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Bhutan was unified under a central authority until the 17th Century;
however, the religious presence in the country had been acting as a
spiritual cohesion for many years. It was in 747 AD that Padma Sambhava
who is known as Guru Rimpoche made his legendary carp from Tibet cross
the mountains flying on a tigress’s back. He arrived in the Paro Valley
at Takstang lakhang, Tiger’s Nest. A monastery now perches precariously
on the Cliff’s face as a permanent memory to his name. Guru Rimpoche is
the father of the Tantric strain of Mahayana Buddhism practiced in
Bhutan. His eight manifestations are worshipped in temples throughout
the kingdom and wherever he visited in the kingdom is today a pilgrimage
site highly revered by Bhutanese. Guru Rimpoche is not only recognized a
the father of the Nyingmapa religious school but he is also considered
to be the second Buddha.
It was in the early Middle Ages that Buddhism blossomed in Bhutan. The
Tibetan-based Kasyupa School was established at the beginning of the
12th Century and missionaries were sent south to spread its teachings.
The Lhapa school, Kasyupa sect, was set up in western Bhutan at the end
of the12th century and the Drukpha school (another subdivision of
Kasyupa) in the first half of the 13th century. For the next 500 years,
disputes between the two theories of Buddhist practice were common. in
the end, the Drukpa school; reignedsupreme and was even accepted in the
eastern and the central areas where Nyingmapa monks had previously
dominated.
Many of Bhutan’s most celebrated ancestors descend from the
NyingmapaSchool, including the ancestors of the present- day royal
family. Prema Lingpa, the known Nyingmapasaintdied in Bumthang, his
home, in 1521. He was the reincarnation of Guru Rimpoche and Longchen
Rabjampa the philosopher. In his lfe he founded the monasteries at
Petsheling, Kungzandra and Tamshing in the Bumthang valley. Mamy of Pema
Lingpa’s descendants settled in the east where they strengthened the
Nyinmapa’s hold on the area.
Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, a Tibetan lama of the Drukpa School, designed
the present system of intertwined religious and secular government. He
was invited in Bhutan 1616. At that time no central authority existed
ands regional conflict had persisted intermittently for centuries. In
his quest to unify the country, he gained the support of many powerful
families of his school and constructed Dzongs (fortress monasteries) in
the main valley of western Bhutan. Designed to scare aggressors, the
Dzongs command a powerful presence over the valleys in which they are
still the centers of religious and civil authority.
Shabdrung Ngawang fought and won a battle against the Tibetan in 1639and
assumed the title Shabdrung, meaning’ at whose feet one submits’. In
effect the first secular and religious leader in Bhutan. Later the
Shabdrung unified the country and established himself as the country’s
supreme leader and vested civil power in a high officer known as the
Druk Desi. Religious affairs were charged to another leader, the Je
Khenpo. The country was divided into regions and in intricate system of
law was codified.
Bhutan’s first Shabdrung died in 1651. Within five years of his death
the whole country had unified under the control of the central
government. The last vestiges Lhapa power disappeared and Drukpa became
the focus of religious and civil obedience.
Ouring the next two centuries civil wars intermittently broke out and
the regional Penlpos became increasingly more powerful. At the end of
the 19th century the Penlop of Tongsa (who controlled central and
eastern Bhutan) over come his greatest rival the Penlop of Paro who
controlled western Bhutan and was soon afterwards recognized as the
overall leader of Bhutan. The Penlop of Tonga, Ugyen Wangchuck,was
elected the first King of Bhutan in in 1907 by an assembly of
representatives of the monastic community, civil servants and the
people.
The Monarchy has thrived ever since and their present King, his majesty
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the first King’s great grandson, commands the
overwhelming support of his people.
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The name Bhutan appears to derive from the ancient Indian term Bhotanta
that means the end of the land of the Bhots. Bhot was the Sanskrit term
for Tibetans, thus Bhutan could mean the end of the of Tibet. It could
also extend from the Sanskrit word Bhu’uttan or high land. No one seems
to be sure. Ancient’s Tibetan writers called their fertile neighbour Lho
Mon or Mon Yul, paradise of the south or land of the Monpas. The
Bhutanese themselves refer to their country as Druk Yul or the Land of
the peaceful Dragon. Druk meaning dragon and extending from the
predominant Drukpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Bhutan’s history
parallels Buddhism history one also needs to understand its religion.
Mystery surrounds Bhutan’s distant past, as books and papers were lost
in consecutive fires at the national printing works and at punakha Dzong
in 1828 and 1832. And then a massive earthquake in 1896 and a fire in
Paro Dzong destroyed all but a few of the records that outlasted the
first disasters. Despite these setbacks, enough reliable information has
been recorded to piece together a history, which sets a party this small
Kingdom from others in its vicinity.