Bhutan - Lindsay Brown [26]
The Bodos are Mechey tribal people that have two militant groups, the Bodo Liberation Tiger Force and the Bodo Security Force, both of which are fighting for a Bodo homeland. The United Liberation Front of Assam, more commonly known as ULFA, is a separatist group formed in 1979 with the goal of an independent Assamese nation. They have staged numerous attacks, including derailing a train with a bomb, and attacking Indian vehicles and, in July and August 2001, buses carrying Bhutanese passengers through India.
In December 2003, after the government felt it had exhausted all peaceful means, the Royal Bhutan Army, led from the front by the king, flushed out the militants from Bhutanese territory. The continued presence of these militants across the border has made travel in the southeastern part of the country risky for both Bhutanese and tourists and is the reason for restrictions on visiting such places as Royal Manas National Park and Pemagatshel.
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Of Rainbows and Clouds: The Life of Yab Ugyen Dorji As Told to His Daughter by Yab Ugyen Dorji and Ashi Dorje Wangmo Wangchuck is a fascinating and intimate account of life in Bhutan.
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At the end of 2005 there were 106,000 people in the camps, 10% to 15% of whom were born there. The status of the people in the camps of Jhapa is protected by the UNHCR, which uses donor support to provide the survival rations and shelter. It is likely that if the support disappears, and if the two countries cannot agree on how to resolve the crisis, those in the camps, most of them former farmers, would enter the larger diaspora of Nepali-speakers in south Asia.
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TIMELINE
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6th Century The animist Bon religion is established in several valleys of what is now Bhutan
7th Century The first Buddhist temples are in Bhutan, such as Kyichu Lhakhang (AD 659), near Paro
746 Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) visits Bhutan and is credited with the subduction of evil spirits and further conversions to Buddhism
841 The Tibetan Buddhist prince Tsangma is banished from Tibet to eastern Bhutan
9th Century Many Tibetan Buddhists take up refuge in Bhutan as the Bon-po gain power and Buddhists are persecuted
10th Century Further turmoil in Tibet sees various schools of Tibetan Buddhism established in Bhutan
1180 Foundation of Druk Monastery in Ralung (Tibet) and beginning of Drukpa Kagyu school
12th Century Gyalwa Lhanangpa establishes Tango Goemba in Thimphu valley
1184–1251 Lifespan of Lama Phajo Drukgom Shigpo, who establishes Drukpa Kagyu as the dominant school of Buddhism in Bhutan
1433 Thangtong Gyalpo, the Iron Bridge Lama, visits Bhutan from Tibet in search of iron ore and builds eight bridges
1450–1521 The much-heralded life of Pema Lingpa, the most important terton (discoverer of sacred texts and artefacts) in Bhutan
1455–1529 Lifespan of Lama Drukpa Kunley, who travelled throughout Bhutan preaching an unconventional approach to Buddhism and life
1616 The first zhabdrung, Ngawang Namgyal, arrives in Bhutan from Ralung, Tibet
1627 Portuguese Jesuits, Fathers Cacella and Cabral are the first European visitors to Bhutan
1639 Tibet recognises Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal as the supreme authority in Bhutan
1705 The much-delayed announcement of the demise of the Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal
1772 Bhutan invades Cooch Behar and kidnaps its king. The British East India company agrees to assist Cooch Behar in return for payment
1774 George Bogle leads a trade mission to Bhutan and Tibet, and plants potatoes in Bhutanese soil
1783 Captain Samuel Turner leads a grand British Raj expedition to Bhutan and Tibet
1826 Bhutan and Britain start bickering over the sovereignty of the duars (lowest Bhutanese hills)
1864 The ill-fated Ashley Eden expedition sours relations between Bhutan