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A Short History of Bhutan

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Bhutan has an obscure early history but authorities agree that the country had existed as a political entity for hundreds of years. There are records that show that it was in 1774 when a British mission arrived in the country to promote trade with India. Nearly 100 years later or in 1864, the British occupied part of the country’s south, eventually annexing it after a war in 1865. In 1907, the British supported the country’s then most powerful governor, Sir Ugyen Wangchuck, who became as its first monarch. In 1910, Britain doubled its annual subsidy to Bhutan in return for British rights to direct its foreign affairs. But in 1949, a treaty signed between Bhutan and Britain returned part of the British-annexed territory and allowed India to assume the former British role with Bhutan, with India vowing not to interfere with the country’s internal affairs.

In 1950, Communist Chian occupied Tibet and tried to claim Bhutan on the ground that it was part of greater Tibet. India resisted and closed the Bhutan-Tibet border while guarding against any intrusion from China. In 1971, the country was admitted as a member of the United Nations and thereafter improved its relations with China in the 1980s.

When peace returned to the country in 2005 following minor uprisings and tensions in some parts of the country, the King relinquished his throne in favor of his son Crown Prince Jigme Kesar Namgyel Wangchuk as the 5th Druk Gyalpo or King, in 2007. In March 2008, elections for the National Assembly were held, marking the country’s shift from absolute monarchy to Constitutional Monarchy, and in November of the same year, the official coronation was held for Bhutan’s 5th King who, at 28, was the world’s youngest monarch.