alternatehistory.com
3-Adaptation
Despite elections officially arriving in Bhutan the new Tshogdu more often then not followed the king’s lead. There was absolutely no tradition of democracy in Bhutan and most members of the Tshogdu were from a privileged place in society, where absolute loyalty to the king was pounded into every child’s head from birth. It did not help matters that the King’s brother in law was Prime Minister.
When the first Wangchucks arose, beside them were the Dorji Family. When the Wangchucks made their first dzong conquest they awarded the holding to the Dorji Family. A Dorji had been in the wings as a Wangchuck helped the British into Tibet, paving the way for the monarchy. And when the House of Wangchuck had been declared Druk Gyalpo the Dorji family had gotten their own title “gongzim”, literally meaning chamberlain but more colloquially Chief Minister. Their seat now lay legally in India, though they remained Bhutanese. The mighty Bhutan House was behind much of the immigration that was driving the growth of Bhutan’s economy.
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck already had the Dorji name, his father having wanted to honor his allies. He then married Kesang Choden Dorji the year before he came into power. Once in power he kept close to his in laws and although the post he created to represent the Tshogdu, “Lyonchen”, the prime minister, was not a hereditary office like that of gongzim it still went to the head of the Dorji family, Jigme Palden Dorji. As far as nepotistic appointments of Prime Ministers go Dorji was not a terrible choice, possessing at a bare minimum that desire to get things done that so often eludes such appointments.
In 1958 the Tshogdu, upon prompting from the king, passed a law abolishing slavery and indentured servitude in Bhutan. The “peculiar institution” had long ago outlived its welcome in the west, but in little nooks and crannies around the world it had endured. In Bhutan it had been mostly confined to backwater provinces in the east. Unlike in many other places slavery slipped neatly into the dustbin of history amongst the Bhutanese.
The king did not utilize the Tshogdu when it came to immigration however, promulgating the Bhutanese Citizenship Act in 1958. It granted Bhutanese citizenship to those with a Bhutanese father. To be naturalized however one had to have lived for 10 years in Bhutan and own agricultural land. Curiously the Ngalop were all assumed to fit into the former category, while Lhotshama were subjected to a rigorous verification process. The king and his agents were given wide discretion as to their investigations into “illegal” immigrants, and more importantly deportation.
This act also banned further immigration into Bhutan from any source. Since citizenship required 10 years of residence this essentially meant any immigrants who had arrived since 1948 were illegal and now subject to the whims of the government.
This would be a problem in later years.
But for now, the Act was promulgated peacefully.
That same year Indian pressure for Bhutan to defend itself grew too great to gnore, and the Royal Bhutan army was formed. 2,500 conscripts would be called up as the first members of the Royal Bhutan Army.
The army was not a long-term problem for Bhutan in our timeline.
That will be different in this new world.
Bhutan finished the eventful year of 1958 with a September visit from Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Prime Minister made bold promises guaranteeing continues Bhutanese independence from the Communists and reaffirmed Indian funding for Bhutanese development. When the King made complaints about the Bhutan State Congress being allowed to persist in India Nehru took little action, but in 1962 the newest claimant to the title of Zhabdrung Rinpoche fled to India after claiming the king was illegitimate but soon found himself deported back into Bhutanese custody.
In 1959 the threat of Communism again reared its head over Bhutan. China executed its claims against Bhutan and seized Bhutanese property in Tibet, which had remained despite the Communist takeover. That same year the Dalai Llama was forced to flee Tibet to escape the wrath of the People’s Republic. Despite having long resisted the authority of the Tibetan Llamas the Bhutanese saw this as proof that Communism was unilaterally dangerous to Buddhism. To protect themselves from this they turned to assistance from India, who provided a solution that, ironically, had started in Stalinist Russia.
A Five-Year Plan.
India would fully fund a Five-Year Plan (formally called the “Economic Development Plan”) starting in 1961. Over one hundred million rupees were to be sent to Bhutan for…something. It was not exactly clarified what it was all going to, though there was a general assumption that would be going towards things that would enable Bhutan to provide at least some resistance if China tried to get into India by way of Thimphu.
The plan ended up featuring heavy investments in road building. Despite recent improvements travel from Thimphu to the Indian border, not even 200 miles, still required about a week. Thus one centerpiece of the Five Year Plan was a highway linking India and the capital (as well as other Bhutanese cities like Paro). Bhutan was eager to show off to India by only using Bhutanese labor, but this soon fell apart. Building a road through mountains is arduous, dangerous work, and the Bhutanese government was not willing to pay high wages. The Ngalop much preferred the forestry section of the Five Year Plan.
If you have been paying attention at all you know what comes next.
Those Bhutanese who did work where Lhotshama, but more labor still had to be and so new migrants entered the country from Assam and Nepal. All illegal, but still welcomed by the government out of a desperate need to fulfill the plan. More came then were needed, but the government still could not actually enforce the law, so they stayed and made roots.
What did these excess Lhotshama do, along with those who were already there but did not work for the five-year plan?
They farmed.
By most standards the farms started by the Lhotshama were small. They were family run and often sustenance based, with only a little surplus provided. However, in a country as small as Bhutan a little goes a long way and now the Lhotshama were producing a majority of Bhutan’s food supply. It was of little consequence at the moment but would have repercussions down the road.
When the first Wangchucks arose, beside them were the Dorji Family. When the Wangchucks made their first dzong conquest they awarded the holding to the Dorji Family. A Dorji had been in the wings as a Wangchuck helped the British into Tibet, paving the way for the monarchy. And when the House of Wangchuck had been declared Druk Gyalpo the Dorji family had gotten their own title “gongzim”, literally meaning chamberlain but more colloquially Chief Minister. Their seat now lay legally in India, though they remained Bhutanese. The mighty Bhutan House was behind much of the immigration that was driving the growth of Bhutan’s economy.
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck already had the Dorji name, his father having wanted to honor his allies. He then married Kesang Choden Dorji the year before he came into power. Once in power he kept close to his in laws and although the post he created to represent the Tshogdu, “Lyonchen”, the prime minister, was not a hereditary office like that of gongzim it still went to the head of the Dorji family, Jigme Palden Dorji. As far as nepotistic appointments of Prime Ministers go Dorji was not a terrible choice, possessing at a bare minimum that desire to get things done that so often eludes such appointments.
In 1958 the Tshogdu, upon prompting from the king, passed a law abolishing slavery and indentured servitude in Bhutan. The “peculiar institution” had long ago outlived its welcome in the west, but in little nooks and crannies around the world it had endured. In Bhutan it had been mostly confined to backwater provinces in the east. Unlike in many other places slavery slipped neatly into the dustbin of history amongst the Bhutanese.
The king did not utilize the Tshogdu when it came to immigration however, promulgating the Bhutanese Citizenship Act in 1958. It granted Bhutanese citizenship to those with a Bhutanese father. To be naturalized however one had to have lived for 10 years in Bhutan and own agricultural land. Curiously the Ngalop were all assumed to fit into the former category, while Lhotshama were subjected to a rigorous verification process. The king and his agents were given wide discretion as to their investigations into “illegal” immigrants, and more importantly deportation.
This act also banned further immigration into Bhutan from any source. Since citizenship required 10 years of residence this essentially meant any immigrants who had arrived since 1948 were illegal and now subject to the whims of the government.
This would be a problem in later years.
But for now, the Act was promulgated peacefully.
That same year Indian pressure for Bhutan to defend itself grew too great to gnore, and the Royal Bhutan army was formed. 2,500 conscripts would be called up as the first members of the Royal Bhutan Army.
The army was not a long-term problem for Bhutan in our timeline.
That will be different in this new world.
Bhutan finished the eventful year of 1958 with a September visit from Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The Prime Minister made bold promises guaranteeing continues Bhutanese independence from the Communists and reaffirmed Indian funding for Bhutanese development. When the King made complaints about the Bhutan State Congress being allowed to persist in India Nehru took little action, but in 1962 the newest claimant to the title of Zhabdrung Rinpoche fled to India after claiming the king was illegitimate but soon found himself deported back into Bhutanese custody.
In 1959 the threat of Communism again reared its head over Bhutan. China executed its claims against Bhutan and seized Bhutanese property in Tibet, which had remained despite the Communist takeover. That same year the Dalai Llama was forced to flee Tibet to escape the wrath of the People’s Republic. Despite having long resisted the authority of the Tibetan Llamas the Bhutanese saw this as proof that Communism was unilaterally dangerous to Buddhism. To protect themselves from this they turned to assistance from India, who provided a solution that, ironically, had started in Stalinist Russia.
A Five-Year Plan.
India would fully fund a Five-Year Plan (formally called the “Economic Development Plan”) starting in 1961. Over one hundred million rupees were to be sent to Bhutan for…something. It was not exactly clarified what it was all going to, though there was a general assumption that would be going towards things that would enable Bhutan to provide at least some resistance if China tried to get into India by way of Thimphu.
The plan ended up featuring heavy investments in road building. Despite recent improvements travel from Thimphu to the Indian border, not even 200 miles, still required about a week. Thus one centerpiece of the Five Year Plan was a highway linking India and the capital (as well as other Bhutanese cities like Paro). Bhutan was eager to show off to India by only using Bhutanese labor, but this soon fell apart. Building a road through mountains is arduous, dangerous work, and the Bhutanese government was not willing to pay high wages. The Ngalop much preferred the forestry section of the Five Year Plan.
If you have been paying attention at all you know what comes next.
Those Bhutanese who did work where Lhotshama, but more labor still had to be and so new migrants entered the country from Assam and Nepal. All illegal, but still welcomed by the government out of a desperate need to fulfill the plan. More came then were needed, but the government still could not actually enforce the law, so they stayed and made roots.
What did these excess Lhotshama do, along with those who were already there but did not work for the five-year plan?
They farmed.
By most standards the farms started by the Lhotshama were small. They were family run and often sustenance based, with only a little surplus provided. However, in a country as small as Bhutan a little goes a long way and now the Lhotshama were producing a majority of Bhutan’s food supply. It was of little consequence at the moment but would have repercussions down the road.
- King of the Uzbeks
- Word Count: 1.1k