Expansionist Bhutan

How can we achieve a Bhutanese polity that expands outside of its OTL borders? A religious union centered around Bhutan at least, and POV before the 1800s.
 
This is OTL. They attacked Koch Bihar and had significant success until British intervention forced them out.
 
This is OTL. They attacked Koch Bihar and had significant success until British intervention forced them out.

But they were forced out, and technically a Bhutan-controlled state wasn't the thing I was exactly looking for. What if they had succeeded in obtaining help from Tibet, and would it be possible a Bhutan Empire would emerge?
 
Early on, a couple Portuguese Jesuits traveled through Bhutan, and even met the Zhabdrung. Bhutan was pretty isolated in this period, but is there some way to create an enduring relationship with Portugal? The Zhabdrung would certainly have liked military support against the Tibetans, and it might have been possible for him to expand Bhutan's borders further east than OTL.
 
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