Part II: Bhutan’s first contact with the British and What led to the mission of George Bogle in 1774 to Tibet through Bhutan under the governorship of Warren Hastings?

 

By the end of the seventeenth century, during the reign of the 16^th Druk Desi Zhidar (r.1768-1773), alias Sonam Lhendup, Cooch Bihar was greatly influenced by Bhutan and virtually ruled by Desi through the frontier official, Pagsam Drungpa (chief of Pasakha). Bhutan’s actual influence in the politics of Cooch Bihar started when Upendra Narayan (r.1714-1763), the king of Cooch Bihar sought military support from Bhutan to repel Mughal forces and Dina Narayan. Dina Narayan was the second cousin of king Upendra Narayan and was groomed to be the successor when the king failed to produce a male heir. Eventually, when the kind Upendra Narayan fathered a son at his late age, the king went back to his words and did not give the throne to Dina Narayan. This led Dina Narayan to collude with the Mughals and king Upendra faces the imminent invasion.

When Bhutanese soldiers successfully repelled the Mughal forces and eliminated Dina Narayan, king Upendra had to pay a heavy price. The Bhutanese increasing took control of the state and the northern plains adjacent to Bhutan were then governed by the Pagsam Drungpa with an annual tribute extracted each year. Years followed a series of family feuds in a succession of kings in Cooch Bihar. In 1772, in ensuing tragedies, Cooch Bihari officials revolted against the Pagsam Drungpa and the new king, Dharendra Narayan (r.1772-1775) was crowned. The Pagsam Drungpa fled and later returned with larger forces and a full war broke out between Bhutan and Cooch Bihar. With strong reinforcement on the Bhutanese side, Cooch Bihar troops were defeated and the young king Dharendra Narayan and others fled. Once again, the Bhutanese fully occupied Cooch Bihar and made Ram Narayan the new puppet king, who too soon died shortly.

In the meantime, the young king Dharendra Narayan and his allies sought military support from the British East India Company (EIC), who by then have controlled West Bengal and at the time was at the height of relentless expansion across India. At the time, the head of the EIC and governor general was opportunistic Warren Hastings who had already anticipated the need to pay more attention to the northward. Warren Hastings wasted no time to send the British troops to counter the Bhutanese aggression. Subsequently, a treaty was signed between King Dharendra and Governor General Warren Hastings on 5 April 1773. The king agreed to pay all military expenses and half of Cooch Bihar’s annual revenue. Under the commandership of caption Jones, the British forces began their assault on the Bhutanese forces.

Although the Bhutanese troops were driven out of the Cooch Bihar town, the British suffered heavy losses and the captain himself was wounded. Meanwhile, in Bhutan, Zhidar, then reigning Desi launched the campaign to garner support and fight the new enemy in the south. By then, Zhidar had already become unpopular among the people for his ill-treatment of the reigning hierarch Jigme Sengye and his high-handed imposition of extensive labour to complete the reconstruction of TrashiChhodzong in one year (1772). It was also said that Zhidar sought support from Tibet and began using the seal of the Chinese emperor, undermining the sovereignty of the country.  The Desi Zhidar then approached Kuenga Rinchen, the master of dialectical studies for his advice and support. Seeing the opportunity to overthrow Zhidar, Kuenga Rinchen readily supported Desi and convinced him that no other than Desi himself can lead the army and bring victory. Earlier, Zhidar and Kuenga Rinchen were close friends, and later their friendship falls out. Kuenga Rinchen and the monk even manipulated the traditional divination of a lucky dip and convinced Zhidar of a good auspice without his knowledge.

Fully convinced, Zhidar raised a large army and led down the plains to counter the British troops towards the end of 1772. He appointed Kuenga Rinchen as the acting Desi in his absence. According to Cooch Bihari’s accounts, there were 4000 Bhutanese men with the Desi Zhidar and another 17,500 men under Zimpon Ngawang Tenzin who led the second detachment. The war lasted until the end of 1773 and both parties suffered heavy casualties and losses.  When the war with the British was barely over, fresh internal conflict erupted in Bhutan between zhidar’s supporters and his opponents. Then, the reigning hierarch Jigme Sengye whom Zhidar mistreated before officially removed Zhidar from the Desi’s office and appointed Kuenga Rinchen as the 17^th Druk Desi.  When the war was finally over at the end of 1773, the new government blamed Zhidar for losses and banned him from returning to the capital. The new government ordered all checkpoints to shoot or arrest if Zhidar tries to return.

Zhidar, however, managed to sneak in and reached Paro. From Paro, he escaped to Tashilhunpo, Tibet, the court of 6^th Panchen Lama Palden Yeshi (1738-1780) whom Zhidar had developed a good relationship. At the time, the Panchen Lama then was the most powerful figure in Tibet and the Dalai Lama was just his minority. Panchen Lama was fully aware of the Anglo-Bhutanese war and he was requested to mediate between the Bhutanese and the governor of the EIC, Warren Hastings. The Panchen Lama officially wrote the mediation letter to Warren Hastings and the letter was received in Calcutta on 29 March 1774. By then, fighting had fully ceased and the ten points Anglo-Bhutanese treaty was signed between Bhutan and Warren Hastings on 25 April 1774. Interestingly, the British restored all occupied areas to the Bhutanese in exchange for the five Tangun horses[1]. The new treaty provides the right to the Bhutanese merchant to freely trade in EIC’s territory without duties, while the EIC can freely extract timber from Bhutan’s forest.

Meanwhile, at the EIC, the opportunistic Warren Hastings, foreseeing numerous economic and commercial gains planned to send a mission to Bhutan and Tibet. Having a friendly relationship and trade route with Bhutan and Tibet would provide a new trade route for china which company considered the trade with china lucrative and substantial. On the personal ground, Hastings had immense interest in exploring the knowledge and culture of faraway places. At the same time, he received a friendly letter from the Panchen Lama, which further prompted and interested him to pursue further communication and relation with Bhutan and Tibet. Thus, Warren Hastings appointed one of his favourite officers, a young Scottish George Bogle to lead a mission to Bhutan and Tibet. Perhaps, George Bogle became the first ever British Political officer to set foot in Bhutan and Tibet. On the 13^th of May 1774, at the age of twenty-eight, George Bogle and his party set off from Calcutta.

 

Bibliography

Phuntsho, K. (2013). The history of Bhutan. India: Random House Group Limited.

Markham, R. (1876). Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet, and the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa. London: Trubner and Company. Retrieved 15^th August 2022 from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Z4WaPcW0JdUC&oi=fnd&pg=IA2&dq=Narrative+of+George+Bogle+mission+to+Tibet+and+Thomas+Manning+to+Lhasa&ots=o30pa1kiPn&sig=6V8QxMCboTA3ZZvIWGp8dV5e8Rw.

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[1] The Tangun horses were considered sure-footed and best fitted for the mountainous terrain at the time.