepalese immigration and the contacts with the South. This position became hereditary in the Dorji family, which was tightly associated to the Wangchuck family in the conquest of the power from 1908 to 1965. Ugyen Wangchuck also tried to obtain
the British support. He already conquered Lord Curzon, vice king of the Indies,
playing a mediation role in resolving conflict between the British Indies and
Tibet, which ended with the signature of a treaty opening a long awaited
commercial route between both regions. Strong of his inner victories and of
his foreign relations, Ugyen Wangchuck was ready to govern Bhutan. The
unpopularity of the druk desi facilitated
this situation even more. The latter was thus deprived of his office and Ugyen
Wangchuck was declared king (druk gyalpo)
on December 17th 1907, by a cortege of high dignitaries, among them the clergy,
the members of the lhungye tsok, and
representatives of the provinces. The new king preferred to abolish the druk desi function. This marked the end
of the chhoesi and the new beginning of a Buddhist monarchial tradition
forgotten for a long time. All druk gyalpo succeeding to him would work toward the same goal: to
bring the country into the 21st century while preserving its strong cultural
identity. The hardest task of the actual and fourth king, druk gyalpo Jingme Singye Dorji Wangchuck, is certainly not to
integrate the country in the international context through progressive opening
and modernization. It will undoubtedly be to resolve the national identity
problem arisen through the strong immigration (Mathou 1998: 70). 3. The population
a. Demography
In 1994, the estimated population of Bhutan was 600'000, with 43% of the inhabitants aged less than 15. The population growth rate is 3.1% per year, which is one of the highest in the world. The high infant mortality rate in the past induced people to have more children in the hope that at least some of them would survive. It takes time for people to adjust their habits (Armington 1998: 53). b. Ethnic groups
The information of this part is all taken from Mathou (1998). It is the only reference presenting all the ethnic minorities of Bhutan. Bhutan has not been influenced by
the big population movements that have shaped the region. The country is
nevertheless touched by proximity immigration. Eighteen languages are spoken in
the kingdom and the linguistic diversity does not enable an inventory of the
ethnic structure of the country. It is still possible to distinguish three main
groups: the Ngalong, the Lhotshampa, and the Sharchop, complemented by a whole
mosaic of minorities. The NgalongThe population of Tibetan stock living in the West, especially in the valleys of Thimphu, Punakha, Gasa, Paro, Wangduephodrang, Ha, Dagana, and Chhukha (Fig. 1), represent the Ngalong group. This term designates the descendants of Tibetan settlers who immigrated in Bhutan between the 9th and the 12th century. Culturally closely related to Tibet, the practice a Tantric Buddhism. They pertain to the Bhotia group, larger unit used to refer to the population of Tibetan origin which settled in the South, notably in Bhutan and in Sikkim, since the middle of the first millenium AD. They should not be confounded with the last Tibetan immigrants, those who came after the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959; The Ngalong all have the Bhutanese nationality and have merged in the remainder of the population. Nevertheless, they keep some cultural features, like the practice of the Tibetan language and the respect of the spiritual Gelugpa tradition. They speak dzongkha too, the official language of Bhutan since 1961. The LhotshampaMany ethnic group originating from eastern Nepal, where they are dominant, have settled in southeastern Bhutan since the end of the 19th century. The biggest immigration wave occurred during the 1950-1960s. Although some of them are Buddhists, a large majority is Hinduist. They are cultivators and they have reconstituted the social organization of their country of origin in southern Bhutan. The role of the Lhotshampa has been determinant for the economic development of their hosting region, initially insalubrious because of malaria and almost uninhabited. Although most are settled cultivators, some of them still practice an itinerant system of rotation of crops called tseri. They represent 25% of the population. The nepali language, derived from sanskrit, became the most widespread language in the South. Even the public institutions have introduced the bilinguism. The only newspaper of Bhutan, "Kuensel", is edited in both dzongkha and nepali. Nevertheless, the Lhotshampa are not a uniform group if one takes into account the diversity of ethnic groups and casts composing it. The SharchopInstalled in the eastern part of the country, they could be among the oldest inhabitants of Bhutan. They have as well cultural affinities with populations of Tibetan origin as with populations whose origins go back to the Mön. When the Mön settled in the territory of actual Bhutan, they came in contact with the Koch, the Khen, and the previously installed Tibetan groups. Their admixture gave birth to the Sharchop. Although most of them are settled, many still practice itinerant cultivation on burned fields. Maize is the dominant crop raised. Converted to Tantric Buddhism, they nevertheless keep strongly impregnated with the bön cult, an animist pre-Buddhic tradition. Some legends gave rise to rituals that are proper to eastern Bhutan. The language spoken by this group, the tsangly or shachopka, which is affiliated to the tibeto-burman group, is an enormous differentiation factor. The language is still spoken by 23% of the population, thus making it the third spoken language of the country. The other ethnic minoritiesA mosaic of ethnic minorities may be connected with one of the three groups presented before. Together, they constitute the last quarter of the population. A first sub-unit is represented by the indo-mongoloïd groups of the Center and Southwest. The Kheng represent 10% of the population. They live in the regions of Bhumtang and Trongsa (Fig. 1). The other minorities cannot be regrouped in sub-units. The Brokpa and the Bromi are nomadic tribes living at high altitudes. The Brokpa are herding in the regions of Mera and Sakteng (Fig. 1), and the Bromi have developed a seasonal culture and handicrafts, like bamboo basketwork, in the village of Dur north of Bhumtang. The Doyas, installed in the western part of the kingdom, live at low altitudes, in the foothills of Darokha in the Samchi district (Fig. 1). They are half-settled and they live from cultivation and cattle raising. The Bodo are essentially merchants who have gained from their geographic location, in the region of the duars (southern plains) (Fig. 1), in developing their traditional activities. The Toktop, who eventually are the most autochthonous people of Bhutan, represent a very small group of people living in the village of Toktoka, south of Paro (Fig. 1), where they practice an alternate agriculture in the middle of the forest. The Lokhpu form a community of animist tradition, which show a peculiarity in installing their deaths in cylindrical sepulchres above ground. The Lepcha, originating from Sikkim, are also present in the kingdom, and they are the only group having a real literal tradition. 4. Conclusion
Bhutan slowly opens its hearth to foreign visitors. The remote Himalayan kingdom, which was almost hermetically closed to the outside world until the 1970s, progressively starts to share its historical sources. Those are diverse, rich, and extremely well preserved. This is mainly due to the positive attention they received from the monastic orders, which were, and still are, in charge of most of Bhutan's heritage, as well consisting in relicts, in written rolls, in magnificent wall paintings, in marvelous architectures, etc. One single source of historical information is lacking in Bhutan: archaeological sites. In such a context, the development of archaeological research will certainly enable Bhutan to close the circle. Archaeology will not only help to exhibit the buried remains connected to the myriad of Bhutanese historical events to the rest of the world, but also to understand what everyday life was in those important historical times. Moreover, it will ultimately give insight in the oldest past periods, before the advent of Buddhism in the country, thus giving a prehistorical depth to the lands in which the actual modern Druk Yul found its roots and flourished. On the other side, the archaeological discoveries will certainly induce difficult changes in the popular believes: the new historical knowledge acquired through western methods will increasingly be confronted to the bhutanese legends and to the legacies of oral traditions. (This chapter was provided by Frédérique Vial)
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Copyright 2000 by Blumer R. and Vial F.
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