BHUTAN, an independent state in the eastern Himalayas, lying between Tibet and British India, with the latter of which the boundary marches for, about 200 miles. It is bounded on the east by a tract inhabited by savage tribes, such as Abors and Mishmis, called by the Tibetans Kha Lo and Ting Lo, i.e., sav ages at the entrance and savages at the bottom ; and on the west by the State of Sikkim and the district of Darjeeling. The whole of Bhutan presents a succession of lofty and rugged mountains running generally from north to south and separated by deep valleys. The principal ranges, proceeding from west to east, are the Masong-chung-dong between the rivers Amo-chu and Wang chu; the Dokyong-la between the Wang-chu and Machu; the Black Mountain range between the Machu and the Manas, which is traversed by the Pele-la pass; and on the extreme east the Tawang range.
The country, so far as it is known, is divided into three dis tinct tracts. Proceeding from south to north the first tract about 3om. broad consists of the outer hill ranges, which, rising from the plains of India, intercept the moisture-laden winds coming from the Bay of Bengal; they are consequently subject to a heavy rainfall, of 200 to 3ooin.
annually, and are clothed in dense vegetation. The second or cen tral tract, which is about 4om. in width, comprises a number of valleys, lying at an elevation of 3,50o to ro,000ft. above sea level and separated by high mountain ridges. The slopes of the moun tains are gentler; the rainfall averages only 4o to 6oin. ; the valleys such as those of Paro, Ha and Punaka, are broad and under cultivation ; and it is here that the bulk of the population is found. The east of Bhutan, how ever, where the outer range is lower than it is to the west, is a region of heavy precipitation, as the monsoon travels up the valley of the Kuru-chu as far as the snowy range. The third or northern tract consists of more rugged mountains and of snowy ranges rising to 24,000f t., with Alpine valleys lying at a height of 12,000 to i 8,000f t., which are frequented only by graziers and their herds of cattle. Bhutan is drained by numerous rivers, which, forcing their passage through narrow defiles, eventually pour themselves into the Brahmaputra. The largest is the Manas, which has two main tributaries, the Kuru-chu or Lhobrak and the Dangme-chu; the Amo-chu, known as the Torsa in India, which flows down the Chumbi valley between Bhutan and Sik kim ; the Wang-chu or Raidak draining the Ha, Paro and Trashi chod-zong valleys; and the Machu, which flows through the Punaka valley and in its course through the plains is called the Sankosh. As is natural in a country rising from low valleys to perpetual snow, every kind of climate is to be met with. The lower valleys are saturated with moisture, hot and steamy ; the central valleys, according to their elevation, may be bathed in hot sun shine or enjoy a temperate coolness ; the extreme north has the rigours of frost and ice. Similarly there is every variety of vege tation. The lowest slopes are covered with dense semi-tropical vegetation and virgin forest. In the temperate tract the moun tain heights and ridges are covered with coniferous forests (fir, pine, spruce and larch) and with rhododendrons; oaks, beech, ash, maple, cypress and yew are also common on the slopes below them. Higher up there are grassy slopes, but gradually all vege tation disappears.
Fauna.—The lower ranges abound in animal life : of the hills to the east of Bhutan J. C. White wrote "They are the haunt of almost every kind of wild animal—elephant, rhino, tiger, leopard, bison, mythun, sambur, cheetah, hog-deer, barking deer, etc." Bears are also found and musk deer in the snows. Pheas ants, jungle fowl and other small game abound. The country has also been long famous for its sturdy and strong though small horses or ponies, about 13 hands high, which are admirably suited for rough mountain work. They are called tangan, probably from a Tibetan name for this kind of horse, and are mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari of the i6th century. In the treaty of 1774 between the East India Company and Bhutan it was stipulated that the Deb raja should pay an annual tribute of five "Tangan horses." Area and Population.—Nothing is known with certainty of either the area of Bhutan or of the number of its inhabitants. The former has been estimated at i 6,800 square miles. The popu lation is believed to number only a few hundred thousand and is chiefly concentrated in the central valleys. There are clear indi cations, such as the ruins of houses and the remains of old irriga tion channels, that the country was formerly more thickly popu lated than it is at present; and it has been estimated that, with its fertile soil, it is capable of supporting Li million persons by agriculture. The dominant race consists of the Bhotias, who are of Tibetan origin : the name Bhutan itself is a contraction of the Indian name Bhotanta meaning the end of Bhot (i.e., Tibet). They speak a dialect of Tibetan : their religion is the same form of Buddhism as is prevalent in Tibet. They differ from the Bhotias of Tibet and Sikkim in one respect : both men and women have close cropped hair and do not wear pig-tails. Along the foothills to the west of the Amo-chu river the Bhotias have been sup planted by the Nepalese, thrifty cultivators, who eagerly take up waste lands and convert them to tilth. They are not allowed to cultivate east of that river, where they would bring the Bhotias' grazing land under the plough. The people living to the east of the Black Mountain range appear to have affinities with the Assamese and eastern frontier tribes. Their stature is smaller, their complexion is darker, and their features are smaller than those of the Bhutanese west of the range, who are big, burly men with typical Mongolian features. The chief places and centres of popu lation are Punaka, the old winter capital, Trashi-chod-zong, the summer capital, Tongsa, Paro and Ha. The lamas or priests are the religious, and the Penlops or chiefs the temporal authorities under the maharaja. The lamas are regarded with superstitious dread and reverence by the people who ascribe to them super natural powers. There are nine provinces under eight Penlops, who resemble feudal barons and have retainers armed with hel mets, hide shields and swords. Their forts (dzongs or jongs) are like baronial castles dominating the valleys. These jongs are of vast size, some having accommodation for 2,000 and more per sons. Of the Paro jong Lord Ronaldshay wrote : "One is over whelmed by its immensity, and one's critical faculties are swamped by the one dominant impression which it leaves upon one's mind —that of size." They have a distinctive style of architecture— walls sloping slightly inwards (as in Tibet), shingle roofs, large courtyards and a square central tower or keep. The monasteries, also often of great size, are generally most picturesquely situated: that of Ta-tsang is built on the face of a perpendicular crag, over 2,000ft. in height, and appears literally to cling to the rock. A distinctive feature of the chief altars in the monastery chapels is that they are supported by a pair of elephant's tusks. The ordinary houses, with their wooden walls and roofs and pro jecting eaves, resemble Swiss chalets : no iron work is used, and even the doors turn on wooden hinges. The chief crops are maize, which grows up to a height of 7,000f t. above sea-level ; rice, for which Bhutan is the chief source of supply for Tibet ; marua, a millet which, when fermented, yields a stimulating and mildly intoxicating drink; barley, which when distilled produces a potent spirit called chang; wheat, buckwheat and mustard. The fields are laid out in a series of terraces cut out of the sides of the hills and supported by stone embankments. An ingenious system of irrigation is practised, the water being often brought a long distance by aqueducts. The chief industries are metal work, the weaving of strong and durable cloth, fine basket and mat work. The Bhutanese are expert joiners and also excel in metal work, silver, iron, copper and brass. A high degree of skill is shown in the temple vessels, swords and daggers which they produce : the designs are Chinese in character. The making of needlework pictures on temple banners is a special art of the lamas, and bell casting of the artificers. Iron ore is obtained from mines at Bor shang. The roads, as a rule, are rough mountain tracts. In the valleys the rivers are in some places spanned by bridges con structed on the cantilever principle, and in ravines by suspension bridges with chains of wrought iron and a narrow roadway of planks or bamboos. Rice is exported to Tibet, but trade is tend ing more and more in the direction of India, where it has been stimulated by fairs in the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts of Bengal and in the Darrang district of Assam. The bulk of the trade is insignificant and much of it is conducted by barter.
The Dharm Raja and the Deb Raja.—At the head of the Bhutan Government there were formerly two supreme authori ties, the Shab-tung Rim-po-che, known in India as the Dharm raja the spiritual head, and the Deb raja who was the temporal ruler, with a council of permanent ministers. The Dharm raja is regarded as an incarnation of Buddha. On the death of a Dharm raja a year or two elapses, and the new incarnation is then reborn in one of the ruling families. When able to speak, the child establishes his identity by recognizing the rosary, books, etc., of the Dharm raja. He is then trained in a monastery, and on attaining his majority assumes supreme pontifical power. The Deb raja was in theory elected by the council. In practice he was merely the nominee of whichever of the governors (Penlops) of Paro and Tongs (east and west Bhutan) happened for the time to be the more powerful. This system has fallen into desuetude. The Tongsa Penlop (Sir Ugyen Wang-chuk, K.C.I.E.), having overcome his rivals in a civil war, became predominant after 1885. The Dharm raja died and no reincarnation was found. Pending a reincarnation the supreme spiritual authority was vested in the Deb raja, who withdrew from mundane affairs and became a religious recluse. The administration of Bhutan passed into the hands of the Tongsa Penlop, who in 1907 was elected hereditary maharaja of Bhutan by the abbots, lamas, councillors and people.
History.—Of the early history of Bhutan little is known but according to the best Bhutanese record Tibetan troops invaded the country at the end of the 9th century A.D., and "drove out the Indian princes and their subjects" and then settled down in occupation of the land. When the British assumed dominion in Bengal, Bhutan was more extensive, for it included part of Dar jeeling on the east and the Duars of Jalpaiguri on the south, i.e., a strip of submontane country and the passes from the plains. The relations of the British with Bhutan commenced in 1772, when the Bhutanese invaded the principality of Cooch Behar and took the raja away as a captive. In response to an appeal for assistance, Warren Hastings sent a force which drove out the invaders and pursued them into their own territories. Upon the intercession of the Tashi Lama, then regent of Tibet, a treaty of peace was negotiated in 1774. Warren Hastings sent Bogle in 1774 and Turner in 1783 as emissaries to Bhutan, with a view of promoting commercial reciprocity ; but little intercourse took place until the occupation of Assam by the British in 1826. It was then discovered that the Bhutanese had usurped the Duars in the Darrang district of Assam, and for these they agreed to pay a small tribute. They failed to pay, however, and committed depredations within the British territory. Capt. R. B. Pemberton was accordingly deputed to Bhutan, but his negotiations yielded no definite result. Every other means of obtaining redress and security proving unsuccessful, the Assam Duars were annexed in 1841, and the British Government consented to pay to Bhutan a sum of Rs.i,000 per annum so long as the peace was kept.
Scarcely a year passed, however, without the occurrence of raids in which the Bhutanese plundered, massacred or carried away British subjects as slaves. At last in 1863 Sir Ashley Eden was sent as an envoy to Bhutan to demand reparation for these outrages. He was kept in duress and subjected to the grossest insults ; and under compulsion signed a treaty giving over the dis puted territory to Bhutan. After Sir A. Eden had made his escape, the viceroy disavowed his treaty, stopped the allowance for the Assam Duars and demanded the immediate restoration of British captives. The Bhutanese not complying with this demand, Bhutan was invaded in 1865. The Bhutanese surprised an Eng lish garrison at Dewangiri, and the post was abandoned with the loss of two mountain guns. This disaster was soon retrieved and the Bhutanese were compelled to sue for peace, which was con cluded in Nov. 1865. Bhutan ceded all the Duars of Bengal and Assam, with the rest of the territory taken from them, and agreed to liberate all kidnapped British subjects. The British Govern ment, in return for these concessions, undertook to pay an annual allowance subject to the condition of continued good behaviour.
Since that time the relations between the Indian Government and Bhutan have been satisfactory.
During the present century Bhutan has been brought into closer relations with India. The treaty of 1865 has provided that dis putes between Bhutan and Sikkim or Cooch Behar should be referred to the British Government. These provisions were ampli fied by a treaty concluded in 191o, by which the Bhutanese Gov ernment agreed to be guided by the advice of the British Govern ment in regard to its external affairs, while the British Government undertook to exercise no interference in the internal administra tion of Bhutan. The annual allowance was at the same time raised to Rs.ioo,000 a year. This treaty disposed of claims made by China and provided a safeguard against Chinese aggres sion. In the same year the Chinese Government formally claimed Bhutan as a feudatory and was informed by the British minister at Peking that Bhutan was independent of China and its external relations were under the British Government, which would not tolerate any attempt by China to exercise influence over Bhutan.
See J. Claude White, Sikkim and Bhutan (i9o9) ; Earl of Ronald shay, Lands of the Thunderbolt (1923) ; Sir Charles Bell, Tibet, Past and Present (1924) .