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Bhutan HISTORICAL SETTING, BHUTAN
Origins and Early Settlement, A.D. 600-1600
Although knowledge of prehistoric Bhutan has yet to
emerge
through archaeological study, stone tools and weapons,
remnants of
large stone structures, and megaliths that may have been
used for
boundary markers or rituals provide evidence of
civilization as
early as 2000 B.C. The absence of neolithic mythological
legends
argues against earlier inhabitation. A more certain
prehistoric
period has been theorized by historians as that of the
state of
Lhomon (literally, southern darkness) or Monyul (dark
land, a
reference to the Monpa aboriginal peoples of Bhutan),
possibly a
part of Tibet that was then beyond the pale of Buddhist
teachings
(see Religious Tradition
, this ch.). Monyul is thought to
have
existed between 500 B.C. and A.D. 600. The names Lhomon
Tsendenjong
(southern Mon sandalwood country) and Lhomon Khashi
(southern Mon
country of four approaches), found in ancient Bhutanese
and Tibetan
chronicles, may also have credence and have been used by
some
Bhutanese scholars when referring to their homeland.
Variations of
the Sanskrit words Bhota-ant (end of Bhot, an Indian name
for
Tibet) or Bhu-uttan (meaning highlands) have been
suggested by
historians as origins of the name Bhutan, which came into
common
foreign use in the late nineteenth century and is used in
Bhutan
only in English-language official correspondence. The
traditional
name of the country since the seventeenth century has been
Drukyul-
-country of the Drokpa, the Dragon People, or the Land of
the
Thunder Dragon--a reference to the country's dominant
Buddhist
sect.
Some scholars believe that during the early historical
period
the inhabitants were fierce mountain aborigines, the
Monpa, who
were of neither the Tibetan or Mongol stock that later
overran
northern Bhutan. The people of Monyul practiced the
shamanistic Bon
religion, which emphasized worship of nature and the
existence of
good and evil spirits. During the latter part of this
period,
historical legends relate that the mighty king of Monyul
invaded a
southern region known as the Duars, subduing the regions
of modern
Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar in India.
Data as of September 1991
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