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Although archeological
exploration of Bhutan has
been limited, evidence of
civilization in the region
dates back to at least 2000
B.C. Aboriginal Bhutanese,
known as Monpa, are believed
to have migrated from Tibet.
The traditional name of the
country since the 17th
century has been Druk Yul,
Land of the Drokpa (Dragon
People), a reference to the
dominant branch of Tibetan
Buddhism that is still
practiced in the Himalayan
kingdom.
For centuries, Bhutan was
made up of feuding regions
until it was unified under
King Ugyen Wangchuck in
1907. Until the 1960s Bhutan
was largely isolated from
the rest of the world, and
its people carried on a
tranquil, traditional way of
life, farming and trading,
which had remained intact
for centuries. After China
invaded Tibet, however,
Bhutan strengthened its ties
and contact with India in an
effort to avoid Tibet's
fate. New roads and other
connections to India began
to end its isolation. In the
1960s Bhutan also undertook
social modernization,
abolishing slavery and the
caste system, emancipating
women, and enacting land
reform. In 1985, Bhutan made
its first diplomatic links
with non-Asian countries.
Bhutan pursues the national
policy of Gross National
Happiness which was first
expressed by its king Jigme
Wangchuck in 1972. This
ideology of GNH is rooted in
the Buddhist notion that the
ultimate purpose of life is
inner happiness. It reflects
Bhutan’s vision on the
purpose of human life and
connects Bhutan’s
development goals with the
pursuit of happiness; a
vision that puts the
individual’s
self-cultivation at the
center of the nation’s
developmental goals.
Culture
Bhutan is comprised of a
mosaic of different peoples
who continue to live in
valleys isolated from one
another and the outside
world by formidable mountain
passes. Differing ethnic
groups are also distributed
according to the varying
environments. It is possible
to divide Bhutan's
population into three broad
ethnic groups, though the
distinctions are blur in
places. Mainly Nepalese
farmers who arrived in the
country at the end of the
19th century inhabit
Southern Bhutan. They
brought the Hindu religion
with them as well as the
Nepalese language, which is
still spoken today over much
of Southern Bhutan.
The central Himalayan region
is the home of the Drukpa
people, who are of Mongoloid
origin. Most breed cattle or
cultivate the land, and
their dwellings are spread
over a wide area. The
Northern Himalayan Zone,
over 3,000 meters (9,000
feet), is the haunt of semi
nomadic yak herdsmen. They
spend most of the year in
their black yak hair tents,
but also possess dry-stone
walled houses, where they
spend the coldest months of
the year and which are used
to store their goods.
Additives to a diet composed
mainly of yak milk, cheese,
butter and meat are barley
and winter wheat, plus a few
root vegetables grown in
small fields. Believed to be
the earliest inhabitants of
Bhutan, the Sharchops are of
Indo-Mongolian type, though
their exact origin is
unknown (Tibet being the
most likely source). At
present, they live mainly in
the east of Bhutan. |
