𝐎𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕, 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟕, representatives of the people from all across Bhutan gathered at Punakha and signed the “Genja” reposing full trust and faith in Trongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck to lead the country. The Wangchuck dynasty was born and King Ugyen Wangchuck became Bhutan’s first hereditary King. Thus, December 17 is celebrated as Bhutan’s National Day marking the enthronement of Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck as the first hereditary King of Bhutan.

On the historic occasion, John Claude White, who was the political officer at Sikkim from 1889 to 1908, wrote: “December 17, the day of the installation of the Maharaja, dawned brightly on a scene of great bustle and preparation. Punctually at ten o’clock, our procession started for the Jong… The Trongsa occupied the center throne… The head clerk to the council now rose, and from the center of the hall read from a parchment scroll the oath of allegiance to the new Maharaja, which the chiefs and headmen were about to sign. The Ta-tshang Khenpo from a casket produced the great seal of the Dharma Raja, which was solemnly affied to the document. This was a lengthy proceeding, carried out with great care, and eagerly watched by the company. The seal measures about five inches square.

The paper was first most carefully damped with warm water, then the seal was painted over with vermilion, and finally, the impression was taken. Then in turn the council, the lamas, Jongpens, and other high officials each affixed his seal; but their impressions were in black, not vermilion…

“Two copies of the document were prepared and duly signed and sealed, and the Tongsa Penlop was thus formally elected as His Highness the Maharaja of Bhutan, Sir Ugyen Wang-chuk, K.C. I. E. I then rose, and handing over his Highness his Excellency the Viceroy’s kharita, or complimentary letter, made a short speech congratulating the new Maharaja, saying:”…I have today been present at the election of Sir Ugyen as Hereditary Maharaja of Bhutan, and congratulate you, Sir Ugyen, most heartily on your accession to the gaddi, and the people of Bhutan on their choice of a ruler.

“𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐁𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐔𝐠𝐲𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. 𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐔𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧 , 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚….”

It was indeed a new era for Bhutan. Since the death of the Zhabdrung in 1651, power within Bhutan was dispersed with several regional lords and chieftains dominating in different parts of the country. The concept of one nation did not exist. Due to this, there was no unity and identity. By becoming King, Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck unified the country under one domain and leader. Further, a system of governance that of the Hereditary Monarchy came into being.

The establishment of a Hereditary Monarchy is very significant. It ensures the automatic continuity of leadership. King Ugyen Wangchuck did not need to worry about his heir and future King, as his son, Jigme Wangchuck was born in 1905. Additionally, the existence of this system leaves no room for others to aspire for leadership. In a way, it prevents feuds for power, as was seen during the periods before Ugyen Wangchuck became King.

King Ugyen Wangchuck sowed the seeds of a new form of governance in Bhutan – that of a hereditary Monarchy. As stated earlier, this unified the country under one central force.

While Bhutan was still unknown to most parts of the world, Bhutan as an independent nation emerged on the world map after the coronation of King Ugyen Wangchuck. It established the foundations for his successors to embark on social, economical, and political reforms, which ultimately culminated in the establishment of Bhutan as a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy.

In the following articles, Kuzuzangpola brings to you some of the highlights and milestones during the reign of respective Monarchs which has placed Bhutan at the vanguard of modern nations.

B𝘺 𝘜𝘨𝘺𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘻𝘪𝘯, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘉𝘩𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘯