The Zhabdrung and Bhutan's Dzong System

The Zhabdrung's most lasting idea was a dual system of rule, called chhoesi. Religious affairs were placed under the Je Khenpo, the chief abbot, who led the monastic body. Civil affairs were placed under the Desi, a lay ruler who managed government, taxes and defence. The Zhabdrung himself stood above both.

Below the Desi, regional governors called penlops ran the great regions, and district officers ran each valley from its dzong. The system lasted, in one form or another, until the monarchy in 1907, and parts of it survive. The Je Khenpo still heads the Central Monastic Body today, and many dzongs still house both monks and district officials under one roof.

For a visitor, the clearest sign of the dual system is the way a dzong is laid out. In a big dzong such as Punakha or Paro, one courtyard is ringed by government offices, where people come to pay taxes, register land or meet the district officials. Another courtyard belongs to the monks, with temples, prayer halls and their living quarters. Your guide will show you where one ends and the other begins, and what is kept in the tall central tower, the utse, which usually holds some of the dzong's most important chapels.

A dzong is not quite a fort, a monastery or a town hall; it is all three. Each was built on a strategic spot, a ridge, a river confluence or the mouth of a valley, with high, whitewashed walls that slope inward and small windows at the bottom. Inside, the space is usually split: roughly half for administration, such as the governor's offices, and half for religion, with temples and monks' quarters around a courtyard and a central tower.

The first was Simtokha Dzong, built in 1629 just south of present-day Thimphu, guarding the road between the Thimphu valley and the east. Punakha Dzong followed in 1637–38, at the meeting of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers, and became the seat of government until the capital moved to Thimphu in 1955. Wangdue Phodrang Dzong was founded in 1638, Rinpung Dzong at Paro in 1644–46, and Trongsa Dzong, on its ridge in central Bhutan, in 1647.

The table lists the dzongs most visitors see, with the founding dates given in standard histories. Several were damaged by fires and earthquakes and rebuilt, so what you walk through is often later work on the Zhabdrung's plan. Entry for regional and international tourists is usually Nu 500 per adult, indicative 2026, and opening hours are limited when offices are working; check current status before you travel.

The Zhabdrung died in 1651. His officials did not announce it. For about half a century, 54 years by the usual count, the government said that he had entered a long meditation retreat, and orders continued to be issued in his name. The reason was political: the state he had built rested on his personal authority, and there was no agreed successor. Announcing his death risked civil war.

When the truth finally came out, the problem it had hidden returned. Through the 18th and 19th centuries the Desi was often weak, and the real power lay with the regional penlops of Paro and Trongsa, who fought each other for control. Punakha Dzong holds the Machey Lhakhang, a chapel that keeps the Zhabdrung's embalmed body; visitors normally see it only from outside, but your guide will point it out, and it explains why Punakha matters so much to Bhutanese.

Trongsa Dzong controlled the only east to west route through central Bhutan, and whoever held it controlled much of the country. In the 19th century the Trongsa Penlops of the Wangchuck family became the strongest power in Bhutan. In 1865, after the Duar War, Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchula with British India and gave up the Duars, the strip of plains that is now the Dooars of West Bengal and Assam.

Ugyen Wangchuck, Penlop of Trongsa, won a decisive civil war battle at Changlimithang in Thimphu in the 1880s and became the country's dominant figure. He acted as an intermediary for the British expedition to Lhasa in 1904 and was knighted the following year. On 17 December 1907, at Punakha Dzong, an assembly of monks, officials and leading families chose him as the first hereditary king, the Druk Gyalpo. Bhutan celebrates 17 December as National Day.

Five Wangchuck kings have ruled since 1907. The Third King, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, set up the National Assembly in 1953 and moved the capital to Thimphu. The Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, crowned in 1974, began handing power away from the throne.

In 1998 he devolved executive power to an elected Council of Ministers. Work on a written constitution began in 2001. He abdicated in December 2006 in favour of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who was crowned in 2008. The first parliamentary elections were held that year, and the Constitution was adopted on 18 July 2008. The dzongs remained at the centre: the Fifth King married at Punakha Dzong in 2011, in the building the Zhabdrung began almost four centuries earlier.

You can follow this history on an ordinary Thimphu, Punakha and Paro trip, with a licensed guide and the usual dzong entry fees of about Nu 500 per adult, indicative 2026. These are the places where each chapter is easiest to picture.

• Simtokha Dzong, a few kilometres south of Thimphu: the Zhabdrung's first dzong of 1629, small enough to understand in half an hour.
• Tashichho Dzong, Thimphu: the seat of government and the king's office today; visitors are usually allowed in the evening after offices close.
• Changlimithang, Thimphu: the national stadium and archery ground stand on the site of Ugyen Wangchuck's battle.
• Punakha Dzong: the Zhabdrung's capital, the 1907 coronation hall and the winter home of the monks, best seen when the jacaranda trees flower in spring.
• Rinpung Dzong, Paro: walk down from the dzong to the old covered bridge over the Paro Chhu.
• Trongsa Dzong and the Ta Dzong watchtower above it: the seat of the Penlops, on the long drive to Bumthang.