Son of Dasho Pila Gonpo Wangyal and his second wife, Ashi Sonam Pedzom, Desi Jigme Namgyal was born in 1825 at Lhuntse Dzong and died in 1881 at Semtokha Dzong. He was an outstanding military commander. The qualities of loyalty, bravery, integrity and risk-taking were crucial factors in the rise of Jigme Namgyal. Desi Jigme Namgyal was from Kurtoe Dungkar, from where the ancestry of Wangchuck dynasty originates. He was a descendant of Khedrup Kuenga Wangpo, the son of TertönPema Lingpa and his second wife, Yum Bumdren, and Khedrup’s consort, Wangmo, from Khadro Chodung clan, who was a descendant of Tertön Guru Choewang. Around 1846, he joined the Trongsa administration that governed eastern Bhutan, which consisted then of the Assam Duars. He rose rapidly through the ranks to become the Trongsa Penlop in 1853. While he was a high official of Trongsa, Jigme Namgyal married Ashi Pema Choki, the daughter of the 8th Trongsa Penlop, Dasho Ugyen Phuntsho, by his wife, Aum Rinchen Pelmo. His marriage to Pema Choki further enhanced Jigme Namgyal’s noble lineage. The ancestry of Jigme Namgyal’s wife also went back to Pema Lingpa as she was the daughter of Tamzhing Choji. Jigme Namgyal and Pema Choki had three children:
While Jigme Namgyal was the Zimpon of Trongsa, he met his root Lama, Jangchub Tsundru. Lama Jangchub Tsundru had a significant influence on him as a spiritual companion. The Lama designed the sacred Raven Crown for Jigme Namgyal. The Raven Crown has symbolized the Kings of Bhutan since then.
The Duar Wars 1864-65
As the Trongsa Penlop, from 1853 to 1870, Jigme Namgyal was concerned about the festering tension between British India and Bhutan over the Assam Duars and Bengal Duars, which were the most fertile part of Bhutan in those days. For economic reason, and to secure the borders of their empire, the British attempted to extend their boundaries up to the foothills of Bhutan. The Assam Duars were annexed in 1841 although a formal treaty ceding it did not take place until 1865. In 1864, the British unilaterally declared that, in addition to the Assam Duars that were already annexed, the Bengal Duars would be annexed permanently. Following this, the British sent forces to occupy vital passes into Bhutan such as Deothang, Sidli and Buxa. Jigme Namgyal launched a counter offensive with about 5000 men and succeeded in dislodging the British Imperial Force at Deothang. He was successful in the January and February 1865 attacks on the British outpost in Deothang. However, later that year Bhutan was forced to sign the Treaty of Sinchula, 1865. The treaty brought stability to the relationship between the two countries. The Duars were incorporated permanently into the British Empire and an annual subsidy of Rs 50,000 to Bhutan was instituted from that year.
Three Legacies of Desi Jigme Namgyal
The most important contribution of Desi Jigme Namgyal made was the ushering of peace, through a reduction of local feuds among the top leadership by gradually unifying the state over three decades, from 1850s to 1870s. The reduction of internal conflicts, especially after 1878, allowed for laying the foundation of the monarchy that in turn brought a peaceful era in Bhutan. In terms of external relationship, especially with British India, Desi Jigme Namgyal left an identifiable centre of power that made it possible for treaties to be revised constructively and foreign relationships to be improved over the course of time. His son, the first King of Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck amply fulfilled that role later on. After Jigme Namgyal’s reign, foreign relations could be conducted in a systematic and co-ordinated way, because the fragmentation of power among the top leadership could be avoided. The Treaty of Sinchula, 1865, which went back to Jigme Namgyal’s time, became the crucial, guiding bilateral legal instrument between Bhutan and British India and later, Independent India. It was updated and revised in 1910, 1949, and 2007. Jigme Namgyel made not only political but architectural impacts. He restored the Tongsa Dzong, and built Sangwa Duepa temple in it. He founded the Wangducholing Palace in Choekhor valley in 1856. Wangducholing Palace was the main residence of the Royal Family from Desi Jigme Namgyal’s time to that of the Crown PrinceJigme Dorji Wangchuck. It was the political epicentre of the country for over a century, from the late 1850s to the early 1950s.
Death
In 1881, Desi Jigme Namgyal died, aged 55–56, at Semtokha Dzong in the Thimphu valley from a fall from a yak. His 21-year-old son, then the Paro Penlop, Ugyen Wangchuck, conducted the grandest funeral Bhutan had ever seen for his father.
