BHUTAN, bhoo-tiin', an independent state in the eastern Himalayas, with an area of about 16,800 square miles, lying between Tibet on the north and Assam and the Jalpaiguri district on the south and consisting of rugged and lofty mountains, abounding in sublime and picturesque scenery. Pop. (estimated) 250,000. The climate varies with the eleva tion and extremes of heat and cold may be ex perienced in a day's journey. Some portions of the territory are fertile and produce corn, rice, wheat, buckwheat, mustard and carda moms. Cattle and considerable numbers of a peculiar breed of ponies are raised. The man ufactures, which are primitive and intended for home consumption, include coarse blan kets, cotton cloth, swords, daggers and other weapons and agricultural implements. The Bhutanese are a hardy and vigorous race, of Tibetan stock, and their language is a dialect of Tibetan. They profess to be Buddhists, but their religion, like that of Tibet, partakes largely of the old Bom-po, which preceded Buddhism and consists chiefly of devil wor ship and propitiatory sacrifice. The admin istration of the state is divided between the secular Deb rajah, who is elected for a term of three years by the penlops, or magnates, from their midst, and the Dharma rajah, the presumed reincarnation of Buddha, who is supposed to interest himself solely with the spiritual control of the state. The winter cap
ital is PunaIca, or Dosen, a strong natural fortress 96 miles east-northeast of Darjeeling; Trashichodzong is the summer capital. Bhu tan formerly included considerable tracts of territory now included in Bengal and Assam, which were annexed in 186.4 and 1866 by the British government in retaliation for outrages committed by the natives. In 1865 they drove the English out of Dewangiri and a punitive expedition was sent against them. A treaty concluded with the Bhutan government pro vided for the payment by the Indian govern tnent of an annual subsidy in return for for mal cession of the annexed territory. This subsidy began at i2,500 and was gradually increased to f.3,333; it is conditional upon the maintenance of peaceful relations.