Dasho Dasho (Dzongkha: དྲག་ཤོས; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Drag-shos'') (lit. Excellent One) is a Bhutanese honorific that is bestowed upon individuals, along with a red scarf kabney, by the Druk Gyalpo. In common practice, however, ma ...

Jigme Palden Dorji (, 14 December 1919 – 6 April 1964) was a

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

ese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the

House of Wangchuck The Wangchuck dynasty () have held the hereditary position of Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") of Bhutan since 1907. Prior to reunification, the Wangchuck family had governed the district of Trongsa as descendants of Dungkar Choji. They eventually ...

. The brother-in-law of

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (, ; 2 May 1928 – 21 July 1972) was the 3rd Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan. He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first step towards democratization. Early life Jigme Dorji Wangchuck wa ...

, Dorji was close to his kinsman and accompanied the future king when he lived in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1950. He was educated at North Point in Darjeeling and the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. In 1928, at the age of nine, Jigme Palden Dorji was appointed the ''Trungpa'' (Administrator) of Haa Dzongkhag and in 1953, he succeeded his father Raja Tobgay, after his death, as Bhutan Agent to Kalimpong. He became the first man to hold the title

Prime Minister of Bhutan The prime minister of Bhutan (Lyonchen, ) is the head of government of Bhutan. The prime minister is nominated by the party that wins the most seats in the National Assembly (Gyelyong Tshogdu) and heads the executive cabinet, called the Counci ...

(''Lyonchen''). This followed the upgrading of the old position in 1958 as part of a wider series of reforms by Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952-72
/ref> As brother-in-law of the

Dragon King of Bhutan The King of Bhutan, officially the Druk Gyalpo (; ), is the constitutional monarch and head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as ''Drukyul'' which translates as "The Land of the Thunder Drago ...

Dorji helped to drive the king's modernisation policies. However his reforms antagonised both the military and the religious institutions leading to a corporal in the army assassinating him in April 1964. Brigadier Bahadur Namgyal, head of the

Royal Bhutan Army The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA; ) is a branch of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Bhutan responsible for maintaining the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty against security threats. The King of Bhutan is the Supreme Commander in Chie ...

, was amongst those executed for the murder plot.

Death

The night before the assassination Jigme had met with Mr Avtar Singh, India's representative accredited to Bhutan at the time, at

Samtse Samtse is a town and the headquarters of the Samtse District in Bhutan. The population of the town was 5,396 as of 2017. The population of the Samtse district was 60,100 at the 2005 census. Samtse is close to the Bhutan–India border. Across t ...

and left for

Phuntsholing Phuntsholing, also spelled as Phuentsholing (), is a border town in southern Bhutan and is the administrative seat of Chukha District. The town occupies parts of both Phuentsholing Gewog and Sampheling Gewog. Phuentsholing adjoins the Indian ...

the day after. While playing cards with his brother Rimpochhe, Rimpochhe's wife Savitri and some others, Jigme was shot from a window ten feet to the rear of where Jigme was sitting. On the capture and interrogation of the assassin, the assassin confessed that he received orders to shoot from Chabda Namgyal Bahadur – the army chief and an uncle to King Jigme. Chabda Namgyal was discreetly arrested at the palace quarters and was executed. Quartermaster General Bacchu Phugel was also arrested and placed under strict detention in relation to the assassination. It was purported that although Chabda Namgyal had given the orders Bacchu Phugel was actually the brains behind the assassination. Before any verdict was passed Bacchu Phugel was stabbed and killed in his cell during the night. It was also later revealed that the pistol the assassin had used was loaned to the assassin by the mistress of King

Jigme Dorji Dasho Jigme Palden Dorji (, 14 December 1919 – 6 April 1964) was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck. The brother-in-law of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Dorji was cl ...

– a weapon gifted to her by the King. The investigation into the assassination ended with the execution of Chabda Namgyal and did not unveil any motives behind the assassination. But, it is suspected that the assassination happened due to the rising power struggle between Chabda Namgyal, Bacchu Phugel and the mistress versus Jigme Palden Dorji. There was a rift between Chabda and Bacchu due to the new policies and induction of young blood into high positions by Jigme Palden Dorji. It was also reported that when the mistress was using government transportation, under the army for her personal use, Jigme Palden Dorji transferred the trucks under the civil administration which increased tensions between them.

Honours

King Mahendra Investiture Medal (Kingdom of Nepal, 2 May 1956).

Ancestry

References

1919 births 1964 deaths Prime ministers of Bhutan Assassinated Bhutanese politicians 20th-century Bhutanese politicians Deaths by firearm in Bhutan Jigme Palden Dorji {{Bhutan-politician-stub Bishop Cotton School Shimla alumni Politicians assassinated in 1964