Bhutan, Western Arunachal Pradesh and modern state-making

Abstract

This chapter undertakes a tracing of cultural or literary mappings of Bhutan and western Arunachal Pradesh (AP) found in the works of two renowned local authors, Kunzang Choden and Yeshe Dorje Thongchi. The contiguous regions of Bhutan and western AP, now separated by an international border, not only share deep-rooted connections but are also ‘contact zones,’ to use Mary Louise Pratt’s famous term. This paper seeks to imagine Bhutan and western Arunachal Pradesh as a transnational geo-cultural unit by reading such modern literary works representative of the region during its transitional years to identify shared patterns of monastic religious influence, travel and modern state-formation therein that inform the historical trajectories followed by the people inhabiting this region in the second half of the twentieth century.