History

The Kingdom of Bhutan or Druk Yul (the Land of the Thunder Dragon) is a country nestled in the Eastern Himalayas. It is wedged between China in the north and India in the east, west and south.

Ancient stone implements and other archeological findings indicate that there were settlements in Bhutan dating back to 2000 B.C. The recorded history of Bhutan however is more prominent from the eighth century A.D. onwards coinciding with the visit of Guru Padmasambhava to Bhutan in 747 A.D. He is credited to have introduced Buddhism into Bhutan, which till then followed some form of Bonism or Shamanism. He is affectionately revered to as Guru Rimpoche or literally the Precious Master.

The visit of Guru Rimpoche in the eighth century and later many other Buddhist saints and scholars from both India and Tibet marked the beginning of the spread of Vajrayana form of Mahayana Buddhism. Ever since the eighth century Buddhism has occupied a predominant role in shaping the social, political, economic and cultural evolution of the country. In the centuries that followed besides developing unique art and architecture Buddhist teachers or Lamas and local nobility established their own separate domains leading to the emergence of ruling clans in the country.

However, it was not until after the arrival of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1616 that it became a unified and a sovereign state as we know of today. Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, born in 1594, was a highly revered religious figure and the head of the Drukpa Kargyud lineage at Druk Ralung in Tibet. It was Shabdrung who introduced the dual system (Chhoesi) of governance in Bhutan with Druk Desi as the temporal head and the Je Khenpo as the spiritual head. This dual system of governance worked very well for Bhutan for over hundred years after Shabdrung’s death during which people enjoyed unprecedented degree of political stability and peace and harmony in the country. However, from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, the weak central authority gave rise to powerful regional lords who fought amongst themselves as well as with the central authority. External threats in the latter half of the 19th century also added to the political quandary. This period of instability, intrigues and rivalries continued till the early 20th century.

The peace and stability were restored in Bhutan with the establishment of monarchy. The most powerful of the regional lords – the Trongsa Penlop Sir Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was crowned as the first hereditary King of Bhutan on December 17 in 1907. The country’s self-imposed policy of isolation however continued till the end of the reign of the second King Jigme Wangchuck. It was the third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck who decided to shed this age-old policy and introduced Bhutan to the outside world, bringing the country to the international mainstream, heralding in the modern period for Bhutan. His Majesty the fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck besides ushering in unprecedented peace and prosperity and instituting a parliamentary democracy in Bhutan gifted to the world a practical development philosophy of Gross National Happiness as a solution to the present world crisis. The present His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck continues the magnanimous responsibility of taking Bhutan into further levels of peace and harmony and unprecedented prosperity.

Even though the country is known as Bhutan to the outside world, to the Bhutanese it has always been known as Druk Yul – the ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’ – and the people as the Drukpas.

Geography

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a small sovereign state on the eastern Himalayas wedged between China in the north and India in the south. With an area of 38,394 sq.km it is located between 88 45’ and 92 10’ East longitude and 26 40’ and 28 15’ North latitude. Bhutan is a mountainous country with rugged terrain which rises from about 160 m above sea level in the south to the high Himalayan Mountains of 7, 600 m above sea level in the north.
The country’s population as per 2005 National Housing and Population Census is 752,700. The country’s population consists of two main ethic groups – Drukpas and the Lhotshmapas. While the Drukpas forming the dominant ethnic group are largely Mahayana Buddhists Lhotshampas are mainly Hindus.