Bhutan is bordered to the north by China, and to the west, south, and east by India. The military of Bhutan has relied on Indian support for training and materials since 1949.
The military history of Bhutan begins with the Battle of Five Lamas in 1634, marking Bhutan's emergence as a nation under the secular and religious leadership of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. Before Bhutan emerged as a separate nation, it remained on the periphery of Tibetan military and political influence. The region that became Bhutan was host to several battles and waves of refugees from turmoil in Tibet. After its founding, Bhutan was invaded numerous times by outside forces, namely Tibetans, Mongols, and the British. Bhutan meanwhile invaded its traditional tributaries in Sikkim, Cooch Behar, and the Duars.
Bhutan effectively ceased all international military hostilities in 1865 under the Treaty of Sinchula after its defeat by the British Empire. Under the terms of the subsequent Treaty of Punakha in 1910, Bhutan effectively became a British protectorate. Bhutan has maintained this status with India under Bhutan–India relations since 1949 and has modernly engaged only in limited domestic operations against Indian separatist groups.
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The militaryhistoryofBhutan begins with the Battle of Five Lamas in 1634, marking Bhutan's emergence as a nation under the secular and religious leadership...
Bhutan's early history is steeped in mythology and remains obscure. Some of the structures provide evidence that the region has been settled as early...
country) a navy. India is responsible for military training, arms supplies and the air defense ofBhutan. Bhutan's army is trained by the Indian Armed Forces...
ofBhutan to remove the militant presence and offered to conduct joint military operations with Bhutan against the militants. The Royal Government of...
The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutan War) was a war fought between British India and Bhutan in 1864 to 1865. It has been the only military conflict between the...
Clear was a military operation conducted by Royal Bhutan Army forces against Assam separatist insurgent groups in the southern regions ofBhutan between 15...
conjuncts instead of Tibetan characters. The national flag ofBhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་དར) is one of the national symbols ofBhutan. The flag features...
The prime minister ofBhutan (Lyonchhen) is the head of government ofBhutan. The prime minister is nominated by the party that wins the most seats in...
conjuncts instead of Tibetan characters. The Druk Gyalpo (འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་; lit. 'Dragon King') is the head of state of the Kingdom ofBhutan. In the Dzongkha...
The August 2003 South Bhutan Clashes were a series of clashes between ULFA militants and unidentified gunmen in Southern Bhutan. The clashes left at least...
Bhutan is a Buddhist country by constitution and Buddhism plays a vital role in the country. The official religion in Bhutan is Buddhism, which is practiced...
Kheng Gongduk Tshangla (Sharchop) There are two dozen languages ofBhutan, all members of the Tibeto-Burman language family except for Nepali, which is...
The Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT), established since 1961–62, is a training mission of the Indian Army in Bhutan. IMTRAT is responsible for the...
flight of many Lhotshampa to Nepal, many of whom have been expelled by the Bhutanese military. By 1996, over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees (40% ofBhutan's population...
Second Tibetan Invasion ofBhutan or the Second Battle of Simtokha Dzong was a military confrontation in 1634 between the supporters of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal...
national emblem ofBhutan (Dzongkha: རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ལས་རྟགས་; Wylie: rgyal-yongs las-rtags) maintains several elements of the flag ofBhutan, with slightly...
Bhutan was founded and unified as a country by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche in the mid–17th century. After his death in 1651, Bhutan nominally...
western central part ofBhutan, and the surrounding valley is one ofBhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city of Punakha was replaced...
Cradled in the folds of the Himalayas, Bhutan has relied on its geographical isolation to protect itself from outside cultural influences. A sparsely populated...
century, during a period of relative peace in Bhutan. Throughout its history, Bhutan has mainly followed the Tibetan tradition of Buddhist architecture....
The economy ofBhutan is based on agriculture and forestry, which provide the main livelihood for more than 60% of the population. Agriculture consists...
in and around Bhutan, Assam, and Sikkim, and were the backbone ofBhutan's pre-money feudal economy. Bhutan abolished slavery as part of modernization...
Bangladesh's militaryhistory is intertwined with the historyof a larger region, including present-day India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. The...
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Bhutan face legal challenges that are not faced by non-LGBT people. Bhutan does not provide any anti-discrimination...
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