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Bhutan Civil Conflict, 1728-72
Civil war ensued when the "first reincarnation" of
Ngawang
Namgyal, Jigme Dakpa, was recognized as the
shabdrung in
1728. A rival claimant, however, was promoted by
opposition forces
supported by Tibet. The Tibetan-backed forces were
defeated by
Jigme Dakpa's supporters, but the political system
remained
unstable. Regional rivalries contributed to the gradual
disintegration of Bhutan at the time the first British
agents
arrived.
In the early eighteenth century, Bhutan had
successfully
developed control over the principality of Cooch Behar.
The raja of
Cooch Behar had sought assistance from Bhutan against the
Indian
Mughals in 1730, and Bhutanese political influence was not
long in
following. By the mid-1760s, Thimphu considered Cooch
Behar its
dependency, stationing a garrison force there and
directing its
civil administration. When the druk desi invaded
Sikkim in
1770, Cooch Behari forces joined their Bhutanese
counterparts in
the offensive. In a succession dispute in Cooch Behar two
years
later, however, the druk desi's nominee for the
throne was
opposed by a rival who invited British troops, and, in
effect,
Cooch Behar became a dependency of the British East India
Company.
Data as of September 1991
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