Bhutan

“ Amid a salute of guns, which reverberated grandly through the rocky gorge, we emerged from the bridge, where a procession of gaily dressed minstrel singers and dancers met us, and conducted us up the hilly zigzag singing verses of praise and welcome in a curious but not unpleasant monotone. There were seven women singers, peculiar to Bhutan, four clarion players, two drummers, and two gong-strikers in addition to the dancers. ”

“ The Black Mountain range, which divides the waters of the Mo-chhu from the river system of the Monass, has its rise in the snows near Kulu-Kangri; and practically divides Bhutan into two portions both administratively and ethnographically. The people to the east, who originally came from the hills to the north-east of Assam, are directly under the jurisdiction of the Tongsa Penlop, while on the west they are of almost pure Tibetan origin and under the jurisdiction of the Thimboo Jongpen and Paro Penlop. ”

“ Recent frontier information shows that the Paro Penlop has levied fines from the Tomos in the Chumbi Valley in a high-handed manner, and till quite lately levied taxes upon Tibetans entering Bhutan on that side. The connection between Tibet and Bhutan is certainly an ill-defined one, and may perhaps be best expressed by saying that though Bhutan is not a dependency of Tibet, it comes within the sphere of Tibet’s political influence. ”

“ Were these people unfriendly or disposed to throw in their lot with their co-religionists, the Tibetans, our line of communications would be exposed to a flank attack along the whole of the Tuna Plain, which is conterminous with the Bhutan frontier, as well as a rear attack anywhere in the Chumbi Valley as far south as Rinchengong. The Bhutanese are men of splendid physique, brave, warlike, and given to pillage. ”

“ The Tibetans were therefore to make friends quickly with the Nepalese, and “become as one to resist the foreigners.” In Tibet were “some wicked, aggressive foreigners,” with whom intercourse had to be maintained, and for this purpose English schools would be opened. Then, again, in the south was Bhutan, and “Tibet and Bhutan were as inseparable as the cheek from the teeth.” It would be even more advantageous to make friends with Bhutan than with Nepal. If at any future time the Bhutanese wanted help, the Chinese Resident would give it. “Bhutan is like a wall of Tibet. ”

“ The Bhutias are no sportsmen. They have a superstitious objection to firing a gun, thinking that it offends the deities of the woods and valleys, and brings down rain. A species of horse, which seems indigenous to Bhutan, and is used as a domestic animal, is called tángan, from Tangastan, the general appellation of that assemblage of mountains which constitutes the territory of Bhutan. It is peculiar to this tract, not being found in any of the neighbouring countries of Assam, Nepal, Tibet or Bengal, and unites in an eminent degree the two qualities of strength and beauty. ”

“ Even after this treatment of its envoy the Government of India decided to give the Bhutan Government room for repentance. Eden made three alternative suggestions of the best measures to be adopted to punish the Bhutanese and secure the frontier from future aggressions: (1) The permanent occupation of the whole country; (2) the temporary occupation of the country, to be followed by withdrawal after destroying all the forts and impressing the people with our power; (3) the permanent annexation of the Duars, and the occupation of the hill forts commanding them. ”

“ Bhutan is an exceedingly mountainous country, twenty thousand square miles in extent, lying along the northern boundary of Bengal and Assam, hemmed in on the west by Sikkim, a State under our suzerainty, and on the west and north by Tibet. A Buddhist land, its system of government is very similar to that of Japan before the Meiji, the revolution of 1868. ”

“ The population of Bhutan, numbering, perhaps, 400,000 may be roughly divided into two, those living on the West and those living on the East of the Pele-la.
The people of the West are for the most part of Tibetan origin who came into the country centuries ago. They are of the same original stock as the Bhuteas in Sikhim, but
have developed in Bhutan into a magnificent race of men physically. ”

“ A treaty of peace with Bhutan followed, which was signed at Fort William on April 25, 1774.
In this treaty the Company agreed to deliver up territory taken from Bhutan during the war, exacting from the Bhutan Government an annual tribute for the Chichacotta province of five Tangan horses, which was the acknowledgment paid to the “Bihar Raja.” The Bhutan Government were to deliver up the Cooch Behar Raja and his brother. The Bhutanese merchants were to be allowed the same privileges of trade free of duties as formerly, with permission for their caravans to go to Rangpur annually. ”

“ There never was, I fancy, a country in which the doctrine of ‘might is right’ formed more completely the whole and sole law and custom of the land than it does in Bhutan. No official receives a salary; he has certain districts made over to him, and he may get what he can out of them; a certain portion of his gains he is compelled to send to the durbar, and the more he extorts and the more he sends to his superior, the longer his tenure of office is likely to be.”
Physically the Bhutias are a fine race, although dirty in their habits and persons. ”

“ The most effectual and shortest method of securing the first end, the raiyats’ happiness, is by administering strict justice. If a ruler would devote himself to administering justice impartially, he would make all his subjects happy in a single day. For it was by this means that the ancient dynasty of Tibetan kings secured happiness for their subjects and popularity for the rulers themselves, and also by which the Dharma Raja of Bhutan (Shabdung Rimpochi) succeeded in subduing the stiff-necked and lawless people of Bhutan, and rendering his reign so very glorious and popular. ”

“ A. W. Paul, and which I had kept up with Bhutan ever since I came to this part of the country, I found the Tongsa Penlop and the Bhutanese officials who accompanied us to Lhasa most anxious to make friends with me, and I was able to become on very intimate terms with them, a circumstance of great advantage to me later on. ”

“ Begins: 'Information received from the Secretary to the Foreign Department, Government of India, confirms the intelligence that Chinese emissaries have for some time past been endeavouring to re-establish the former predominance of their nation over Tibet and Bhutan. In the former country they appear to have met with little success; but in Bhutan, taking advantage of the hereditary jealousies of the Penlops, the great feudal chieftains, they appear to have gained many adherents. ”

“ It was a cold and cheerless evening, but the snow ceased early and the night was clear, while the morning broke beautifully fine. We reached the Bod-la (16,290 feet) , and crossed the boundary between Bhutan and Tibet early, and the coolies soon made their appearance, even carrying the heavy frozen tents. A Tibetan block-house, with loopholed walls, was built on the top of the pass. There were some fine views of the snow-peaks to the east, and after admiring them I started down the descent on the Tibetan side. ”

“ Hastings actually succeeded in establishing Purangir Gosain as a diplomatic agent at the Tibetan Court, and Indian merchants had commenced by the year 1786 to pass freely through Bhutan into Tibet. Thus so far it must be acknowledged that Bogle’s Mission was successful, and that the Bhutan Government did fulfil its engagements. Unfortunately the Nepal war with Tibet, which broke out in 1792, destroyed all these bright prospects. The Tibetans and the Chinese Government suspected that we were covertly assisting the Nepalese. ”

“ This twofold system of government established in Bhutan rendered the country happy and prosperous, taking for example the system of the great Saint-King of Tibet, whose very first prohibition was against the taking of life, a crime punished by the realisation of blood-money in case of homicide, and damages or fine in case of attempted homicide. ”

“ When we reached Pheu-la he would, he said, prove his words by pointing out the ruins of a strong fort the Tibetans had built on the Bhutanese side of the pass during the former troubles with Tibet. “But now,” he added, “since we Bhutanese have openly thrown in our lot with the British, who have publicly recognised the services rendered against the Tibetans by the honour conferred on the Tongsa as representative of Bhutan, I shall rebuild the fort on a much smaller scale, just sufficiently strong to keep out cattle-lifters and suchlike. ”

“ Less numerous but prominent inhabitants of this region are the Bhutias, who consist of four classes; Bhutias, who are a mixed race of Tibetans and Lepchas; Sherpa Bhutias, who come from the east of Nepal, the word sher merely meaning "east"; the Drukpa or Dharma Bhutias, whose home is Bhutan; and the Tibetan Bhutias from Tibet. They are strong, sturdy men, merry and cheerful. ”

“ The Bhutanese seem to have acquired the secret of combining in forests self-reproduction with unlimited grazing, for from the time we left Rinchengong we passed through forests which, without exception, were self-reproducing. When we were comfortably settled in our tents the Tongsa and Paro officials, accompanied by the Hah Zimpon and Nerpa, brought us a further salutation from the Penlops, in the
shape of a piece of silk for myself and rations for the whole party. ”

“ All the valleys I have seen to the north of the watershed—viz., from Eastern Bhutan to some distance west of Sikhim—appear to have at some remote period been much more densely populated than at present. At every turn I came on ruins of habitations and remains of old irrigation channels; and overcrowding may possibly account for this migration over the Himalayas into the comparatively hot valleys of Bhutan, in which no Tibetan would willingly settle, though he might be forced by circumstances to do so. ”

“ Neither do I consider the Bhutanese an excessively idle people, the amount of labour expended on their irrigation channels alone dispels that idea, and, their houses are all large and substantially built. ”

“ Owing to the great elevation and steepness of the mountains, dreadful storms arise among the hollows, often attended with fatal results.
History.—Bhutan formerly belonged to a tribe called by the Bhutias Tephu, generally believed to have been the people of Kuch Behar. About A.D. 1670 some Tibetan soldiers subjugated the Tephus, took possession of the country and settled down in it. The relations of the British with Bhutan commenced in 1772, when the Bhutias invaded the principality of Kuch Behar, a dependency of Bengal. ”

“ The ordinary government of the country goes on without interference from Tibet, and Lhasa does not exercise any voice in the election of the Deb Raja. In Bogle’s time Tibetans were excluded from trading in Bhutan except for the exchange of rice and salt. ”

“ I took Hyslop with me and made an inspection of the hall in the Jong where the ceremony was to be held. It was very suitable, as it was a large room on the ground floor, with a gallery running all round, and capable of holding many hundreds of spectators, and by removing part of the roof they could let in both light and air. At the main entrance to the Jong quite a little bazaar was in progress, cloth-merchants selling Bhutanese cloths and cheap down-country cottons and sweetmeats, and pan-sellers doing a roaring trade, as the Bhutanese are always chewing pan. ”

“ The more I see of the Bhutanese the more I am pleased with them. The common people are good-humoured, downright, and, I think, thoroughly trusty. The statesmen have some of the art which belongs to their profession. ”

“ The draft treaty which our envoy submitted to the Durbar was agreed to by the Deb and Dharma Rajas and the rest of the council, except the Tongsa Penlop, who was then the real authority in the country, and, at his instigation, was finally rejected.
In 1839 the Bhutanese resumed their outrages on the frontier, and began by carrying off twelve British subjects, one of whom died of his wounds; another was murdered because he attempted to escape; and a third was thrown down a precipice because he refused to work. Bhutan itself was at this time in a state of anarchy and civil war. ”

“ I have particularly noticed during my travels in the country how remarkably skilful the Bhutanese are in laying out canals and irrigation channels, and the clever way in which they overcome what to ordinary people would be insurmountable difficulties in leading the water over steep, difficult places on bridges or masonry aqueducts, often built up to a great height. ”

“ We were thus ceremoniously ushered into our camp, where Sir Ugyen met us with a very hearty welcome, and gave us tea and milk, carefully seeing himself that we had all we required. He had with kind forethought sent four picked men to carry Paul, who suffered from an injured back, over the steepest parts of the journey. All Bhutanese officials are carried when the road is too steep and bad to ride a mule, but that is not often, as the mules will go almost anywhere. ”

“ Tibet. Nepal. Sikhim. Cooch Behar.
It is impossible to say when the first connection with China commenced, but the right of granting a patent of investiture and seal of office to the ruler of Bhutan seems to have been claimed by China at an early date. ”