Bhutan War
_(14566720270).jpg)
Signing of the Treaty of Sinchula
| date | 1864 to 1865 |
|---|---|
| place | Bhutanese-Indian border area |
| output | Victory of Great Britain |
| consequences | Assignment of Territories to British India |
| Peace treaty | Treaty of Sinchula |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Bhutan War (also Duar War ) was an armed conflict between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Bhutan . The war lasted from 1864 to 1865 and ended in the defeat of Bhutan, with the British taking advantage of internal tensions in Bhutan and their superior equipment to settle the conflict for themselves within months. As a consequence of its defeat, the country had to cede parts of its territory to British India in the Treaty of Sinchula .
procedure
Great Britain sent a peacekeeping mission to Bhutan in early 1864 after shortly before a civil war had ended there under Ashley Eden , a British official. The dzongpon (local ruler title) of Punakha - who had emerged victorious - had broken with the central government and installed a rival Druk Desi , while the legitimate Druk Desi sought protection from the Penlop of Paro and was later deposed. The British mission took turns dealing with the rival Penlop of Paro and the Penlop of Tongsa (the latter acted on behalf of the Druk Desi), but Bhutan turned down the offered peace and friendship treaty. Great Britain declared war in November 1864. Bhutan did not have a regular army and the armed forces consisted of dzong guards armed only with matchlocks , bows and arrows, swords, knives and catapults. Some of these dzong guards, wearing shields and chainmail, attacked the well-equipped British forces .
The capture of Fort Dewangiri in Deothang in 1865 was decisive for the course of the war. The British suffered a humiliating defeat at Deothang and when they retook Dewangiri, they destroyed it in retaliation.
The Duar War (1864-1865) lasted only five months and, despite several victories by the Bhutanese armed forces on the battlefield, led to the defeat of Bhutan, the loss of part of its territory and the forced cession of previously occupied territories. According to the Treaty of Sinchula, which was signed on November 11, 1865, Bhutan ceded areas in what is now Assam and West Bengal as well as the 83 km² area of Dewangiri in southeastern Bhutan for annual payments of 50,000 rupees . The Treaty of Sinchula lasted until 1910 when Bhutan and British India signed the Treaty of Punakha with effect until 1947.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nagendra Singh: Appendix VII - The Treaty of Sinchula . In: Bhutan: a Kingdom in the Himalayas: a study of the land, its people, and their government . Thomson Press Publication Division, 1978, p. 243 (Retrieved May 30, 2019).
- ↑ Eden, Ashley. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Bután y la historia de la guerra de Duars. 1866, Retrieved May 30, 2019 .