Ugyen Wangchuck

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Ugyen Wangchuck (or Deb Nagpo) (18611926) was the first king of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926. He was the penlop (governor) of Tongsa. From his power base in central Bhutan, Ugyen Wangchuck defeated his political enemies and united the country following several civil wars and rebellions in 1882-1885.

In what was an epochal year for the country, in 1907 Ugyen Wangchuck was unanimously chosen as the hereditary monarch of the country by the people at Punakha, the Capital of Bhutan at the time.

For his services to the Francis Younghusband expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, he was knighted by the British in 1904.

Preceded by
Choley Yeshe Ngodub (as Maharaja)
Dragon King of Bhutan
19071926
Succeeded by
Jigme Wangchuck