Page 5 - Bhutan Destination Guide - Alluring Asia

Ngawang Namgyal's son and stepbrother, in 1651 and 1680, respectively, succeeded him. They started their reigns as minors under the control of religious and civil regents and rarely exercised authority in their own names. For further continuity, the concept of multiple reincarnation of the first shabdrung -- in the form of either his body, his speech, or his mind -- PAGE 3-7 was invoked by the Je Khenpo and the druk desi, both of whom wanted to Population | Time | Visas History | Religion retain the power they had accrued through the dual system of government. PAGE 8 Civil Conduct, 1728-72 Language Civil war ensued eighteenth century, Bhutan had successfully developed PAGE 9 control over the principality of Cooch Behar. The raja of Cooch Behar had Climate sought assistance from Bhutan against the Indian Mughals in 1730, and Bhutanese political influence was not long in following. By the mid-1760s, PAGE 10 The Land Thimphu considered Cooch Behar its dependency, stationing a garrison force there and directing its civil administration. When the druk desi PAGE 11 invaded Sikkim in 1770, Cooch Behar forces joined their Bhutanese The People | What to Pack | counterparts in the offensive. In a succession dispute in Cooch Behar two years later, however, the druk desi's nominee for the throne was opposed PAGE 12 Currency | Credit Cards by a rival who invited British troops, and, in effect. Cooch Behar became a Changing Money | Tipping dependency of the British East India Company. Insurance PAGE 13 British Intrusion, 1772-1907 Etiquette | Safety & theft Under the Cooch Behari agreement with the British, a British expeditionary force drove the Bhutanese garrison out of Cooch Behar and invaded PAGE 14 Communications | Media Bhutan in 1772-73. The druk desi petitioned Lhasa for assistance from the Panchen Lama, who was serving as regent for the youthful Dalai Lama. In PAGE 15 correspondence with the British governor general of India, however, the Shopping | Customs Panchen Lama instead castigated the druk desi and invoked Tibet's claim Bartering of suzerainty over Bhutan. PAGE 16 Food & Drinks Failing to receive help from Tibet, the druk desi signed a Treaty of Peace with the British East India Company on April 25, 1774. Bhutan agreed to PAGE 17-21 Culture & The Arts | Religion return to its pre-1730 boundaries, paid a symbolic tribute of five horses to Britain, and, among other concessions, allowed the British to harvest timber in Bhutan. Subsequent missions to Bhutan were made by the British in 1776, 1777, and 1783, and commerce was opened between British India and Bhutan and, for a short time, Tibet. In 1784 the British turned over to Bhutanese control Bengal Duars territory, where boundaries were poorly defined. As in its other foreign territories, Bhutan left administration of the Bengal Duars territory to local officials and collected its revenues.