Timeline of Bhutan

Chronology

46 events spanning the history of Bhutan. BCE/CE dating.

1. 500 BCE

   State of Monyul established; continues to A.D. 600.

2. 630

   ca. A.D. 630-640 Early Buddhist temples built.

3. 810

   ca. 810 Independent monarchies develop.

4. 830

   830s-840s Tibetan Buddhist religion and culture firmly established.

5. 1200

   eleventh century Bhutan occupied by Tibetan-Mongol military forces.

6. 1360

   1360s Gelukpa sect monks flee to Bhutan from Tibet.

7. 1616

   Drukpa monk Ngawang Namgyal arrives from Tibet, seeking freedom from Dalai Lama.

8. 1629

   First Westerners--Portuguese Jesuits--visit Bhutan.

9. 1629

   1629-47 Successive Tibetan invasions of Bhutan end in withdrawal or defeat.

10. 1651

    Ngawang Namgyal dies; theocratic Buddhist state rules unified Bhutan (then called Drukyul) and joint civil-religious administration established; summer capital established at Thimphu, winter capital at Punakha. Drukpa subsect emerges as dominant religious force.