The unification of Bhutan into the modern constitutional monarchy it is today, originated in the mid-17 century with the arrival of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, a powerful Buddhist teacher and statesman, from Tibet. Unifying Bhutan as one nation-state, he famously separated monastic and secular rule and oversaw the building of Bhutan’s imposing dzongs which served as defensive fortresses, seats of government and home to the monastic body.  

After Zhabdrung’s death, political upheaval destabilized the centralized governance he had established, resulting in a resurgence of powerful local governors.   Strategically aware of the threat of colonization, Bhutan reunified in 1907 under the powerful Central Bhutanese Governor Trongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuk, who was unanimously elected by the people, officials and clergy and enthroned as the first hereditary King of Bhutan. In 1910 he secured the Treaty of Punakha, under which Britain guaranteed Bhutan’s independence.