Bhutanese
"Bhutanese" refers to the people of Bhutan or to one of the languages spoken there. "Bhutan" is the official name of the Himalayan kingdom; the word probably derives from Bhotanta—the edge of Tibet—Bhot being the Sanskrit version of the Tibetan word for Tibet and Anta meaning "end." The term seems to have been picked up by the British from local Indian usage. The Bhutanese themselves call their country Drukyul and themselves Drukpa. The word "Druk" means dragon and refers to the sect of Tibetan Buddhism that became dominant in Bhutan. "Yul" means land, and "pa" is a suffix denoting person. The government promotes a concept of Bhutanese national identity by promoting Bhutanese culture, language, and tradition (Drilam Namza, "Code of Conduct and Dress"). Bhutanese dress is compulsory, and government departments are enjoined to use Dzongkha, rather than English, for correspondence.
The Bhutanese are related primarily to the Tibetans in culture, ethnicity, and language. SouthernBhutan is now populated by ethnic Nepalis, but the overall culture of the country remains that of the people of the north and center. Officially "Drukpa" means any citizen of Bhutan, but the term is used loosely to denote the Buddhist peoples in distinction to Nepali-speaking Hindus of the south, although this usage remains unofficial and controversial. The eastern people called Sharchops speak a different language, but share much of their culture with the westerners. The people of the south are referred to officially as Lhotsampas—southerners—under the policy of national unity.
A Bhutanese man outside a hotel in southwestern Bhutan. (PAPILLIO/CORBIS)The Himalayas have been less of a barrier to migration than the dense jungles of the southern foothills. Consequently, the southern Himalayas, such as Ladakh, Sikkim, and eastern Nepal, have been populated by waves of migrants from the Tibetan plateau, with which they share cultural, ethnic, and linguistic links. The Drukpa people of Bhutan may be regarded as within this cultural and ethnic band. Historical dates are hard to fix for this process, but the Bhutanese date their identity as Buddhists from the arrival of Guru Rimpoche in the eighth century CE. The ethnic Nepalis came much later, in the twentieth century, as hired workers on projects, as well as small farmers escaping poverty in Nepal.
There are several regional languages in Bhutan. The official language is Dzongkha, "language of the monastery," based on the language spoken in the northwestern valleys. Other Bhutanese languages are Sharchop or Tsangla spoken in the east, Bumthangkha and Mangdep spoken in the center, and Khenkha, a southern language. All these languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman language family. While the northern, western, and central languages are related to the Tibetan family, Sharchop is affiliated with the Tsangla languages, also spoken in the Tawang district of India's Arunachal Pradesh state. Nepali is widely spoken in the south. Most Bhutanese are excellent linguists, fluent in one or more of the local languages as well as Dzongkha, the official language, border Indian languages, Nepali, and, if educated, English.
Further Reading
Aris, Michael. (1979) Bhutan: The Early History of a Himalayan Kingdom. Warminster, U.K.: Aris & Phillips.
Aris, Michael, and Michael Hutt, eds. (1994) Bhutan: Aspects of Culture and Development. Gartmore, U.K.: Kiscadale Press.
Rose, Leo. (1977) The Politics of Bhutan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
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