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BHUTAN.
A State in the Eastern Himalayas, between 26* 45' and 28" N. latitude, and between 89° and 92° E. longitude, bordered on the north and east by Tibet, on the west by the Tibetan district of Chumbi and by Sikkim, and on the south by British India. Extreme length from east to west 190 miles ; ex- treme breadth 90 milea. Area about 20,000 square miles; population estimated at 250,000.
The original inhabitants of Bhutan, the Tephus, were subjugated about two centuries ago by a band of military colonists from Tibet. In 1774 the East India Company concluded a treaty with the ruler of Bhutan, but since then repeated outrages on British subjects committed by the Bhutan hill men have led from time to time to punitive measures, usually ending in the temporary or permanent annexation of various duars or submontane tracts with passes leading to the hills. In November 1864 the eleven western or Bengal duars were thus annexed. Under a treaty signed in November, 1865, the Bhutan Government was granted a subsidy of Rs. 50,000 a year on condition of good behaviour. By an amending treaty concluded in January, 1910, the British Government undertook to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Bhutanese Govern- ment agreed to be guided by the advice of the British Government in regard to its external relations. The treaty also provided for the increase of the subsidy to Rs. 1,00,000.
The form of Government in Bhutan, which existed from the middle of the sixteenth century until 1907, consisted of a dual control by the clergy and the laity as represented by Dharma and Deb Rajas. In 1907 the Deo Raja, who was also Dharma Raja, resigned his position, and the Tongsa Penlop, Sir Ugyen Wangchuk, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E., was elected as the first hereditary Maharaja of Bhutan.
Chief fortresses or castles : Punakha, the winter capital, a place of great natural strength : Tasichozong (Tashichodzong), the summer capital, Paro, Angduphorang (Wangdupotang), Tongsa, Taka, and Biagha.
The people are nominally Buddhists, but their religious exercises consist chiefly in the propitiation of evil spirits and the recitation of sentences from the Tibetan Scriptures. Tasichozong (Tashichodzong), the chief monastery- in Bhutan, contains 300 priests.
Beyond the guards for the defence of the various castles, there is nothing like a standing army.
The chief productions are rice, Indian corn, millet, lac, wax, different kinds of cloth, musk, ponies, chowries, and silk. The State is now beginning to realise the necessity of encouraging foreign capital for industrial enterprises such as mines, tea gardens, and the working of its extensive and valuable forests. Muzzle-loading guns and swords of highly-tempered steel are manu- factured.
