|
AD
747:
Guru
Padma Sambhava, visits Bhutan
and later
founds Nyingmapa
1616: Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, a monk arrives from Tibet, and
establishes his rule in Bhutan. He establishes duel system of rule.
1625:
Shabdrung signed agreement with
Nepal seeking
migration of people
from Nepal. Thus starts the first official
migration of Nepal-speaking
people to Bhutan.
1629 : First European (Portuguese) Jesuits-visit Bhutan.
1651: Shabdrung Nawang Namgyal dies. During his rule he unifies
Bhutan.
Drukpa Krgyupa sub-sect emerges as a dominant religious force.
1728: Civil war for succession struggle to power
1772:
British forces invade
Bhutan.
1774: Bhutan signs peace treaty with British India
1841 : British take control of Bhutanese portion of Assam Duars and
begin payment of annual compensation to Bhutan.
1864: Civil war waged in Bhutan. British seek peace relationship with
1864: Duar War waged between Bhutan and British India.
1865: Treaty of Sinchula signed between Bhutan and British India. Bhutan
Duars territories ceded to British India in return for annual subsidy.
1898: Southern
Bhutan, the habitat of Nepali-speaking citizens, was accorded
a special administrative status under the authority of Kazi from Dorji
family. Southern Bhutan administered from Kalimpong, India.
1904: Ugyen Wangchuck helps secure Anglo-Tibetan Convention on
1907: Theocracy ends and hereditary monarchy established. Ugyen Wangchuck
becomes the first king of Bhutan
1910 : China invades Tibet laying claims on Bhutan; Treaty of Punakha signed
with British Raj giving them control over Bhutan's foreign relations.
1926: King Ugen wangchuck dies on Aug 21 and his son Jigme Wangchuck
1947 : India becomes independent from Britain
1949:
Treaty of Friendship
signed with
newly-independent
India on
Aug 08, with
guarantee of
non-interference in Bhutan's internal affairs, but allowing
Indian influence
over foreign relations.
1949: National Assembly of Bhutan ( Tsogdu) established
1952: Reformist King
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
enthroned;
Bhutan State
Congress (BSC),
a political party formed
under Nehru's patronage,
was
formed and subsequently banned
1953: National Assembly established
1954 : BSC gives a call for (satyagraha) movement on
March 22,1954.
Government forces open fire. Some 25 people were killed and several
others injured.
1958: National Law of Bhutan- Citizenship law enacted. The Laws
granted
citizenship to Bhutanese of Nepali origin. Other social reforms
follow in
subsequent years.
1959
Several thousand
Tibetan
refugees given asylum after Chinese annex
Tibet.
Immigration banned.
1960:
The king bans
Bhutan State
Congress (BSC).
1961: First Five-Year Economic Development Plan introduced.
1962: Sino-India war. Indian
troops retreat through Bhutan
1964: Prime Minister Jigme Palden Dorji assassinated. . A failed coup staged
against King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk
1965: Unsuccessful Assassination attempt on King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
1968: First cabinet established. King decrees that sovereign power resides in
himself and National Assembly.
1971 Bhutan
joins the United Nations.
1972:
Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck succeeds his father
1974: Aborted assassination attempt on King Jigme Singe Wangchuk,
the present ruler, at his coronation. Chukha Hydro-electric Project Agree
signed with India. New monetary system established separate from
India's and first Bhutanese currency notes released. Tourism introduced.
New Pemagatshel district established. King visits India. King crowned
1975:
Work
on Chukha Hydro-electric Project begins. King visits
India.
1976:
First
Junior College opened in Sherubtse.
Motor Vehicle Act passed.
4th
Five Year Plan launched.
King
attends 5th Non-Aligned Summit in
Colombo, Sri Lanka.
1977:
Bhutan declared Smallpox Free Zone. King visits
India. New citizenship Act
enacted
1978:
Bhutan joins IFAD.
Royal Bhutan Embassy established in New Delhi.
Partial Test Ban Treaty and Geneva Protocol of 1925 signed.
Land Act and Stamp Act passed.
King visits
India
1979:
UNDP Resident Representative Office in
Bhutan opened.. The
Alma
Atta Declaration
signed. King attends 6th Non-Aligned Summit in
Havana, Cuba.
BBS established and SW transmission introduced.
Consumer Price Index
(CPI) constructed. Customs Act passed.
Bhutan
joins Asian Reinsurance Corporation
1980: Royal Bhutan Embassy established in Dhaka. Marriage Act, Inheritance
Act, Livestock Act, Loan Act and Police Act passed. Bhutan Chamber of
Commerce and Industry established. Trade Agreement signed with
Bangladesh. Penden Cement Authority Ltd. Commissioned. Postal
Parcel
Agreement & Universal Postal Convention signed.
National
Council for Social and Cultural Promotion set up to strengthen
national
integration, later closed down. Bhutan Standard Time introduced ( +
6.00
GMT)
1981:
5th
Five Year Plan launched. District Development Committees
established.
Joined IMF, World Bank, IDA & FAO. Ratified Convention on
the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
International Convention against raking of Hostages signed.
King visits
India
1982: Bhutan Board of Examination established. Joined WHO, UNESCO, Asian
Development Bank, SEARO and SACEP. Royal Civil Service Commission
(RCSC) established. Prisoner's Act and Royal Monetary Act of Bhutan
passed. Signed the Final Act and the Law of the Sea Conventions.
King
visits India
1983:
Diplomatic relations established with Nepal and Kuwait. Tax policy
introduced. Druk Air Dornier flights started. King attends the 7th
Non-
Alignment Summit in New Delhi. Joined UNIDO, Asia-Pacific Postal
Union
(APPU), South Asian Sports Federation and Olympic Council of
Asia.
Royal Monetary Authority 'established. Degree courses introduced
at
Sherubtse College
1984:
Diplomatic relations established with Maldives.
Joined World Fellowship of
Buddhists
Indo-Bhutan Analog Microwave link established.
King visits
India.
Bhutan, Child hold first border talk in Beijing.
1985: King
attends the 1st SAARC Summit in Dhaka.
State visit by the Indian
Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi and
PLO
Chairman, Yasser Arafat.
Joined
SAARC.
ThePermanent
Mission to the UN in Geneva established.
Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty signed.
Diplomatic relations established with
Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden,
the Netherlands and Norway.
Statutes of
the Centre for Science and Technology of the NAM countries
and
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
signed.
Joined UNCTAD Board and ICIMOD.
New law on citizenship enacted. It
superseded the earlier citizenship laws and declared invalid the
citizenship cards
issued since 1982.
1986:
King
attends 8th Non-Aligned Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe and the 2nd
SAARC
Summit in Bangalore, India. Royal Bhutan Embassy established
in
Kuwait Diplomatic relations established with Japan and Finland. Land
Acquisition Act passed.
Royal Institute of Management established.
Civil
Aviation
Department
established.
Special Commission for Cultural Affairs
established.
6th
Five Year Plan launched.
1987:
King
attends the 3rd SAARC Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Visit by Prince
Naruhito of Japan.
6th
Five Year Plan launched.
Diplomatic relations
established with South Korea and Sri Lanka.
Pasture Development Act
passed. Joined International Organization of
Supreme Audit Institutions
(INTOSAI). Druk Air BAe-146 jet services
introduced. Dzongkha
Development Commission opened. New
Chukha
District
established
1988:
Royal Wedding held in Punakha.
King
and the Indian President R.
Venkatararnan inaugurate Chukha Power
Project. King
attends the 4th
SAARC Summit in Islamabad, Pakistan.
State visit by Princess Galyani
Vadhana of Thailand,
King and the Queen of Nepal
and
President
Muhammad Ershad of Bangladesh.
Joined ITU and Association of
Development Financing Institutions in
Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP).
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Notification Act passed.
Census is carried out. The census team unilaterally
declares many
Nepali-speaking citizens
in southern Bhutan as non-citizens. The
government introduces racial policies against Nepali-speaking citizens.
Tek Nath
Rizal, Royal Councillor appeals to King against the high-
handedness of
census team. He was arrested and later released.
Underground Student
Union of Bhutan was formed in Sherubtse college.
For details please
visit
Bhutanese Refugees website
1989: Diplomatic
relations established with Austria.
Visit by UN Secretary
General, Perez de Cuellar. King visits India. The government lifts Nepali
language
from school curriculum. People Forum for Human Rights,
Bhutan formed.
Man Bahadur Chhetri, a student human rights activist
hanged by Police.
Many Nepali-speaking citizens arrested. Tek Nath Rizal
arrested.
Government introduced Driglam Namzha and One nation One
People Policy.
King
attends 9th Non-Aligned Summit in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia. Explosives
Act, Company Act and the Royal Advisory Council
Act passed. Joined
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
1990:
King visits
Bahrain, Kuwait and India.
Bhutan Peoples Party formed. It
organizes pro-democratic rallies in
southern Bhutan,
pressing for greater
democracy and respect for Nepali rights,
after which, the government
starts forced eviction of
Nepali-speaking citizens . Nepali-speaking
citizens start coming to
Nepal as refugees. The NOC introduced. All
schools closed in southern
Bhutan. The Home Minister Dago Tshering
issued a forced eviction order
against Nepali-speaking citizens. Mass
forced eviction of
Nepali-speaking citizens commences. For details
please visit
Bhutanese Refugees website. Prominent dissident leaders,
Ronthong
Kunley Dorji, Sonam Tshering and Chheku Drukpa arrested for
their
activities in Eastern Bhutan. King
5th
SAARC Summit in Male,
Maldives.
Diplomatic relations established with Pakistan. New Trade
Agreement
signed with India. Convention on the Rights of the Child
signed.
Universal Child Immunization achieved. Fire Arms and
Ammunition Act
passed. Joined Office International des Epizooties (OIE
).
International Direct Dialling services introduced. Earth Satellite
station
installed.
Bhutan Peoples party formed on June 02.
1991:
Six top-raking bureaucrats resign and defect to Nepal. The UNHCR
establishes camps for Bhutanese refugees in eastern Nepal.
Computerization of land record started.
King
attends the 6th SAARC
Summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Diplomatic relations established with
Thailand.
Visit by SAARC Chairman, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
of
Maldives. Enabling Act for Suppression of Terrorism and Extradition
Act
passed. Joined Asian Institute of Transport Development
1992 Tek Nath Rizal, Chairman of People Forum for Human Rights, Bhutan
sentenced to life imprisonment.
Joined INTELSAT. Diplomatic relations
established with Bahrain. 7th
Five Year Plan launched. New districts of
Gasa and Trashi Yangtse
established.
Visit by SAARC Chairman
President Ranasinghe Premadasa
of Sri Lanka. Financial Institutions Act
and National Security Act passed.
BNDP formed. Amnesty International,
London published first documented report on violation of human
rights in Bhutan.
1993:
The
Nepalese Home Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his Bhutanese
counterpart, Dago Tshring held the first meeting
on refugees issue on
July
15, 1993.
On
13 September,
first
Bhutan-Nepal Joint Ministerial
Committee
(JMLC)
talk was held. Refugees categorized as,
Bonafide
Bhutanese;
Bhutanese,
who
emigrated;
non-Bhutanese and
Bhutanese
who have committed criminal acts.
Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan
established. King visits India. King
attends the 7th SAARC Summit in
Dhaka.
visit by Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Sustainable
Development
Treaty signed with the Netherlands.
Rape
Act and Plant
Quarantine Act passed..
Airmail, DHL and express mail services
introduced.
tek Nath rizal sentenced to life on Nov. 16
1994:
The
second, third and fourth
JMLC Talk
held
in Thimphu,
Kathmandu
and Thimphu
on
February 21-24,
April 4-7 and
June, 1994
respectively. Visit
by SAARC Chairperson, Prime Minister Begum
Khaleda
Zia of Bangladesh
and King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia
of Sweden.
Joined
WIPO. International Plant Protection Convention
(IPPC) signed.
Kurichu
Power Project Agreement signed with
India.
Amnesty International,
London
published second report on
forcible exile of Bhutanese refugees.
1995: Fifth and sixth
JMLC talk
held in Kathmandu
and Thimphu
on
February
27-March 1
and
April 20, 1995.
King
attends the 8th SAARC Summit in
New Delhi. Mines and Minerals Act and
Forest and Nature Conservation
Acts passed. UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change and
Convention on Biological Diversity signed. Work
on Kurichu Power Project
started.
Bhutanese Coalition for Democratic Movement (BCDM)
formed.
1996:
Seventh JMLC
Talk
held at the Foreign Ministers’ level in Kathmandu on
April 4-8, 1996.
King visits
India.
Visit
by Indian Foreign Minister, I.K.
Gujrat. Marriage Act and Loan Act
amended, and Chathrim for National
Wage Rate introduced. Joined Asia
Pacific Seed Association (APSA).
Tala
Hydro-electric Project Agreement and Dungsum Cement Project
Agreement
signed with India.
Basochhu Power Project Agreement
signed with Austria.
Bhutan Postal Corporation Act Passed..
Companies
Act passed.
10th Bhutan-China border talk held in Nov. in Beijing.
European Parliament passes the first resolution on
Bhutanese refugees.
1997:
Royal Bhutan Embassy established in Bangkok.
King visits India.
Bank
of
Bhutan management nationalized. Visit
by Australian Deputy Prime
Minister, Tim Fischer
and Japanese Prince. King
attends 9th SAARC
Summit in Mate, Maldives. 8th Five Year Plan
launched. Road Safety and
Transport Act passed. Joined Asian
Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Convention on Chemical Weapons signed. Stare Trading Corporation of
Bhutan privatized. Civil works on Basochhu and Tala Power Projects
started.
Signed Extradition Agreement
with India.
11th Bhutan-China
border talk held in Aug in Thimphu.
1998:
Visit by Prince
Charles of Wales
and
Chairman of SAARC, President
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of Maldives.
. King visits India.
King
cedes
some powers to national assembly, giving up role as head of
government.
Joined the Constitution of the Asia-Pacific
Telecommunity (APT)
and
Asia-
Pacific Network Information Centre.
Bhutan and China signed an Agreement to Maintain Peace and Tranquility
on the Bhutan- China border in 1998.
Bhutan and China signed an
Agreement to Maintain Peace
and
Tranquillity
on the Bhutan-China Border in
1998.1th
Bhutan-China border talk held in Dec. in Beijing. Amnesty
International,
London
published third report Crackdown in Eastern Bhutan.
Bhutan refused office building permission in New York for poor
human rights.
1999: Cable
television and internet services allowed.
Eighth
JMLC
talk
held in
Kathmandu on September 13-16, 1999.
Forty political prisoners,
including
Tek Nath Rizal, granted amnesty
and released.
Municipal Act
passed. Jigmi Y. Thinley
becomes the first Chairman of the Council of
Ministers.13th
Bhutan-China border talk held in Thimphu.
2000:
First internet cafe opens in Thimphu;
Ninth
and tenth
rounds
of
JMLC
talk
held on
May
22-25 and
December 25-28,
2000
in
Thimphu and
Kathmandu
respectively.14th
Bhutan-China border talk held in Nov. in
Beijing. Amnesty
International,
London
published fourth report-
Right to Nationality of Bhutanese refugees.
Seventh
Round Table Meeting
(RTM) of
development partners for Bhutan
held in Thimphu.
European
Parliament passes the second resolution on Bhutanese refugees.
2001: Eleventh JMLC Talk held in Thimphu on August 20-23, 2001.
JVT starts
verification
of refugees started in Khudunabari camp on March 26 and
completes
on Dec. 15. Bhutan's first Constitution drafting committee formed
on
Nov. 30.
15th Bhutan-China border talk held in Nov. in Thimphu.
International human rights organisations like Human Rights Watch and
others send memo to Bhutan and Nepal governments on refugee issue. R.K.
Budathoki, President of Bhutan Peoples Party murdered.
2002: Denmark closes its
Liaison office in Bhutan in March. Crown Prince
addresses Un special session on children in New York in March . Ganga
Adhikari a Bhutanese refugee girl also
submits memorandum on the
plight of Bhutanese refugees to UN Secretary General, UN
High
Commissioner for Refugees and UN Human rights High
Commissioner
during the special session on children. Bhutan foreign
Minister J.Y.
Thinlay visits Canada in May. 80th session of National Assembly
begins
on June 25.
Lyonpo
Kinzang becomes new Head of Government on
August
14. Indian and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister's visits in Aug.
Bhutan
established diplomatic relations with Australia on Sep 15 and
Singapore on
Sep 23. China, Bhutan Foreign Minister level 16 the border talk
held in
Beijing on Oct 12. Bhutan FM meets Chinese PM Oct 14. Canadian Gov.
Gen.
visits Bhutan on Dec 29.
Amnesty
International,
London
published
fifth
report on Bhutanese refugees. Visits of Nepal's opposition Communist
leader,
Indian foreign Minister Shinha and Indian army chief
S. Padmanabhan.
Constitution Drafting Committee submits draft Constitution to Kinga
and King
to Prime Minister.
2003: Verified Bhutanese
refugees of Khudunabari camp launch indefinite.
hunger strike 0n Jan 07.
Canada and Bhutan established diplomatic relations on June 25, 2003.
|
