A Political Economic Analysis of Indo•Bhutan Trade during the Reign of Ugyen Wangchuk ( r. 1907-26), the First Hereditary Monarch of Bhutan · - A THESIS IN COMMERCE SUBMITIED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ' DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Under the Supervision of Dr. lndrajit Ray DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL DARJEELING, WEST BENGAL .. INDIA} '' 2008~ '"1 "\> , I •' ' STOCKT/U(ING.,201i! ~t~ ... 68~.0~5~65~,58 6 ~'45'r 21fj5!J8 11 JUN 2009 ,[) P. 0. NORTH BENGAL UNIVERSITY ~~O"i!T"l· . Z'~Z-. 'J~jit ~~- M. A. (Econ.), Ph. D. Reader RAJA RAMMOHUNPUR, DIST. DARJEELING, WEST BENGAL, INDIA, PIN- 734430. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PHONE: (0353) 2581 474(0) UNIVERSITY OF NORTH BENGAL · (0353) 2581 851(R) e-mail - [email protected] Certificate of Supervisor This is to certify that the work presented in the thesis entitled 'A Political Economic Analysis of Indo-Bhutan Trade duri11g the reign of Ugyen Wangclzuk (r. 1907- 26), the First hereditary monarch of Bhutan' is the original work of Srnt. · Rah1a Sarkar, M.A. (Economics), under my supervision at the Department of Commerce, North Bengal University. The results incorporated in the thesis have not been submitted for any other degree elsewhere. Further, I certify that Smt. Ratna Sarkar has followed the rules and regulation laid down by the University in carrying out the research . ~3;1--0~ (Dr. Indrajit Ray) Reader . Dept. of Commerce 'University of North Bengal CONTENTS Page Acknowledgement ........ : .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. 1 - 11 Map ofBhutan ................................................. -·..... 111 Chapter 1: Introduction . 1-13 Chapter 2: Political Scenario in Bhutan ........ ~............ 14-34 Chapter 3: Trade Routes ofBhutan .......................... 35-87 Chapter 4: Coinage in Bhutan during Nineteenth-twentieth centuries ................. 88-107 Chapter 5: Trend of Trade during 1907-26: Export ....... 108-125 Chapter 6: Trend ofTrade during 1907-26: Import ....... 126-142 Chapter 7: Terms of Trade and Balance of Trade during 1907-26 ............................ 143-159 Chapter 8: Summary of Observations ....................... 160-166 Bibliography ...................................................... 167-173 Appendix 1 .......................................................... 174-175 Appendix 2 ·-· .......................... ~·-· ........................... 176-178 Acknowledgement "Where thf! mintf is without fear and the head is held high. Where knowledge is free"- realizing this philosophical insight, I have the pleasure to write a few words to express my sincere gratitude and indebtedness to many persons for their works, kind cooperation, helpful suggestions and constructive discussions. My supervisor, Or. Indrajit Ray, a stalwart researcher in economic history and reverend . 'master-mosai' (teacher) and mentor has always showed me the path in the field of search for truth. I express my deepest gratitude to him, for his diligent guidance throughout this journey, never turning away from the countless queries and problems that I have badgered him with. Finally, it was his enlightening ideas which I have worked to transform, assimilate, re-synthesize and re-construct to the present form of this thesis. I gratefully acknowledge him for his whole hearted involvement in carrying out the research works. I can rtever forget the generous academlc support and inspirqtie{n of Prof. B. P. Misra. With his guidance I had started investigating on such a novel topic tnat he churned out of his own intellect. I shall ever remain grateful to this personality for the most important n~ason, he persuaded Dr. Ray to accept me as scholar and become the supervisor during.change over of guide (as Prof. Misra did not apply for the extension of his job after sixty years of age) which led me to continue as UGC JRF in Economics. I would like to convey my sincere thanks to Mr. Ramaprassanna Misra for granting me the privilege to access all printed texts and documents in the Department of Commercial Intelligence, Kolkata. · During my initial days of data hunting from different and diverse sources in Kolkata, the familial and affectionate support I received from Late Prof. K. B. Dutta and his wife, Smt Santilata Dutta can not be forgotten. Without their support the job would have been much tougher. I would like to take this opportunity to convey my deep regard to the past and present Directors of the Centre for Himalayan Studies for granting me free access to all the literary resources. I recollect my debt to this centre as it has given me the chance to' re­ enter the arena of higher studies. To all the faculty members I convey my deep regard. I am thankful to all faculty members of the Department of Commerce, NBU, for their kind cooperation and interest in my work. I owe special thanks and gratefulness to Prof. M.K. Ray, Prof. P.R. Sengupta, Prof. A. Ray, Dr. D. Bhattacharya, Prof. S. N. Dhar, Dr. D. Roy, Dr. D. Mitra, Dr. H. Ray, Dr. K. Sett, and Dr. J. Sarkar for their cooperation, kind help and constant inspiratio_n. · . ; .... II I would like to extend my grateful thanks to Dr. A. K. Nanda, Department of Chemistry, for his generous help and interest in my work. · My sincere and grateful acknowledgements are due to 'Boot4a' (Dr. D. P. Boot, Centre for Himalayan Studjes) for active cooperation, constructive discussions and sugges.tions, and unconditional help by rendering his cartographic skill to prepare all the maps for this thesis. All the non-teaching members of the Commerce Department and Central Libran; have always come ftmoard with helping hands. I thank all. of them. I wish to extend my si11;cere appreciation to Sri Tarun Chakraborty and Smt. Sutapa Chakraborty for their unconditional help and support in my days of misery and depression. I owe my indebtedness to all my family members of in-laws house, especially Sri Kaushik Chakraborty and Smt. Jhuma Chakraborty, Biwajit and Sreejata who have helped, advised and supported my endeavour in all possible kinds. With deepes~ sorrow I remember {he-active interest of my 'Baba' in m,y higher studies, as he left me alone and I am deprived to share this moment with him today. I am in short of appropriatf! language to express my heartful gratitude to my mother, my beloved brother · Ranjan, my uncle, Sri Subhas Sarkar, and Ranjan's wife Ruma, and all others who remained with me extending their affection and constant inspiration at the most stressful situations during the entire period of my research work. Words are insufficient to thank or acknowledge my husband, Sri Ranadhir Chakraborty, an incomparable human being who relieved me in the most competent and helpful way by sharing every bit of struggle in daily life. The destiny of my academic career became intertwined with his spirit. I wish to greet my daughter, Riddhi, too, lis she learnt to cope up with my schedule without any grudge. Finally, I express my deep gratitude and thanks to all persons who have obliged me in vario1-1s ways. Last, but never the least, my grateful acknowledgement to all those numerous authors and researchers and their val1fable research papers and texts; which have helped me in navigating through this challenging field of Economic histon;. ~~AA,y Date: "::/. t. 0 g · Ratna Sarkar ( E) State Boundary BHUTAN [3 Dzongkhang Boundary c::!J Dzongkhang Headquarters 0 SOkrn ~Capital 0rown ·"'> CZJ River ~ ~BRoad H ~'----------1 ~). ~ ~ (MAP~ Source: Survey of Bhutan 1988 A political economic analysis ofIndo-Bhutan trade, Deptt. of Commerce, North Bengal University Chapter•] Intr9ductiqn 1.1. The study area: An abridged profile 1 1 1 At 26° 41 - 28° 7' North and 88° 54 - 91° 54 East in South Asia, Bhutan is located over about 20,000 miles on the eastern ridge of the great Himalayas. Naturally rugged mountains and deep valleys crisscross the country in every direction. Altitude-wise, its lower range of 2,000-5,000 feet above the sea level runs over the so called duar region, and followed by wide but flat valleys Qf the inner Himalayas above the sea level of 5-15 thousand feet. Its upper range, however, comprfses of snow-capped mountain ranges rising up to about 24,000 feet above the sea level. 1 The great rivers like Amo Chu, Wong Chu, Mo Chu and Dangme Chu provide natural dr~inage to the country. It is land-locked in every side bordering with Tibet on the north, Tawang of Arunachal Pradesh on the J east, Sikkim on the west and with two Indian states, West Bengal and Assam on the south. Available documents indicate that civilization in Bhutan dates back at least to 2000 B.C. Various communities from surrounding areas flocked in this kingdom to give rise to a cosmopolitan culture among the populace. Probably the aboriginal Bhutanese, the Monpa, were migrated from Tibet at first, followed by the people from Nepal and various Indian provinces like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bengal. In 1864, it had an estimated population of only 20,000.2 Because of wide variation in physical features, the density of population also varied signifipantly within the country. While the valleys like 1 Details of Bhutan's physical features are available in Karan, Bhutan, pp.25-27. 2 Hasrat, History of Bhutan, p.l3. 2 Ha, Paro, Punakha, Thimphu, Bumthang and Eastern Bhutan were densely populated, the density abruptly fell on the north. Small scale subsistence farming and animal husbandry had long been the mainstay of the people employing above 90 percent of the workforce. For topographic reasons and also the hostile climate, agriculture did not flourish across the country; it was concentrated only in central and western segments, and indeed in the relatively plain lands of duars. Pastoral activities, however, predominated in the northern hemisphere.3 Industrially, the country was utterly backward, if not primitive, accommodating only some cottage-level activities.