loS 



population in contradistinction to Chang, the northern 

 region inhabited by nomads, while Bhotia is still used to 

 denote people of Thibetan race living on the southern 

 slopes of the Himalayas.* Hence Tavernier's meaning 

 will be correctly read if we substitute Thibet and Bhutan 

 wherever he uses the word Bhutan, more particularly 

 seeing that Thibetan tradewas long in the hands 

 of Bhutanese intermediaries and Bhutan repeatedly 

 claimed as a dependency by the rulers of Thibet. 

 Thibetan manuscripts f make it clear that the present 

 State of Bhutan originated in a colony of Thibetans ; 

 the relations between the two countries have always 

 been most intimate. The chain which bound Bhutan to 

 Thibet may have been a loose one, but history shows 

 that it was held by Thibet and tightened on occasions. 

 Tavernier's time was antecedent to the Chinese re- 

 assumption of sovereignty over Thibet in 1720, and 

 coincided with a period when Bhutan was tributary 

 directly to Thibet and so may have been included as a 

 portion of Thibet in the view of foreigners. 



Warren Hastings also appears to have used the 

 word Bhutan as synonymous with Thibet in his earlier 

 letters to the first mission he despatched to open up 

 trade relations with Thibet, at a time when trade with 

 the latter country was carried on through the Bhutan 

 passes by the intermediary of Bhutanese merchants. 

 When Bogle, Warren Hastings' emissary, reached 

 Bhutan in 1774, he found the trade of the country almost 

 entirely in the hands of the Deb Raja, his ministers 

 and governors, who held the monopoly of it both with 

 Bengal and Thibet. Trade with Bengal was maintained 

 by means of annual caravans to Rangpur and there was 

 also trade with Dinajpur. Warren Hastings subse- 

 quently established an annual fair at Rangpur for the 

 benefit of Bhutanese merchants whose expenses were 

 paid by the Bengal Government who also erected 

 stables for their horses and houses for themselves. |: 

 From Rangpur and Dinajpur the Bhutanese took back 

 stocks of Maldah cloth, coarse linen, hogs and salt fish 

 as the major items of trade, while among the smaller 



* The common designation of Thibetans settled in Sikhim is Lhopa Bhotia, 

 literally "Thibetans of the South." Risley I.e. vol. I, p. 217. 



t J. Claude White, " Sikhim and Bhutan," p. 2S8, London ,1909. 

 J J. Claude White, lo(. cit. 



