Rediscovering Bhutan

It is unbelievable but true that in ancient times Bhutan was a Hindu ‘kingdom’. And like most Hindus of that period, the inhabitants of ‘Bhotants’ were also worshippers of Shiva. Hindus worshipped God Shiva. So did the Bhutias. Both referred to Him as Bhutapati or Bhutesa. Indian Chiefs of Kamarupa, the then Ahom Kingdom (Now Assam) ruled the region till about the middle of the Bhaskaravarman (605-650 A.D.), anarchy and instability prevailed in the region leading to large-scale immigration from the neighbouring Tibet. These immigrants found the environment of the countryside much more comfortable than their original home land that they decided not to return home. At the request of these immigrants, Tibetan King Tritsun Desten commonly known as Ralpachen (816-836 A.D.) sent a contingent of Tibetan troops under Lama Dugpani Sheptoon who invaded the Hindu ‘kingdom’ during the ninth century A.D., drove out the Indians and occupied the land. A series of large-scale migrations over a period of time thus brought about four different cultural-ethnic groups, which in turn led to uneven distribution of population and numerous semi-autonomous principalities. This Book is the story of those times, subsequent spred of Tibetan clture and ‘Red Hats’ sect of Mahayana Buddism, the palace intrigues and remance, internecine warfare armongst the contending Chiefs, raids into plains of British-India, kidnappings for slave-labout, assassinations, British intervention and Panchen Lama’s intercession with the British on behalf of the Bhutanese- and finally the success of British diplomatic coupe resulting in installation of a Maharaja whose successors broke the barriers of isolationism, brought Bhutan in the International comity of nations. The Maharaja became His Majesty the King of Bhutan, which came under the sphere off influence of the British, and subsequently the Republic with Indian financial and technical aid has transformed Bhutan into a modern country within a span of less than half a century. Highlighting all these details and inclusion of numerous illustrations, has made the book a complete informative and reference tool on Bhutan.