Zhidar Matters: The Rise and Fall of a Controversial 18th Century Bhutanese Ruler
Zhidar Matters: The Rise and Fall of a Controversial 18th Century Bhutanese Ruler
By Dorji Penjore
Book abstract
The book is a brief account of Zhidar, alias Sonam Lhundup, who was the 16th Druk Desi (reigned 1769-1773), a civilian head of the dual system of governance. He was ousted from power by his political rivals led by Jigme Senge, the 7th throne holder and, therefore, the head of the state. It was not a disgrace to lose a war against the British, who were then consolidating their holdings in Bengal after 1757. What was disgraceful is the overthrowing, in absentia, of a war commander, in place of giving a hero’s welcome, whether he returned home as a victor or vanquished. Most nations in history gave this due honor, which was denied to Zhidar. And worse, he was barred from returning to his homeland for whose greater cause he had left the comfort of his home and throne to lead and fight in the foreign land. orders were given to kill him if he tried to enter the country.
It is essentially a re-writing of materials on Zhidar available in a few sources. Re-writing about Zhidar is necessary since what little information is available on him in Bhutanese primary sources is written in classical Tibetan and thus inaccessible to the reading public. He is often (mis)understood in history as a war-mongering, autocratic ruler. Zhidar’s life provides insight into old Bhutan’s power structure and society. His life trajectory is a textbook case of how an orphan from a remote village could rise to occupy the highest civil office of the land. Zhidar began his life with the adversity of an orphan, which proved to be the springboard to rise in the state bureaucracy. As an orphan he survived the cold winter on the warmth of the oxen, stepped on the first rung of a long bureaucratic ladder as menial servant, braved the harsh climates of the Tibetan plateau with his master, survived the tropical malarial climates and inhospitable geography of the duars as servant of border guards, rose to become State Chief Protocol, followed by Trongsa Ponlop, and Wangdi Dzongpon, and finally to finally climb the summit: the highest post of the land, Druk Desi. His conflict with the throne holder sheds light on a constitutional dilemma that plagued the theocratic governance after Zhabdrung’s death (d. 1651) was only revealed in 1704. We come to understand through his life story how Bhutan became a power to be reckoned with in the region. We learn about Bhutan’s most aggressive and expansionist foreign policy vis-à-vis its southern and western neighbors. His policy to expand Bhutan’s engagement into Cooch Behar brought Bhutan face to face with the British, who had since 1857 supplanted the Mughals in Bengal. His decision to invade Cooch Behar and to withstand the British effort to drive the Bhutanese from the kingdom changed the course of Bhutan’s history. The ripple effects of the first war Bhutan fought with the British are being felt today. The physical shape and political structure of modern Bhutan are partly the living legacies of Zhidar and subsequent British encounters.