Theocracy in the Greater Tibetan Region: The Case of Bhutan

Tibet is often referenced in brief and passing notes in the literature on theocracy as the lone and somewhat anomalous Asian example of a premodern theocratic state. Focusing on the founding of the Drukpa theocracy of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651) known today as the Kingdom of Bhutan, my paper investigates what theocracy, as a descriptive and analytical category, might help elucidate about notions of governance in the Tibetan region during the seventeenth century, and vice versa, what the Tibetan experiment with the union of religious and temporal domains (chos srid zung ’brel) might contribute to our understanding of theocracy as an organizing principle for social and political life.