PEOPLE OF BHUTAN
The citizens of Bhutan are called Bhutanese ( (pronunciation: BOOT-un-eez). Population estimates in kingdom are imprecise because a significant number of people live in remote areas that are hard to reach by vehicle. It is generally believed there are about 790,000 people in Bhutan.
About 42 percent of the population lives in urban areas. This is a much larger percentage than even a few decades ago when even the cities were practically rural areas. Most people live in villages in the agricultural valleys. The population is only growing at the rate of 1.0 percent a year, much smaller than decades past . The average life expectancy is 72 years, double what it was in the 1950s.
Bhutan's national identity is closely tied to its religious identity as a Buddhist nation. Buddhism influences both the daily lives of its people as well as the government, in which Buddhist religious leaders have considerable power. Hindus and members of other religions are clearly left out of this formula. [Source: “Countries and Their Cultures”, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
According to “Countries and Their Cultures”: Bhutan has a wide diversity of ethnic groups, starting with a number of small tribal groups (related to similar tribes in India and Sikkim) whose ancestry goes back almost three thousand years. More recent centuries have seen large migrant groups from Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. The rapid growth of the largely Hindu Nepalese population in Bhutan towards the end of the twentieth century resulted in significant ethnic conflicts with the Buddhist majority. The government responded by tightening immigration and citizenship laws to reduce the flow of Nepalese into Bhutan. When many Nepalese responded to this action with protests and demonstrations, ethnic violence and repression broke out against them in Bhutan's southern districts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As a result, tens of thousands of Nepalese fled the country in 1991 and 1992. There are an estimated 112,000 Nepalese refugees currently residing in refugee camps in Nepal and India. [Source:“Countries and Their Cultures”, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
Ethnic Groups in Bhutan
Ethnic groups: Ngalop (also known as Bhote and Drukpa, includes of Sharchops): 50 percent; ethnic Nepali (predominantly Lhotshampas): 35 percent;indigenous or migrant tribes: 15 percent. The Drukpas, or Thunder Dragon People, reside mainly in the north. The Hindu Nepalese live mostly in the south near the Indian border. Indigenous and migrant group include the Assamese, who also live in Assam, India, Tibetans and a variety of indigenous ethnic groups. Together, the Ngalop, Sharchop, and tribal groups constituted about 72 percent of the population in the late 1980s. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
Bhutan's society is made up of four broad but not necessarily exclusive groups: the Ngalop, the Sharchop, several aboriginal peoples, and Nepalese. The Drukpas, or Bhotes are similar to Tibetans and are primarily Tibetan Buddhists. Nepalese are similar to Nepalis in Nepal and Indians. They are primarily Hindus. The Ngalops, Sharchops, and the indigenous tribal people are collectively known as Drukpas and account for about 65 percent of the population.The national language is Dzongka, but English is the language of instruction in schools and an official working language for the government. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale; Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991]
According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”: “The Bhutanese are mainly of Tibetan stock, and are also known as Buotias; they account for approximately 50 percent of the population. The Ngalop (also called Bhote) are people of Tibetan origin who live in northern and western Bhutan; the Sharchop inhabit the eastern regions and also have ethnic affinities with the people of China's Tibetan region. Aboriginal or indigenous tribal peoples live in villages scattered throughout Bhutan and account for approximately 15 percent of the population. The Ngalops, Sharchops, and the indigenous tribal people are collectively known as Druk-pas. The remaining peoples are Nepalese settlers (about 35 percent of the population), living mostly in the south. These include a group known as the Lhotsampas. Some 85,000 were expelled to Nepal in 1992-93, and about 5,000-15,000 more moved to India. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Original Inhabitants of Bhutan
Very little is known of Bhutan's early history. It is believed to have been inhabited beginning around 2000 B.C. by migrants from Tibet. Stone tools and megaliths (stone monuments) have been found in Bhutan, some of which have been dated to 2000-1500 B.C.. [Source: “Countries and Their Cultures”, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
According to “Countries and Their Cultures”: “The Sharchops, who are believed to be ancestors of those earliest residents, live mostly in eastern Bhutan. Their early ancestor tribes may have originated from Burma (Myanmar) and northeast India. It is also believed that Indo-Mongoloids (usually referred to as Monpas, which means non-Tibetans) migrated into Bhutan two thousand years ago from Arunchal Pradesh, Nagaland, northern Burma, and Thailand. The Ngalops live in western Bhutan and migrated from the Tibetan plains; they are credited with being the first to bring Buddhism to the country. [Source:“Countries and Their Cultures”, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
Although knowledge of prehistoric Bhutan has yet to emerge through archaeological study, stone tools and weapons, remnants of large stone structures, and megaliths that may have been used for boundary markers or rituals provide evidence of civilization as early as 2000 B.C. The absence of neolithic mythological legends argues against earlier inhabitation. A more certain prehistoric period has been theorized by historians as that of the state of Lhomon (literally, southern darkness) or Monyul (dark land, a reference to the Monpa aboriginal peoples of Bhutan), possibly a part of Tibet that was then beyond the pale of Buddhist teachings. Monyul is thought to have existed between 500 B.C. and A.D. 600. The names Lhomon Tsendenjong (southern Mon sandalwood country) and Lhomon Khashi (southern Mon country of four approaches), found in ancient Bhutanese and Tibetan chronicles, may also have credence and have been used by some Bhutanese scholars when referring to their homeland. Variations of the Sanskrit words Bhota-ant (end of Bhot, an Indian name for Tibet) or Bhu-uttan (meaning highlands) have been suggested by historians as origins of the name Bhutan, which came into common foreign use in the late nineteenth century and is used in Bhutan only in English-language official correspondence. The traditional name of the country since the seventeenth century has been Drukyul- -country of the Drokpa, the Dragon People, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon — a reference to the country's dominant Buddhist sect. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
Some scholars believe that during the early historical period the inhabitants were fierce mountain aborigines, the Monpa, who were of neither the Tibetan or Mongol stock that later overran northern Bhutan. The people of Monyul practiced the shamanistic Bon religion, which emphasized worship of nature and the existence of good and evil spirits. During the latter part of this period, historical legends relate that the mighty king of Monyul invaded a southern region known as the Duars, subduing the regions of modern Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar in India. *
Arrival of Tibetan People
Beginning around the A.D. 8th or 9th century, what is now Bhutan was settled by Tibetans migrating southwards from the Tibetan plateau, which is just over the Himalayas from northern Bhutan. They presumably arrived on high passes that range between 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) to more than 6,096 meters (20,000 feet) between Tibet and Bhutan or came by more circuitous routes via what is now Nepal, Sikkim and Arunchal Pradesh, India. Some historians say this migration was in fact an organized invasion, with Tibetan troops defeating ruling Hindu maharajas (princely chief) to seize control of the region. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”, Cengage Learning, 2009]
Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhism arrived in what is now Bhutan in the 9th century A.D. when upheaval in Tibet forced many monks to flee to Bhutan. By the A.D. 12th century, the Drukpa Kagyupa school was established and remains the dominant form of Buddhism in Bhutan today. Bhutan’s political history is closely linked with its religious history and the relations and rivalry between Buddhist various schools and monasteries that are Tibetan in origin. Under The Tibetan lama Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) many fortified villages (dzongs) were established. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale]
According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”: “Buddhism was originally introduced from India in the 8th century, although the Buddhism of today's Bhutan is very much Tibetan in character. The forebears of the Bhotes (or Bhotias) came from Tibet, probably in the 9th century, when Tibetans invaded the area and met little resistance from the indigenous Tephu tribe. In the middle of the fifteenth century, Zhabdrung Ngawang Nangyal, a Tibetan lama exercising temporal as well as spiritual power, united the country and built most of the fortified villages (dzongs). His successors in power established a dual system, separating the temporal ruler (Desi or deb raja) and the spiritual ruler (Je Khempo or dharma raja). [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007 =|=]
Migration, Discimination and Ethnic Challenges in Bhutan
As Bhutan has tried to preserve its unique Buddhist-rooted and Tibetan-influenced culture and identity by requiring citizens to wear traditional Bhutanese clothes and speak the language of the Bhutanese, and denying non-Bhutan the opportunity to speak their languages in school, there have been charges of discrimination by non-Buddhists and non-Bhutanese, particularly the Nepalese.
According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”: “Bhutan opposes immigration and forbids the entry of new settlers from Nepal. Since 1959, when about 4,000 Tibetan refugees entered Bhutan, the border with Tibet has been closed to immigration. By 1980, most of the refugees had become citizens of Bhutan, while the rest migrated to India. The border between Bhutan and India is open and citizens of Bhutan are free to live and work in India. In 2000, there were 10,000 migrants residing in Bhutan. The estimated net migration rate for 2005 was zero. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Bhujel Dhan Kumar wrote in the South Asia Journal: “The constitution also guarantees that there shall be no discrimination on grounds of race, sex, language, religion, politics, or other status. People from the west are considered to be of Tibetan origin and are called Ngalongs; those living in the east are called Sharshops and are considered to have originated from Burma (Myanmar); and the southerners are called Lotshampa and are considered migrants from Nepal. All of these three ethnic people are said to have migrated long before the country was united. [Source: Democracy in Bhutan: A Critical Assessment by Bhujel Dhan Kumar, South Asia Journal, July 8, 2015]
Other indigenous people and minorities consist of Doya, Monpa and Brokpa who are considered to be the original inhabitants of the country. Also there are around 2000 to 3000 Tibetan refugees who came to Bhutan following the exile of the Dalai Lama from Tibet to India in 1959. However, there had been ethnic discrimination during the late eighties and early nineties when the government had imposed strict laws to spread Drukpa (Northern) identity among the southern Bhutanese. Subsequent regulations, such as the Nationality Law 1958 and Citizenship Acts of 1977 and 1985, found mainly the southerners as illegal immigrants. The Acts stated those people who could not prove their stay in Bhutan before 1958 were to be considered non-Bhutanese.
Many people could not prove their residence in Bhutan due to lack of documentary evidence. Many were expelled and many left in fear and some still left willingly to show solidarity to those expelled. The wave of discrimination also affected eastern Bhutan to some extent.
Ngalop (Bhotias, Drukpas)
The Ngalop (a term thought to mean the earliest risen or first converted) are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in foreign literature as Bhote (people of Bhotia or Tibet). The Ngalop are concentrated in western and northern districts. They introduced Tibetan culture and Buddhism to Bhutan and comprised the dominant political and cultural element in modern Bhutan. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
The Ngalop call themselves Drukpas (dragon people). They are ethnically related to the Tibetans and practice a form of Buddhism closely related to the Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) of Tibet. Many Bhutanese have traditionally lived in and around monasteries. Dzongka, the official language of Bhutan, and the language of the Ngalop, is also basically Tibetan. Drukpas can also be a collective term that describes the Ngalops, Sharchops and the indigenous tribal people. [Source: Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed, Columbia University Press]
The Ngalops have settled mostly in the six regions of western Bhutan. They speak Ngalopkha, a polished version of Dzongkha. Agriculture is their main livelihood. They cultivate cereals such as rice, wheat, barley and maize along with a variety of other crops. In the regions of Thimphu and Paro apples are also cultivated as a cash crop. They are known for Lozeys, or ornamental speech and for Zheys, dances that are unique to the Ngalops. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
The Ngalops (also known as Bhote, Bhotia, Bhutia) live in mainly western and central Bhutan but also make up a large percentage of the mountainous, sparsely-populated north. They migrated from the Tibetan plateau and are credited with being the first to bring Buddhism to the country. They are closely related to Tibeto-Nepalese (Bhote people) in Nepal as well as Sikkimese and Ladakhis in India and Tibetan groups in Tibetan and China.
The Ngalops and Sharchops (See Below) make up about half the population of Bhutan. They have become so intermixed it is hard to tell them apart. Language and the sect of Tibetan Buddhism they follow are the main things that separates them. The Ngalops lived in the mountains and highland valleys of Bhutan for centuries. They consider Bhutan to be their homeland and the Nepalese to be intruders. The Sharchop are also of Tibetan origin but they mainly inhabit the eastern regions of Bhutan.
The Ngalops are thought to have arrived in Bhutan during the A.D. 8th and 9th centuries, bringing Buddhism with them. Most Ngalops follow the Drukpa Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngalop ethnicity and identity are deeply rooted in the Tibetan Buddhist religion and the Bhutanese nationality and identity, which can prejudicial to non-Ngalops. The Ngalops dominate the government and the civil service and some of their cultural traditions, such as clothing, were declared by the Bhutanese monarchy to be the norm for all citizens. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale]
Himilayan Tibetans (Bhote Group) and Tibetans in Bhutan
The Himilayan Tibetans are of Tibeto-Mongol (Tibeto-Burman) origin. They have Tibetan, more Asian, features and speak Tibeto-Burmese languages. These groups have settled higher valleys and mountainous areas and are associated most with the Himalayas. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
The Bhotes, of Tibetan origin, are the main inhabitants of northern Nepal and western Bhutan. The Bhote or Bhotia groups inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas have developed regional distinctions among themselves, although clearly related physically as well as culturally to the Tibetans. The term Bhote literally means inhabitant of Bhot, a Sanskrit term for the trans-Himalayan region of Nepal, Bhutan and India, or the Tibetan region. However, Bhote is also a generic term, often applied to people of Tibetan culture or Mongoloid phenotype. It often had a pejorative connotation and could be applied to any non-Hindu of Mongoloid appearance. *
Most of the Himilayan Tibetans groups traditionally could be considered agro-pastoralists. Because their physical environment offered only limited land and agricultural possibilities, the Himilayan Tibetans groups who occupied the high mountainous areas, such as the Bhote were almost forced to rely more on herding and pastoral activities than on crop farming. They also participated in seasonal trading activity to supplement their income and food supply. *
Bhutan also had a sizable modern Tibetan refugee population, which stood at 10,000 persons in 1987. The major influx of 6,000 persons came in 1959 in the wake of the Chinese army's invasion and occupation of Tibet. The Tibetan expatriates became only partially integrated into Bhutanese society, however, and many were unwilling to accept citizenship. Perceiving a lack of allegiance to the state on the part of Tibetans, the government decided in 1979 to expel to India those who refused citizenship. India, after some reluctance, acceded to the move and accepted more than 3,100 Tibetans between 1980 and 1985. Another 4,200 Tibetans requested and received Bhutanese citizenship. Although Bhutan traditionally welcomed refugees — and still accepted a few new ones fleeing the 1989 imposition of martial law in Tibet — government policy in the late 1980s was to refuse more Tibetan refugees. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
Sharchops
The Sharchops (the word means easterner) are a Tibetan-influenced, Indo-Mongoloid people who are thought to have migrated from Assam or possibly Burma during the past millennium. They comprise most of the population of eastern Bhutan. Although long the biggest ethnic group in Bhutan, the Sharchop have been largely assimilated into the Tibetan-Ngalop culture. Because of their proximity to India, some speak Assamese or Hindi. They practice slash-and-burn and tsheri agriculture, planting dry rice crops for three or four years until the soil is exhausted and then moving on. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
The Sharchops (Tshanglas) as considered the aboriginal inhabitants of eastern Bhutan. They speak Tshanglakha and are descendants of Hindus from India but mostly practice Tibetan Buddhism today. They are the primary inhabitants of Mongar, Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, Pema Gasthel and Samdrup Jongkhar. Besides cultivation of maize, rice, wheat, barley and vegetables, the Sharchops also rear domestic animals to supplement their living. Weaving is a popular occupation among their women and they produce beautiful fabrics mainly of silk and raw silk. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
The Sharchops have lived in the mountains and highland valleys of eastern Bhutan for centuries. The Tibetan Ngalops have traditionally inhabited the western regions of Bhutan. The Sharchops are considered to be descendants of the earliest major group to inhabit Bhutan. Their early ancestral tribes may have originated in Myanmar and northeast India. Most follow the Ningmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism. They used to the most numerous group in Bhutan but are now outnumbered by Ngalops. The Ngalops, Sharchops, and the indigenous tribal people are collectively known as Drukpas. [Source: Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2009, Gale]
Nepalese and Lhotshampas
Mostly Hindu Nepalese who speak various Nepalese dialects live mostly in the south near the Indian border, and make up about 25 to 35 percent of the population. Many of the Nepalese are descendants of laborers brought to India after 1910 to work on a railroad in India near the Bhutanese border. Others came to Bhutan to work as farmers.
Lhotshampas is a term used to describe the Nepalese or at least some of them: ones that had lived in Bhutan for generations or for a considerable amount of time. The Lhotshampas settled in the southern foothills of Bhutan. It is believed that they migrated from Nepal in the beginning of the 19th century, attracted by the employment opportunities provided by the many constructions works taking place in the kingdom are nearby in India. They speak Lhotshamkha (Nepali) and practice Hinduism. They are broken into various lineages linked with ethnic groups in Nepal such as the Bhawans, Chhetris, Rais, Limbus, Tamangs, Gurungs, and Lepchas. Nowadays they are mainly employed in agriculture and cultivate cash crops like ginger, cardamom and oranges. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
About 95,000 Nepalese that used to live in Bhutan were kicked out of Bhutan in the late 1980s and early 1990s after they rose up against government pressure to make them adopt Bhutanese dress, customs, religion, and language. Those kicked out were forced to reside in refugee camps in Nepal near southern Bhutan. They claim they are victims of ethnic cleansing.
History of the Nepalese in Bhutan
The first small groups of Nepalese, the most recent major groups to arrive in Bhutan, emigrated primarily from eastern Nepal under Indian auspices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mostly Hindus, the Nepalese settled in the southern foothills and are sometimes referred to as southern Bhutanese. Traditionally, they have been involved mostly in sedentary agriculture, although some have cleared forest cover and conducted tsheri agriculture. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991 *]
The rapid growth of the Nepalese population in Bhutan towards the end of the twentieth century resulted in significant ethnic conflicts with the Buddhist majority. Officially, the government stated that 28 percent of the national population was Nepalese in the late 1980s, but unofficial estimates ran as high as 30 to 40 percent, and Nepalese were estimated to constitute a majority in southern Bhutan. The number of legal permanent Nepalese residents in the late 1980s may have been as few as 15 percent of the total population, however.
The government traditionally attempted to limit immigration and restrict residence and employment of Nepalese to the southern region. Liberalization measures in the 1970s and 1980s encouraged intermarriage and provided increasing opportunities for public service. More in-country migration by Nepalese seeking better education and business opportunities was allowed. *
The most divisive issue in Bhutan in the 1980s and early 1990s was how to accommodate of the Nepalese Hindu minority. The government responded to the influx of Nepalese by tightening immigration and citizenship laws to reduce the flow of Nepalese into Bhutan. To promote national unity, Dzongkha, the language of the Buddhist Bhutanese was made the national language and the language taught in school. The teaching of minority languages was discouraged. There were also laws that discouraged Bhutanese from marrying non-Bhutanese..
The edicts designed to “preserve native culture” focused on Buddhism and Bhutanese culture. This "Bhutanisation drive" alienated the largely Hindu Nepali population. Nepalese within Bhutan formed political groups and tried pressure the government to make social reforms. The government responded with force, and violence broke out. Large numbers of people of Nepali origin were expelled from Bhutan. The majority of them, estimated to be between 100,000 and 135,000 in number, ended up in refugee camps in eastern Nepal monitored by the United Nations. [Sources: “Gale Encyclopedia of World History: Governments” Thomson Gale, 2008; “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life”, Cengage Learning, 2009]
Some 85,000 were expelled to Nepal in 1992-93 alone, and about 5,000-15,000 more moved to India. In the early 2000s, there were still an estimated 112,000 Nepalese refugees residing in refugee camps in Nepal and India. Some were allowed to return to Bhutan; around 6,500 still lived in the refugee camps in the 2010s and many were granted political asylum in India, the United States and other countries. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007; ]
Indigenous Ethnic Groups
Aboriginal, indigenous and non-Bhutanese and non-Nepalese migrant groups make up about 15 percent of the population. These include the Assamese, who also live in Assam, India, Tibetans and a variety of indigenous ethnic groups. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
Tribal peoples live in villages scattered throughout Bhutan: in the mountains, in the jungles and in the small area of flat lands near the Indian border. Bhutan has a wide diversity of ethnic groups, starting with a number of small tribal groups (related to similar tribes in India and Sikkim) whose ancestry goes back almost three thousand years. [Source: “Countries and Their Cultures”, Gale Group Inc., 2001]
Indo-Mongoloids (usually referred to as Monpas, which means non-Tibetans) migrated into Bhutan two thousand years ago from Arunchal Pradesh, Nagaland, northern Burma, and Thailand. They including the Bumthaps and the Khengpas of Central Bhutan, the Kurtoeps in Lhuentse, the Brokpas and the Bramis of Merak and Sakteng in eastern Bhutan, the Doyas of Samtse and finally the Monpas of Rukha villages in Wangdue Phodrang. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
Culturally and linguistically part of the populations of West Bengal or Assam, many of small aboriginal or indigenous tribal peoples practice forms of Hinduism, are organized into caste or caste-like hierarchies and engage in wet-rice and dry-rice agriculture. They include the Drokpa, Lepcha, and Doya tribes as well as the descendants of slaves who were brought to Bhutan from similar tribal areas in India. The ex-slave communities tended to be near traditional population centers because it was there that they had been pressed into service to the state. [Source: Andrea Matles Savada, Library of Congress, 1991]
Different Indigenous Groups in Bhutan
Bumthaps, Mangdeps (Makheps) and Khengpas are people who speak Bumtapkha, Mangdepkha and khengkha respectively and inhabit the central areas of Bhutan. The Bumthaps cultivate buck wheat, potatoes and vegetables. A section of this population also rear yaks and sheep and produce fabrics of wool and yak hair.The Mangdeps depend on cultivation of rice, wheat, maize, vegetables, besides rearing domestic animals. They were classified as butchers in Tibet before they fled to Bhutan from the Chinese invasion in the 1950s. Buddhists are not allowed to kill animals. Butchering in Bhutan is done by the Mangdeps, who have have been regarded as a kind of caste. The khengpas are also dependent on agriculture much like the Mangdeps, however, they are also known for the bamboo and cane craft. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
Kurtoeps inhabit the eastern part of the country. Specifically the district of Lhuentse and the villages are found spread along the banks of Kurichu. Khoma women are expert weavers and are known for their skill in weaving the grandiose Kushithara.
The Brokpas (Drogpas) and Bramis are a semi nomadic community. They are settled in the two villages of Merak and Sakteng in eastern Bhutan. They mostly depend on yaks and sheep for their livelihood and do not typically grow crops due to the high altitude zones they inhabit. They speak a different dialect and have their own unique dress that is made of yak hair and sheep wool. They are also experts in cane and bamboo crafts. The Brokpas have traditionally been a nomadic group of yak herders who retain some ancient customs and beliefs, which predate the introduction of Buddhism.
The Layaps live in the extreme north and speak layapkha. Like the Brokpas, they are semi-nomadic and their livelihood is dependent upon yaks and sheep. They use the products of their herd animals to barter rice, salt and other consumables with the people of WangduePhodrang and Punakha.
The Doyas are a tribal community that has settled mostly in southern Bhutan. They are considered the aboriginal inhabitants of western and central Bhutan, who over the years migrated to and settled in the present areas in Dorokha. They have their own unique dialect and style of dress. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
The Monpas are a small community in Rukha under WangduePhodrang. Together with the Doyas they are also considered the original settlers of central Bhutan. They have their own unique dialect but it is unfortunately slowly dying out as they are now being absorbed into the main stream Bhutanese society. [Source: Tourism Council of Bhutan, tourism.gov.bt]
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Tourism Council of Bhutan (tourism.gov.bt), National Portal of Bhutan, the Bhutan government’s main site (gov.bt), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated February 2022