Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Athens-BOI

632
BHUTAN
of the roots and branches tvere examined by Turner during
his journey to Thibet; but the plant being neither in
blossom nor bearing fruit, it was impossible to decide
whether it was the true cinnamon or an inferior kind of
cassia. The leaf, however, corresponded with the descrip¬
tion given of the true cinnamon by Linnaeus. The lower
ranges of the hills abound in animal life. Elephants are
so numerous as to be dangerous to travellers ; but tigers
are not common, except near the River Tistd. Leopards
abound in the Hah valley; deer everywhere, some of them of
a very large species. The musk deer is found in the snows,
and the barking deer on every hill side. Wild hogs are
met with even at great elevations. Large squirrels are
common. Bears and rhinoceros are also found. Pheas
ants, jungle fowls, pigeons, and other small game abound.
The Bhutids are no sportsmen. They have a superstitious
objection to firing a gun, thinking that it offends the
deities of the woods and valleys, and brings down rain.
A species of horse, which seems indigenous to Bhutdn,
and is used as a domestic animal, is called tdngan, from
Tdngastdn, the general appellation of that assemblage of
mountains which constitutes the territory of Bhutdn. It
is peculiar to this tract, not being found in any of the neigh¬
bouring countries of Assam, Nepdl, Thibet, or Bengal, and
unites in an eminent degree the two qualities of strength
and beauty. The tdngan horse usually stands about
thirteen hands high, is short bodied, clean-limbed, deep in
the chest, and extremely active, his colour usually inclining
to piebald. In so barren and rude a country the manufac¬
turing industry of its people is, as might be expected, in a
low stage, the few articles produced being all destined for
home consumption. These consist of coarse blankets and
cotton cloths made by the villagers inhabiting the southern
tract. Leather, from the hide of the buffalo, imperfectly
tanned, furnishes the soles of snow boots. Circular bowls
are neatly turned from various woods. A small quantity
of paper is made from a plant described as the Daphne
papyrifera. Swords, iron spears, and arrow-heads, and a
few copper caldrons fabricated from the metal obtained in
the country, complete the list of manufactures. The
foreign trade of Bhuthn has greatly declined. In 1809
the trade between Assam and Bhutdn amounted to £20,000
per annum, the lac, madder, silk, erendi cloth, and dried
fish of Assam, being exchanged for the woollens, gold-dust,
salt, musk, horses, and silk of Bhutdn. At present very
little trade is carried on by Bhutdn with the neighbouring
countries. The military resources of the country are on
an insignificant scale. Beyond the guards for the defence
of the various castles, there is nothing like a standing
army. The total military force was estimated by the
British envoy in 1864 at 6000. The climate of Blmtdn
varies according to the difference of elevation. At the
time when the inhabitants of Pundkhd (the winter resi¬
dence of the Rdjds) are afraid of exposing themselves to the
blazing sun, those of Ghdsd experience all the rigour of
winter, and are chilled by perpetual snows. Yet these
places are within sight of each other. The rains descend
in floods upon the heights; but in the vicinity of Tdsi-
sudon, the capital, they are moderate; there are frequent
showers, but nothing that can be compared to the tropical
rains of Bengal. Owing to the great elevation and steep¬
ness of the mountains, dreadful storms arise among the
hollows, often attended with fatal results.
History.—Bhutdn formerly belonged to a tribe called
by the Bhutids Tephu, generally believed to have been the
people of Kuch Behar. About two hundred years ago
some Thibetan soldiers subjugated the Tephus, took pos¬
session of the country, and settled down in it. At the
head of the Bhutdn government there are nominally two
supreme authorities, the Dharm Rdjd, the spiritual head,
and the Deb Rdjd, the temporal ruler. To aid these
Rdjds in administering the country, there is a council of
permanent ministers, called the Lenehen. Practically,
however, there is no government all. Subordinate officers
and rapacious governors of forts wield all the power of the
state, and tyranny, oppression, and anarchy reign over
the whole country. The Dharm Rdjd succeeds as an
incarnation of the deity. On the death of a Dharm Rdjd
a year or two elapses, and the new incarnation then re¬
appears in the shape of a child who generally happens to
be born in the family of a principal olficer. The child
establishes his identity by recognizing the cooking utensils,
&c., of the late Dharm Rdjd ; he is then trained in a
monastery, and on attaining his majority is recognized as
Rdjd, though he exercises no more real authority in his
majority than he did in his infancy. The Deb Rdjd is in
theory elected by the council. In practice he is merely
the nominee of whichever of the two governors of East
and West Bhutdn happens for the time to be the more
powerful. The relations of the British with Bhutdn com¬
menced in 1772, when the Bhutids invaded the principality
of Kuch Behar, a dependency of Bengal. The Kuch Behar
Rdjd applied for aid, and a force under Captain James
was despatched to his assistance ; the invaders . were ex¬
pelled and pursued into their own territories. Upon the
intercession of Teshu Lama, then regent of Thibet, a treaty
of peace was concluded in 1774 between the East India
Company and the ruler of Bhutdn. In 1783 Captain
Turner was deputed to Bhutdn, with a view of promoting
commercial intercourse, but his mission proved unsuccess¬
ful. From this period little intercourse took place with
Bhutdn, until the occupation of Assam by the British in
1826. It was then discovered that the Bhutids had
usurped several tracts of low land lying at the foot of the
mountains, called the Dwdrs or passes, and for these they
agreed to pay a small tribute. They failed to do so, how¬
ever, and availed themselves of the command of the passes
to commit depredations within the British territory. Cap¬
tain Pemberton was accordingly deputed to Bhutdn to
adjust the points of difference. But his negotiations yielded
no definite result; and every other means of obtaining
redress and security proving unsuccessful, the Assam
Dwdrs were wrested from the Bhutids, and the British
Government consented to pay to Bhutdn a sum of £1000
per annum as compensation for the resumption of their
tenure, during the good behaviour of the Bhutids. Con¬
tinued outrages and aggressions were, however, committed
by the Bhutids on British subjects in the Dwdrs. Not¬
withstanding repeated remonstrances and threats, scarcely
a year passed without the occurrence of several raids in
British territory headed by Bhutid officials, in which they
plundered the inhabitants, massacred them, or carried them
away as slaves. In 1863 Mr Ashley Eden was sent as an
envoy to Bhutdn to demand reparation for these outrages.
He did not succeed in his mission; he was subjected
to the grossest insults ; and under compulsion signed a
treaty giving over the disputed territory to Bhutdn, and
making other concessions which the Bhutdn Government
demanded. On Mr Eden’s return the viceroy at once
disavowed his treaty, sternly stopped the former allow¬
ance for the Assam Dwdrs, and demanded the immedi¬
ate restoration of all British subjects kidnapped during
the last five years. The Bhutids not complying with
this demand, the Governor-General issued a proclamation,
dated the 12th November 1864, by which the eleven
Western or Bengal Dwdrs were forthwith incorporated
with the Queen’s Indian dominions. No resistance was
at first offered to the annexation; but, suddenly, in
January 1865, the Bhutids surprised the English gar¬
rison at Diwdngiri, and the post was abandoned with