Zhidar Matters- The Rise and Fall of a Controversial 18th Century Bhutanese Ruler- Dorji Penjore

I have read the book over few evenings. Sir Dorji Penjor, author of the book as he does in all his writings, showed us again on the subject many have no or less knowledge but matter in ways. Zhidar Matters is my third book by Sir Dorji. From the book “Dasho Keiji Nishioka: A Japanese Who Lived for Bhutan (2011)” learnt that Nishioka revolutionalized agriculture in Zhemgang. Respectable cultivable farmland (Paddy field) villagers own today back home owes to Dasho’s utter commitment. Lo and behold a mistress of Dasho from my village helped put our farmland on the map. Not flexing, my father through Dasho got a set of farm machines that eased families and got his name Apa in the community. 

Check this: https://dorjipenjore.wordpress.com/dasho-keiji-nishioka-a-japanese-who-lived-for-bhutan/ 

Love, Courtship and Marriage in Rural Bhutan: A Preliminary Ethnography of Wamling Village in Zhemgang (2009): This book talks about the courting of suitors to marriage in Wamling village. Few of the practices revealed in the book are similar to that of most villages in upper Kheng or elsewhere.  

Here is the link: https://dorjipenjore.wordpress.com/love-courtship-and-marriage-in-rural-bhutan/ Friends who borrowed this book of mine please return lah. 

“Zhidar Matters” made the talk of the town. A free distribution that stopped suddenly and reviews did seize the interest of many. I read one-fourth online and the rest on the hardcover. The narration is so impeccable. We can relearn Duars of the south and War with the British in-depth. 

Sympathizing history hero an orphan who rose from pillar to the highest post of the land “Druk Desi” is natural. Zhidar was overthrown and denied home entry in war defeat to the British, and loss of regional powers. His life after War defeats is a mystery. The book doesn’t provide Zhidar’s complete biography, differing theories questions and activates continuity of study from other scholars. 

The British in Bhutan history starts with Zhidar and Cooh Behar. The book gives an account of how Bhutan in the region has political influences over many kingdoms then. The engagement from Bhutan with Tibet, Cooh Behar, Bengal, Nepal, British and other kingdoms is a testament to its stand today. Besides learning the history of relevance, it also provides other enticing historical figures from neighboring countries. I have an online copy of the book.

Thank you Dorji Sir.   

Book Review: Prisoners of Geography

Thank You Tshering Phuntso for letting me extend the ownership of your book for more than a year. Finally through the push of guilt and personal resolution of reading five books and journaling for 2021, I am done “Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that tell you everything you need to know about global Politics.” and my review.

The book does not page Bhutan to the global Map nor contains a paragraph describing the Dragon Kingdom and its sovereign power of influence. As insignificant as Bhutan is to the world, the book failed to bring her relations in geography to the two superpowers China & India. The contentions younger Bhutanese approve is increasing her foreign diplomats’ inoculation and simplifying foreign policy and its implementations. This book tells us how contentious and important in considering Allies and politics. 

A Bhutan-India affair was never hostility, both sides ripening the same remunerations for having sown greater historical friendship. One is always behind the other. The good two shares are having mounted two doors in a worthy house. The payback always measures at par. The natural politics that Bhutan cannot escape nor ignore is a breed and is not unnatural. The Geography we live in is consistently connected and so does Politics. Tim Marshall described political influences all over discussing geography.

History comes and goes in waves, in a turbulent situation we lose, and during the calmer time, it’s time to progress. The Geography that defends history is turbulent is the southern plains Bhutan ceded to British India, the status quo Doklam and the glaciers at the Northern front thwarting Chinese interest(not fully). The presence of China in the North and the absence of better plains, surveyed resources, and water in the south for navigations deterred explorers and exploiters into Bhutan. The calmer phase is now; Bhutan has its markings in the international arena, histories are recorded and Governance thriving. History and Geography are parallel entities today whereby History is spurred by Geography and Geography limited in History. Two of them are to be given special priority with better political inclinations for the good, not to be the victims of Geographical prisoners.    

The insurance policy in Geography is an invincible investment. The dividends are cognitive, both present and future prospectus tied. For instance, Arctic Snow is melting; the presence of natural resource deposits has ignited nations to spur science and technology as insurance for competitions. The dividends are so tempting that even far-away India and Japan participated.

The most intriguing case of the insurance in this book is Russian sending two manned submersibles 13,980 feet below the waves to the seabed of the North Pole (the Artic) and planting a rust-proof Titanium Russian Flag in 2007 as a statement of their presence and investment while it is a disputed place of neighboring nations.

Another example of Geographical insurance is Tibet. Though major parties are in pictures and the reconciliations are on the table, Tibet’s independence is a question that does not have a rigid response. Even if it did gain the independence it seeks, India insured Tibet giving a home to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan’s Independent movement in Dharamsala while their feet were weak. So the new Tibet would then align more towards India to return their insurance claims than to China. This put India in a better position in World Geography. The respect Bhutan has from India is similar to the Geographical theory China put up on Nepal.      

Marshal’s work of translating world Maps to a 287-page book is praiseworthy. The easy access to the big world issues through proper sequencing is relatable. Besides weather, seas, mountains, rivers, and the deserts within the confinement of individual nation’s map affecting its strengths and vulnerabilities, the questions of; Putin’s boldness, Americans global superpower, China’s expanding interest around the world, Middle East’s Money, the differences between India & Pakistan, South & North Korea, why 50 billion Nicaragua Canal Project (funded by Hong Kong’s Businessman) which is near to existing Panama Canal is built are explained in length. The doubts are clear when one is done reading the book and the perspective of the World is never again the same. You will understand the crisis and movements around the globe which humanly are possible but lethally ignored because of Geographical Politics. 

If you are an educator, the book would be of great help. I remember learning World, India, and of course Bhutan’s Geography in grades 9 & 10, I could relate to the faint I learned then to enormous this book provides. The learning here, even if the facts of Geography and Politics have deviated, is considerable. I recommend you to have a physical World Globe by your side or a Google map to relate as you read through. The narration becomes real through imaginary inspections.

The Geography in parallel to the rudimentary history of the smaller nations is a bully, threat, and disputes from the bigger. The strong sense of insular community stand of North Korea isn’t mistaken but logical. The even greater implications Geography dictates is a foreign policy challenge, befriending one, pester the other.

Elliot and Thompson Publications

ISBN: 978-1-78396-243-3 

Edition 2016, Author: Tim Marshall

Prisoners of Geography- Tim Marshall