Paro Province
Paro Province (Dzongkha: སྤ་རོ་; Wylie: ''spa-ro'') was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan. Paro Province occupied lands in western Bhutan, corresponding approximately to modern Paro District. It was administered from the Paro Dzong in the town of Paro. The ruling governor was known as the Penlop of Paro, or ''Parob'', a chief contender for power before the establishment of the monarchy. By the 19th century, the Penlop of Paro effectively controlled the western half of Bhutan. History Under Bhutan's early theocratic dual system of government, decreasingly effective central government control resulted in the '' de facto'' disintegration of the office of Shabdrung after the death of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1651. Under this system, the Shabdrung reigned over the temporal Druk Desi and religious Je Khenpo. Two successor Shabdrungs – the son (1651) and stepbrother (1680) of Ngawang Namgyal – were effectively controlled by the Druk Desi and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Provinces Of Bhutan
The Provinces of Bhutan were historical regions of Bhutan headed by penlops and dzongpens (both translated as "governor"). Provincial lords gained power as the increasingly dysfunctional "Tibetan dual system of government, Dual System of Government" eventually collapsed amid civil war. The victorious Penlop of Trongsa Ugyen Wangchuck gained ''de jure'' sovereignty over the entire realm in 1907, marking the establishment of the modern Bhutan, Kingdom of Bhutan and the ascendancy of the House of Wangchuck. Since this time, the provinces of Bhutan have been reorganized several times into what are now the twenty Districts of Bhutan (''Dzongkhag''). Provincial titles such as Penlop of Trongsa and Penlop of Paro carry on, however, wholly subordinate to the Royal House. Traditionally, Bhutan comprised nine provinces: Trongsa Province, Trongsa, Paro Province, Paro, Punakha Province, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang Province, Wangdue Phodrang, Daga Province, Daga (also Taka, Tarka, or Taga), Bumth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dual System Of Government
The Dual System of Government is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi (temporal ruler) coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribution of power between institutions varied over time and location. The Tibetan term Cho-sid-nyi (; alternate spellings include ''Chhos-srid-gnyis'', ''Chhoe-sid-nyi'', and ''Chos-sid-nyi'') literally means "both Dharma and temporal," but may also be translated as "dual system of religion and politics." Because the ultimate ruler is the patron and protector of state religion, some aspects of the dual system of government may be likened to the Supreme Governance of the Church of England, or even to theocracy. However, other aspects resemble secularism, aiming to separate the doctrines of religion and politics. Under the Cho-sid-nyi, both religious and temporal authorities wield actual political power, albeit within officially separate instit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dzongpen
Dzongpen (Dzongkha: རྗོང་དཔོན་; Wylie: ''rjong-dpon''; also spelled "Dzongpon," "Dzongpön," "Jongpen," "Jongpon," "Jongpön") is a Dzongkha term roughly translated as governor or dzong lord. Bhutanese dzongpens, prior to unification, controlled certain areas of the country, but now hold no administrative office. Rather, dzongpens are now entirely subservient to the House of Wangchuck. Traditionally, Bhutan comprised nine provinces: Trongsa, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang, Daga (also Taka, Tarka, or Taga), Bumthang, Thimphu, Kurtoed (also Kurtoi, Kuru-tod), and Kurmaed (or Kurme, Kuru-mad). The Provinces of Kurtoed and Kurmaed were combined into one local administration, leaving the traditional number of governors at eight. While some lords ruled from dzongs (dzongpens), others held the title of penlop (Dzongkha: དཔོན་སློབ་; Wylie: ''dpon-slob''; also "Ponlop"), a title also translated as "governor," though penlops tended to be mo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wangdue Phodrang
Wangdue Phodrang (, Dzongkha 'Wangdi Phodr'a) is a town and capital (dzongkhag thromde) of Wangdue Phodrang District in central Bhutan. It is located in Thedtsho Gewog. Khothang Rinchenling History The town shares its name with the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong built in 1638 that dominates the district. The name is said to have been given by Ngawang Namgyal, the 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, who was searching for the best location for a dzong to prevent incursions from the south. At the chosen spot, the Zhabdrung encountered a boy named Wangdi playing beside the river and hence named the dzong "Wangdi's Palace". Fire and reconstruction Wangdi Phodrang Dzong burnt down in the afternoon of 24 June 2012, supposedly because of a faulty electrical water cooker. However, the dzong was being renovated at the time, so most of the historical relics had already been put into storage and were saved from destruction. Shortly after the fire, more than 1000 Japanese sympathizers donated an equiva ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thimphu
Thimphu (; ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's '' dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced by Thimphu as the capital in 1955, and in 1961 Thimphu was officially declared the capital of the Kingdom of Bhutan by the 3rd Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. The city extends in a north–south direction on the west bank of the valley formed by the Wang Chhu, which flows out into India as the Raidāk River. Thimphu is the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude, ranging from to . Unlike many capitals, Thimphu does not have its own airport, instead relying on the Paro Airport, accessible by road away. Thimphu, as the political and economic center of Bhutan, has a dominant agriculture and livestock base, contributing to about 45% of the country's GNP. Tourism, though a contributor to the economy, is strictly regulated, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Punakha
Punakha () is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is about 72 km away from Thimphu, and it takes about 3 hours by car from the capital. Unlike Thimphu, it is quite warm in winter and hot in summer. It is located at an elevation of 1,200 metres above sea level, and rice is grown as the main crop along the river valleys of two main rivers of Bhutan, the Pho Chu and Mo Chu. Dzongkha is widely spoken in this district. Pungthang Dewachen Gi Phodrang Pungthang Dewachen Phodrang (Palace of Great Happiness) or Punakha Dzong was constructed by Tuebi Zaow Balip under the great command of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1637 and believed to have been completed in a two-year time period. It is also the country's most beautiful Dzong. It is the winter residence of Bhutan's Central Monastic Body led by the Je Khenpo. The D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trongsa
Trongsa, previously Tongsa (, ), is a Thromde or town, and the capital of Trongsa District in central Bhutan. The name means "new village" in Dzongkha. The first temple was built in 1543 by the Drukpa lama Ngagi Wangchuck, who was the great-grandfather of Ngawang Namgyal, Zhabdrung Rinpoche, the unifier of Bhutan. Trongsa Dzong Chökhor Raptentse Dzong at Trongsa which was built in 1644, used to be the seat of power of the Wangchuck dynasty before it became rulers of Bhutan in 1907. Traditionally the King of Bhutan first becomes the Trongsa Penlop (governor) before being named Crown Prince and eventually King. Built on a mountain spur high above the gorges of the Mangde Chhu, the dzong controlled east-west trade for centuries. The only road connecting eastern and western Bhutan (the precursor to the modern Lateral Road), passed through the courtyard of the dzong. At the command of the ''penlop'' the massive doors could be shut, dividing the country in two. Higher ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, extending northward into parts of the Arctic; eastward and southward into parts of the Indian subcontinent, mounting invasions of Southeast Asia, and conquering the Iranian plateau; and reaching westward as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains. The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of several nomad, nomadic tribes in the Mongol heartland under the leadership of Temüjin, known by the title of Genghis Khan (–1227), whom a council proclaimed as the ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants, who sent out Mongol invasions, invading armies in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the Eastern world, East with the Western world, West, and the Pac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups such as Mongols, Monpa people, Monpa, Tamang people, Tamang, Qiang people, Qiang, Sherpa people, Sherpa, Lhoba people, Lhoba, and since the 20th century Han Chinese and Hui people, Hui. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of . Located in the Himalayas, the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire extended far beyond the Tibetan Plateau, from the Tarim Basin and Pamirs in the west, to Yunnan and Bengal in the southeast. It then divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was often at least nominally unified under a ser ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Penlop
Penlop (Dzongkha: དཔོན་སློབ་; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''dpon-slob''; also spelled Ponlop, Pönlop) is a Dzongkha term roughly translated as provincial governor. Bhutanese penlops, prior to unification, controlled certain districts of the country, but now hold no administrative office. Rather, penlops are now entirely subservient to the House of Wangchuck. Traditionally, Bhutan comprised nine provinces: Trongsa Province, Trongsa, Paro Province, Paro, Punakha Province, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang Province, Wangdue Phodrang, Daga Province, Daga (also Taka, Tarka, or Taga), Bumthang Province, Bumthang, Thimphu Province, Thimphu, Kurtoed Province, Kurtoed (also Kurtoi, Kuru-tod), and Kurmaed Province, Kurmaed (or Kurme, Kuru-mad). The Provinces of Kurtoed and Kurmaed were combined into one local administration, leaving the traditional number of governors at eight. While some lords were penlops, others held the title Dzongpen (Dzongkha: རྗོང་དཔོན ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Je Khenpo
The Je Khenpo (; "The Chief Abbot of the Central Monastic Body of Bhutan"), formerly called the ''Dharma Raja'' by orientalists, is the title given to the senior religious hierarch of Bhutan. His primary duty is to lead the Dratshang Lhentshog (Commission for the Monastic Affairs) of Bhutan, which oversees the Central Monastic Body, and to arbitrate on matters of doctrine, assisted by ''Five Lopen Rinpoches '' (learned masters). The Je Khenpo is also responsible for many important liturgical and religious duties nationwide. The sitting Je Khenpo is also formally the leader of the southern branch of the Drukpa Kagyu sect, which is part of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Aside from the King of Bhutan, only the Je Khenpo may don a saffron kabney. History According to the dual system of government established by Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century, the powers of the government of Bhutan were ideally split between the religious branch, headed by the Je Khenpo, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Druk Desi
The Druk Desi (, Wylie: 'brug sde-srid; also called Deb Raja)The original title is , Wylie: sde-srid phyag-mdzod. was the title of the secular (administrative) rulers of Bhutan under the dual system of government between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Under this system, government authority was divided among secular and religious administrations, both unified under the nominal authority of the Zhabdrung Rinpoche. '' Druk'', meaning 'thunder dragon', refers symbolically to Bhutan, whose most ancient name is ''Druk-yul''. ''Desi'', meaning 'regent', was the chief secular office in the realm under this system of government. History In Bhutan, the office of Druk Desi was established by the Zhabdrung Rinpoche, Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century under the dual system of government. Having fled sectarian persecution in Tibet, Ngawang Namgyal established the Drukpa Lineage as the state religion. Under the Bhutanese system, the powers of the government were split between ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |