Himalayan Kingdom Research Articles

Planned Development in Sikkim: Evolution and Growth

Planned Development is the sine qua non for a holistic development of the state. Sikkim the Himalayan Kingdom was a protectorate of the Indian Union as a result of 1950 Indo-Sikkim treaty and later became its 22nd state. Sikkim climbed the development ladder through the development plans initially with the Seven Year plan in 1954. The present developments and the status of Sikkim is the outcome of this Planned Development and later through the Five Year plans. The paper discusses the thrust areas of these Plans through the decades paving the way for development and how far the state has fared in terms of overall development. It also reflects the gap in terms of development in pre-1975 and post-1975 period. This underlines the importance of having a concrete planned development in Sikkim for overall development. Primary and secondary data has been used for the analysis.

Genomic, climatic, and cultural diversity of maize landraces from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

Societal Impact StatementBhutan is an ancient kingdom in the Himalayan range and one of the most rugged, geodiverse, and mountainous agricultural countries in the world. Historically secluded and geographically isolated, Bhutan is a hotspot for Himalayan agrobiodiversity where small‐scale agriculture supports the livelihoods of a large share of the resident population. Here, Bhutanese maize agrobiodiversity is explored to unlock its adaptation potential using genomics and participatory variety selection in combination with climate research. We show that Bhutanese traditional farmers maintain a wealth of diversity that may support the sustainable intensification of maize cropping in the Himalayas and beyond.Summary Bhutan, an ancient kingdom enshrouded in the Himalayas, hosts largely untapped agrobiodiversity that may harness genetic variation useful for adaptation to local climates and user needs. Here, we genotyped‐by‐sequencing 351 pooled samples of local maize (Zea mays L.) landraces, the entire collection of the Bhutan National Gene Bank, comparing their genomic diversity with maize from other countries in the Himalayan range. We reconstructed the adaptation of Bhutanese maize to historical and projected climates, identifying areas of future maladaptation. We then run a common garden experiment involving local smallholder farmers in a participatory evaluation of landraces' performance, aiming at the identification of quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) contributing to adaptation, performance, and farmers' choice. We found that Bhutanese maize agrobiodiversity is unique in the Himalayan range, and a locus on Chromosome 5 supports the differentiation of three distinct genetic clusters. We found that a portion of current genomic diversity can be associated with the Bhutanese landscape and that maize cultivation in the southwest of the country may be negatively impacted by projected climates. We also found that Bhutanese maize agrobiodiversity is large and may contribute to adaptation and improvement. A genome‐wide association study identified 117 QTNs for climatic adaptation, agronomic performance, and farmers' preferences. Our results show that Bhutanese maize landraces are a unique source of genetic agrobiodiversity for local adaptation. We found that the integration of genomics, climate science, and participatory methods can speed up the identification of genetic factors contributing to the sustainable intensification of maize cultivation in the Himalayas and beyond.

First record of Macrognathus aral (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

First record of Macrognathus aral (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

BHUTAN AS AN EXEMPLAR MODEL FOR COVID-19 MANAGEMENT

This paper attempts to study the success story of a tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan which has been able to wedge worldwide attention and appreciations for having the lowest COVID-19 case-counts and fatalities. Bhutan has so far accomplished to keep the ‘invisible enemy’ at bay despite of being a low middle income, developing and vulnerable landlocked country having porous border with India and nascent health care system. So, this paper will look into Bhutan’s pandemic trajectory, preventive measures, preparedness and responses until now. It will explore Bhutan’s COVID-19 management strategies since the onset of the outbreak from two levels: 1) instantaneous policy responses and extraordinary leadership roles of its Constitutional and political heads and; 2) Bhutanese commitment in offering multifarious community support in battling with the pandemic. It will also evaluate the determinants of Bhutan’s COVID-19 resilience despite of facing many challenges. The methodology adopted in this paper is content analysis of facts, data and materials available from both primary and secondary sources.

Healthcare in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan: Lessons for the United States and other western healthcare systems.

Bhutan has demonstrated a trajectory of advances in healthcare, while still remaining true to its culture and traditional forms of medicine. Most recently, Bhutan gained international attention when it implemented a strategic Covid-19 vaccination programme that protected a greater percentage of its population than observed in Western industrialised nations. This accomplishment supports the idea that there are lessons from Bhutan to be shared with the rest of the world. In this work, we delineate our observations of the Bhutanese healthcare system, based on field observations in several Bhutanese cities, and results from surveys of Bhutanese physicians. We identify a number of unique practices that influence patient compliance, health education, and access to care in the Bhutanese system, that may be of particular interest and applicability to other healthcare systems. These include housing multiple health services at one location, fully funded medical visits, using non-physician teachers for health education and use of Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures in care.

A Himalayan prince between India and Europe: Suchet Singh of Chamba and the limits of colonial subjectivity

This article discusses the life-story of Suchet Singh (1841–1896). The ruler of the Himalayan kingdom of Chamba, Singh was deposed by the colonial authorities soon after his accession in 1870, and spent the rest of his life seeking restitution. We argue that the strategies employed by Singh, who combined appeals to the international press with political manoeuvrings in India and Europe, evince a novel type of cosmopolitanism. This new development allowed elites from the colonies to contest the empire by exploiting unprecedented technological advancements in communications and travel alongside the support of a widening liberal lobby in the metropole. While Singh ultimately failed to regain his patrimony and died destitute in exile, his life story demonstrates the capacity of judicious engagement with the public sphere and the cultivation of global support-networks to improve the standing of colonial subjects in the Age of Empire.

FDI, disinvestment and growth: an appraisal of Bhutanese economy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to appraise the influence and challenges of direct disinvestment or through foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Kingdom of Bhutan, particularly to identify the inflow of disinterment post pandemic and how it can be improved.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigated the influence of FDI on Bhutan’s economy by analyzing secondary published data by Asian Development Bank and government agencies of Bhutan. To find out the role FDI has played in the growth of the Bhutanese Economy.FindingsThe FDI is not playing a major role in the nation’s economy so far. However, its potential cannot be ignored as there is a need for foreign currency and expertise in the country. Furthermore, government policies are directly influencing the inflow of foreign exchange that affects the Bhutan’s economy. FDI has not increased considerably because of self-imposed restrictions blocking government policies.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is based on the data collected from secondary sources, which could be considered as the main limitation of this study. The Himalayan kingdom is not much open to the outside world in terms of the publication and availability of the data. Researchers put their best effort in retrieving secondary data from authentic sources.Practical implicationsThis research has direct implications from an institutional perspective on the government policies and procedures. This study throws light on the elements that might help in improving Bhutan’s economy, employment and productivity for an overall development of economy.Social implicationsBhutan and similar countries need to understand the pros and cons of having FDIs. This study might help the government and the civil society to understand the trends FDI has triggered in the nation over last 30 years, and will help them to make appropriate policies and regulations dealing with foreign investments.Originality/valueThis paper underwrites the influence of disinvestment on Bhutan’s economy, which can revolutionize business, entrepreneurship and institutions. This research was conducted by analyzing secondary data released by authorized agencies, which indicated the lower inflow of foreign exchange and how to improve further.

Fashioning a ‘Buddhist’ Himalayan Cartography: Sikkim Darbar and the Cabinet Mission Plan

In the months leading up to the transfer of power in India, the eastern Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim made several representations to the Cabinet Mission and other constitutional bodies that were giving shape to the successor Indian government. The Sikkim Darbar was worried that its ambiguous position under colonial treaties might lead India to treat it as one of the five-hundred odd princely states that were slowly merging with the union. In letters, memoranda, legal briefs, and personal meetings, the Darbar argued that it was racially, religiously, socially, and culturally distinct from India, and that its allegiance lied to its north with Tibet. This article traces the vocabulary for the Sikkim Darbar’s assertion of difference from India back to the racialised imperial writing and realpolitik that had informed colonial policy towards the Himalayan states since the nineteenth century, most notably Olaf Caroe’s 1940 thesis on the ‘Mongolian Fringe’. This archival evidence emphasises Sikkimese agency and helps excavate an imagination of the Himalaya from within the region. The article also nuances the history of the forging of Indian republic by foregrounding the processes of negotiation and compromise that continued to shape the territorial contours of the Indian nation long after the moment of decolonisation. 1

How does conservation land tenure affect economic impacts of wildlife: An analysis of subsistence farmers and herders in Bhutan

Protected areas (PA) to conserve wildlife are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation but they can also result in increased human-wildlife conflict (HWC), which poses a serious challenge to jointly achieving sustainable development goals of food security and biodiversity conservation, particular in regions with high conservation values and subsistence farmers. In the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, expanding PAs and other conservation efforts have led to increased wildlife populations that are causing more damage to crop and livestock and impacting on the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and herders. In this study, we used a social-ecological systems framework to quantify the intensity this impact and associated economic losses with identified wildlife species and compared differences between livelihood types (crop farming versus livestock husbandry) and land tenure (inside versus outside protected areas). Results indicated that Meso-scale wildlife species that are not the focus of conservation caused higher economic losses. Approximately 43% of total economic loss through crop depredation was attributed to wild pig (Sus scrofa) and 56% of the total economic loss through livestock predation was caused by wild dogs (Cuon alpinus). Losses borne by respondents whose livelihoods depend mainly on livestock were significantly higher, with a mean loss equivalent to US$1328 per household per annum, than those depending on crop production (US$171 per household per annum). Economic losses incurred through crop and livestock depredation were significantly higher for the respondents residing inside PAs, which is attributed by those households to a perceived increase in wildlife populations because of conservation policies. Interventions for prevention and mitigation of these impacts should recognize these varying unintended effects of wildlife and be better targeted at groups living in different parts of the landscape. These include expanding compensation scheme to losses caused by wild dogs and pigs, supporting ecotourism ventures within PAs to diversify income options and introducing control measures for these animals.

Subsistence Farmers’ Understanding of the Effects of Indirect Impacts of Human Wildlife Conflict on Their Psychosocial Well-Being in Bhutan

Indirect impacts of Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) are largely ignored, poorly understood, and scantly reported in the literature on HWC. Subsistence farmers in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan experience an increasing intensification of HWC impacts. Working across four districts representing different geographic regions of the country, we explored the perceived indirect impacts of HWC and how they affect the well-being and happiness of subsistence farmers using qualitative interviews (n = 48) and focus group discussions (n = 8). We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis. Based on respondent’s explanations, we coded the data according to effect of indirect impacts on human, social, financial, physical, natural, and psychological capitals. Mental distress, constant worries about food insecurity, fears for physical safety, frustration of movement restriction due to fear of being attack by wildlife, feelings of economic insecurity and anger over loss of crop and livestock due to wild predators affect the psychological health and well-being of research participants. Vulnerabilities related to gender and wealth status further deepen the effect of indirect impacts. Policies designed to address HWC should incorporate an understanding of the effects of indirect impacts of HWC and should focus on female-headed and poor households to reduce the negative effects of wildlife impacts.

Employing citizen science to understand amphibian and reptile diversity and distribution in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

In the absence of systematic research institutions and local or long-term resident systematists added by Buddhist culture that discourages lethal sampling of animals, scientific collections are particularly sparse in Bhutan. Consequently, less charismatic taxa such as the reptile and amphibian fauna of Bhutan, including the Eastern-Himalayas, are poorly known. Citizen science was employed to better understand the occupancy and distribution of reptile and amphibian fauna in Bhutan. Using a dedicated amphibian and reptile Facebook group, we gathered 929 species records from 235 individuals between May 2014 and December 2019. Of the participants 70% were foresters, 10% were members of the general public, 6% were school teachers, 6% were college students, 5% were non-forester civil servants, and 3% were tour guides. Citizen scientists submitted records for 99 species of snakes, 70 species of amphibians, 87 species of lizards and 5 species of testudines. Of these, 70% of the records extended the published range of the species in Bhutan, and more than 48 species were new records for Bhutan. Our study demonstrates the potential of citizen science in developing countries with poorly documented fauna.

The Diversity of Medicinal Plants of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

Most nations depend heavily on plants as economic resources. They can be categorized according to their contribution to economic development thanks to their taxonomic classes. Plant components are used in pharmaceutical research and the creation of novel medications in the healthcare industry. Plant components or herbal concoctions are utilized as herbal medicines in Bhutan and other parts of the world to treat various illnesses. The study aimed to list all the plants possessing medicinal properties from the published sources. The proponents of herbal medicine in Bhutan assert that plant parts contain a variety of phytochemicals that show a range of pharmacological and biological responses. The related data were searched online using various boolean operations. Bhutan is home to around 637 medicinal plant species under 132 families and 418 genera, of which only 229 species are used in Bhutanese traditional medicine. More research and interactions with the local traditional medicinal practitioners can reveal more plants with medicinal properties.

Rainfall and rainy days trend and ENSO phenomena in Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

Rainfall and rainy days trend and ENSO phenomena in Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

India-Bhutan Relations: A Small State’s Quest for Freedom

Bhutan is located on the eastern ridges of the Himalayas between the Assam-Bengal Plain of India to the south and the Plateau of Tibet of southwestern China to the north. In British India the colonial administration established a classical hegemonic relationship with the remote kingdom. In the Treaty of Punakha (1910) the sovereignty of the Bhutanese Royal government was recognized in exchange for submitting control of foreign relations to the British. In independent India, the Himalayan Kingdoms were sandwiched between India and China, facing an uncertain future about their political sovereignty. India concluded a new Treaty with Bhutan (the India-Bhutan Treaty of Peace and Friendship) in 1949, which was designed to remain in force “in perpetuity,” consolidating the essence of the British hegemonic policy of controlling smaller neighbors, with India being the new imperial power. Bhutan became a member state of the UN in 1971 after India finally agreed to sponsor its application, but the small state has limited authority to conduct foreign relations without prior consent from India, and it does not even enjoy formal diplomatic relationship with any of the five permanent members in the United Nations. Bhutan’s quest to wield control over its own affairs free of the influence of India remains unfulfilled.

Bordering the postcolonial state: the relevance of Sikkim in India’s support for Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor

ABSTRACT In 1975, two small territories with distinct identities were incorporated within larger postcolonial states: in April, the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim became a state within the Republic of India, while in December, the Republic of Indonesia annexed Portuguese (East) Timor. From 1975 to 1982, India voted against all United Nations General Assembly resolutions supporting East Timor's self-determination. While Western states' support is well documented, scant attention has been paid to India's role, which sits in contrast to almost all other non-aligned, postcolonial states. This paper seeks to understand India's support for Indonesia. We argue that India's support was due to similarities in key ideas that shaped India and Indonesia's state construction, which remained despite the ways in which the relationship had soured in the preceding decades. We draw this argument out by comparing the narratives India used to justify its incorporation of Sikkim with those of Indonesia in East Timor.

Predicting plant species distributions using climate‐based model ensembles with corresponding measures of congruence and uncertainty

AbstractAimThe increasing availability of regional and global climate data presents an opportunity to build better ecological models; however, it is not always clear which climate dataset is most appropriate. The aim of this study was to better understand the impacts that alternative climate datasets have on the modelled distribution of plant species, and to develop systematic approaches to enhancing their use in species distribution models (SDMs).LocationVictoria, southeast Australia and the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan.MethodsWe compared the statistical performance of SDMs for 38 plant species in Victoria and 12 plant species in Bhutan with multiple algorithms using globally and regionally calibrated climate datasets. Individual models were compared against one another and as SDM ensembles to explore the potential for alternative predictions to improve statistical performance. We develop two new spatially continuous metrics that support the interpretation of ensemble predictions by characterizing the per‐pixel congruence and variability of contributing models.ResultsThere was no clear consensus on which climate dataset performed best across all species in either study region. On average, multi‐model ensembles (across the same species with different climate data) increased AUC/TSS/Kappa/OA by up to 0.02/0.03/0.03/0.02 in Victoria and 0.06/0.11/0.11/0.05 in Bhutan. Ensembles performed better than most single models in both Victoria (AUC = 85%; TSS = 68%) and Bhutan (AUC = 86%; TSS = 69%). SDM ensembles using models fitted with alternative algorithms and/or climate datasets each provided a significant improvement over single model runs.Main conclusionsOur results demonstrate that SDM ensembles, built using alternative models of the same climate variables, can quantify model congruence and identify regions of the highest uncertainty while mitigating the risk of erroneous predictions. Algorithm selection is known to be a large source of error for SDMs, and our results demonstrate that climate dataset selection can be a comparably significant source of uncertainty.

Local knowledge, perceptions and the cultural significance of the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

ABSTRACT Bhutan has an extensive protected area network and people living inside are integral partners with the conservation landscape. Despite this, little is known on local people’s traditional knowledge, cultural beliefs, and perceptions on wildlife. We investigated drivers of local knowledge, threats and cultural significance of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) through semi-structured questionnaire surveys (N= 664 participants) on local residents in Jigme Dorji and Phrumsengla National Parks. A conditional inference tree analysis explained that knowledge of the red panda and encounters with the species varied by demography, occupation and locality. Although the majority of respondents were not knowledgeable of the species, residents living within the elevational range of red pandas exhibited greater knowledge. Civil servants, farmers, foresters, park staff, and teachers also had significantly greater knowledge of red pandas than monks, road workers, and students. Informally educated older (≥41 years) respondents placed higher cultural significance on the red panda relative to much younger respondents. Although past studies in Jigme Dorji National Park have identified habitat destruction and fragmentation due to linear infrastructural development – such as the construction of new power transmission lines – as significant anthropogenic threats to the red panda, respondents listed only non-timber forest products collection, forest fires, timber and firewood harvesting, climate change, livestock grazing, and kills by domestic dogs as some of the most prevailing threats to the red panda in our study area. Recognizing and incorporating the intrinsic value of wildlife within the protected area–people framework and utilizing traditional cultural perceptions of threatened species like the red panda, can be a valuable tool in strengthening public support for species conservation. This study further advocates an urgent need for educational programs to promote ecological and cultural values of the red panda in schools and the wider public.

Bhutan’s Hydropower: the Economy Sector and One of the Foundations of the State's Foreign Policy

The small Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, located in South Asia between China and India, is constrained in the alternatives of means for development. The most optimal natural resource for exploitation is the system of mountain rivers and the energy received from them. At the same time, this sector of the country's economy faces several development difficulties. Those often include the technical complexity of project implementation, the national debt burden, the impact of hydroelectric power plants on wildlife preserved in the Kingdom, deep dependence on New Delhi solutions and limited alternatives for partnership in the industry. The article is based on the comprehensive approach. The author explores the natural resources available to the country, the peculiarities of their use and analyzes the hydropower facilities implemented in the Kingdom, as well as those at different stages of construction. The article also studies the national regulatory and structural fundamentals of the sector’s organization in a small state. The role of hydropower in foreign trade and in ensuring the welfare of the Himalayan country is determined on the basis of actual data, as well as the conditions and main schemes of project implementation and sources of financing for energy initiatives in the country. The importance of the Bhutan's hydropower industry in forming its foreign policy course is considered. Hydropower gave an impetus to the growth of the Kingdom's economy, but also it determined the long-term prospects for its development.

The trail of an eastern deity in the western Himalaya: a study of Lord Jagannath’s temple in the Sirmaur region of Himachal Pradesh

This paper explores the multiple agents and processes behind the integration of the cult of Jagannath of Puri into the western Himalayan kingdom of Sirmaur circa 1600–1900. It argues that the transition of the cult from Orissa (now called Odisha) to the hills was crucial to the formation of Sirmaur as a modern Rajput state and that this process was closely assisted by the involvement of politically savvy ritual specialists from Rajasthan. Relying on a combination of a close reading of local histories and on-site interviews, it explores the actions and motivations of Sirmaur’s rulers, their subjects and representatives of devotional Vaishnavism in the establishment of a multi-religious state. The establishment of thakurdwaras associated with Krishna in the kingdom’s core regions during the 18th century illustrates the continual evolution of both rulers and priests towards embracing the cultural changes affecting modern India. The representation of these seemingly disparate elements in a single historical narrative ultimately helps to situate the emergence of Himalayan states within the broader context of state-building in early modern South Asia.

Understanding Human–Canid Conflict and Coexistence: Socioeconomic Correlates Underlying Local Attitude and Support Toward the Endangered Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Bhutan

Understanding human–canid conflict and coexistence must focus on documenting human–canid interactions and identifying the underlying drivers of reciprocal human attitude which enables appropriate strategies to minimize conflict and forge coexistence. The dhole (Cuon alpinus), Asia's most widely distributed wild canid, is highly threatened by human persecution and anthropogenic activities. Despite its “endangered” status, its ecological role as an apex predator, negative interactions with humans, and dhole-specific attitude studies are limited, thus hindering the development of a comprehensive dhole-conservation strategy. Here, we investigate the influence of socioeconomic factors of age, gender, income, residency inside/outside a protected area (PA), and other variables (cultural beliefs, livestock loss, and quantity of livestock loss) on the attitudes of local people and support for dhole conservation in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. We conducted a semi-structured questionnaire survey of 1,444 households located within the PA and non-PA from four representative regions in the country. Using R programming, we ran Pearson's chi-square test of independence to test the overall difference in the attitude and support for dhole conservation, followed by recursive partitioning through a conditional inference regression tree to identify its significant covariates with the highest explanatory power. Majority (79.1%) of respondents (χ2 = 488.6; df = 1; p < 0.001) disliked the dhole over those who liked it. More than half (57.7%) (χ2 = 412.7; df = 2; p < 0.001) opposed dhole conservation over those who either supported or remained neutral. Experience of livestock loss to dholes was the primary ( p < 0.001) factor influencing the negative attitude and opposition to dhole conservation, despite an acknowledgment of the ecological role of the dhole in controlling agricultural crop predators. Our study, which is the first-ever survey in Bhutan, solely focused on investigating human attitudes and perceptions toward the dhole, indicating that livestock loss to dholes transcends all positive attitudes to the species and drives a predominant dislike and opposition to its conservation. To improve the attitude and support toward the dhole and to foster dhole–human coexistence, livestock predation by dholes needs alleviation by improving the existing animal husbandry, in conjunction with promoting conservation awareness on this species.