Jigme Dorji Wangchuck

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck (འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ འཇིགས་མེད་རྡོ་རྗེ་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོག་, ; 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.

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was born in 1928 in Thruepang Palace in Trongsa.

At a young age, he was apprenticed in etiquette and leadership at the royal court of his father the King.

Wangchuck was educated in a British manner in Kalimpong and went on study tours and stay to many foreign countries such as Scotland and Switzerland from where he drew inspiration to develop Bhutan with suitable adaptations.

In 1943, he was appointed Trongsa Dronyer and then elevated as the 25th Paro Penlop in 1950, upon the death of the 24th Paro Penlop, Tshering Penjor (1902–1949).

Wangchuck married Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuck (born 1930), the daughter of Gongzim (Lord Chamberlain) Sonam Topgay Dorji (1896–1953), at the Ugyen Pelri Palace, Paro, on 5 October 1951.

The royal wedding was held at the Garden Palace.

The following year, Wangchuck became the King after his father died in Kuenga Rabten Palace.

Coronation was held in Punakha Dzong on 27 October 1952.

In 1953, Wangchuck, realising that hitherto the decision of the King and that of the high officials were binding on the country, wanted them to be shared.

As a result, Wangchuck opened the National Assembly of Bhutan in 1953 in Punakha Dzong.

For the first time, elders from different gewogs were invited to voice their concerns, ideas and solutions for the future of this country.

At the same time, it was a forum for Wangchuck to share his larger vision for Bhutan in the years to come.

After the National Assembly was established in 1953, the king drafted and devised a series of progressive laws for the Kingdom.

The King brought out a holistic set of laws covering fundamental aspects of Bhutanese life such as land, livestock, marriage, inheritance, property and so forth.

In 1955, he intensified the conversion of commodity taxes to cash taxes by assessing land for cash taxation.

Cash taxes were nominal, but moving from commodity taxes to cash taxes was a radical step at that time.

The Thrimzhung Chenmo (Supreme Law) was passed by the National Assembly in 1959.

The laws are very organic, coherently interrelated within themselves and to the evolving reality and manifested his vision of law-based society.

Along with the promulgation of Thrimzhung Chenmo, a mechanism to implement and enforce laws was needed.

Bhutan joined the Colombo Plan in 1962 to obtain international aid.

However, India became the main source of financial and technical assistance.

He was a deft and farsighted planner in the sense that he modernised Bhutan without destabilizing its culture and tradition.

Wangchuck brought modern techniques and methods to preserve and promote the culture of Bhutan, yet at the same time, he introduced Western science and technology.

He was a forerunner among environmentalists in this part of the world.

Apart from promulgation of better laws and tax reforms, the Royal Bhutan Army was formally established in 1963.

Furthermore, the entitlements of all officials were converted from commodities to cash and new designations were given.

The Manas Sanctuary established in 1966 was one of the first in the region.

In the context of Bhutan, there were small groups who were bonded labourers.

They would work on the farms of the aristocratic and prominent families.

In return, they would receive food, lodging and clothes.

As soon as he became the King, labourers who worked on the royal lands were made into tenants and sharecroppers instead of indentured labourers.

Later, similar indentured labourers were set free in other areas of the country, especially in some parts of Eastern Bhutan, where they were concentrated.

Wangchuck decided to open the judiciary, first with the appointment of Thrimpons (judges) in districts, and then finally to the High Court, which was set up in 1968.

These administrative and social reforms were prior to any economic modernisation programmes.

During his 20-year reign that ended in July 1972, the fundamental reorientation of Bhutanese society began.

Wangchuck not only achieved the reorganisation of society and government, but also consolidated Bhutan's sovereignty and security.

He mobilised resources from the international donors as aid.

Wangchuck's strategy was to broaden the source of aid by developing relationships with other countries.