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Painting of Desi Jigme Namgyal.
Courtesy: 'Discover ideas about Thunder Dragon'. Pinterest.com (Stephanie Corporandy) |
Jigme Namgyal was born in the year 1825 from the nobility of Dungkhar Choeje of Dungkhar village in Kurtoe in Lhuntshi. He was born from Pila Goenpo Wangyal (The younger brother of the famous Dungkhar Brothers) and Sonam Dolma (Sonam Pelzom?). Although his father Pila originates from the descendants of Pema Lingpa, his mother was said to belong to a serf family from the village of Jangsa in Kurtoe, Lhuntsi. He was the second youngest son among the three sons (other sons were Gyaltshen and Dorji) of Pila. Jigme Namgyal left his ancestral home in Dungkhar at the very early age. It is said that Jigme Namgyal was frequented with the dreams at night to travel towards western part (i.e. Bumthang from Kurtoe) of Bhutan. He believed that the dream was a divine prophecy where his future would be found in the western part of Bhutan. At the very young age of 15 (approximately, in the year 1840), he left his ancestral village to pursue his dreams. He was said to have treaded (travelled) alone through the dangerous passes like Rodungla and Jowo Durshing (Black Mountain Range, Trongsa) with enough supplies and reached at Tang Valley in Bumthang. At Tang, for few months, Jigme Namgyal had to work as shepherd at the household of a village chief of Naru (or, Narut) to add to his supplies and sustain along his journey farther.
After staying at Tang for few months then, Jigme Namgyal moved to Chhumey (Bumthang) and in the meantime, he was said to have had met the person called Buli Lama (Shakya Namgyal?) who was said to have visited frequently in his dream. Jigme Namgyal stayed with the Buli Lama for sometimes where he was prepared to be sent farther to the court of Trongsa Poenlop in Trongsa. It is being said that the lama predicted the young boy (i.e. Jigme Namgyal) to be of great benefit to the country in the future and directed young Jigme to Trongsa with one of his attendant from Bumthang. Reaching Trongsa, Jigme Namgyal was said to have met with Trongsa Droenyer Tshokye Dorji (the Chief Protocol of Trongsa) who later introduced him to the Trongsa Peonlop Ugyen Phuntsho. Jigme Namgyal started to serve at the court of Trongsa Poenlop under various post which will be discussed in the following topics.
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Dungkhar Nagtsang, Kurtoe in Lhuntsi.
Courtesy:wikimedia |
Jigme Namgyal left his village at the age of 15 in the year 1840 following the repeated dream he saw and reach Bumthang where he met the Buli Lama Shakya Namgyal (the person said to have seen in his dream). After few months of his stay in Bumthang, then the Buli Lama arranged his journey farther towards Trongsa and got him introduced to Trongsa Poenlop Ugyen Phuntsho. When he finally reach at his destination, the year would have been around mid of 1841 (or 1842?) Following details will explain about Jigme Namgyal’s services at the court of Trongsa Poenlop in Trongsa Dzong:
Tozep or Tozen (ལྟོ་ཟན།) in 1841 or 1842?
This was the first post Jigme Namgyal held in Trongsa Dzong. It was the lowest of the ranks at the Poenlop’s Court at Trongsa Dzong. It has been said that Jigme Namgyal served along with Tshokye Dorji (who was then Trongsa Droenyer or Chief Protocol) who we will see him as the next Trongsa Poenlop. The post of Tozep/Tozen was equivalent to the job of a retainer (a paid servant). As a Tozep/Tozen, he had had to do the manual jobs such as collecting firewood, carrying water, cooking meals, etc., and received share of rations from the Dzong for the services he provided. Although belonging to an aristocrat family of Dungkhar Choeje (as a descendants of Pema Lingpa), he served the post without any distinction among his equals under the Trongsa Poenlop Ugyen Phuntsho. Later, Ugyen Phuntsho retired from the post of Trongsa Poenlop and the post was taken over by Tshoki Dorji of Ugyen Choeling Choeje, Ura in 1843 (or 1845?) The new Trongsa Poenlop Tshokye Dorji on the throne of Trongsa would be more beneficial to Jigme Namgyal as we will see him rapidly rising of his positions under the new poenlop within a short period of time in Trongsa. Barely three years of his service in Trongsa Dzong, Jigme Namgyal awarded with various positions such as:
Zinggup (གཟིམ་རྒཔོ། or Attendant)
Zimnang (གཟིམ་ནང། or Junior Chamberlain). This post was said to have held jointly with another person in Trongsa.
Darpoen (དར་དཔོན། Chief of Attendants)
***Historians believes that, Jigme Namgyal’s rapid rise to various positions would also have been possible owing to the noble filial background of Dungkhar Choeje.
Around 1846, he was further promoted to an important post of:
Trongsa Tshongpoen (ཀྲོང་གསར་ཚོང་དཔོན། Trade Officer/Merchant of Trongsa) in 1846.
As a Trongsa Tshongpoen, he was responsible for trade activities of Trongsa with Tibetans such as exporting and importing goods between Tibet and Trongsa.
**It has been said that, as Jigme Namgyal frequently use to visit Tibet, he met his future wife Pema Choki (daughter of former Trongsa Poenlop Ugyen Phuntsho) who was during that time living in Tibet with her brother.
Trongsa Zimpoen (ཀྲོང་གསར་གཟིམ་དཔོན། Chamberlain of Trongsa) in 1849.
Jigme Namgyal was soon promoted to the post of Trongsa Zimpoen in 1849. As a Trongsa Zimpoen, the responsibility of the safety and security of the poenlop fell entirely on Jigme Namgyal. It is said that he earned this post for the loyalty and outstanding service to the poenlop (i.e. rescuing the poenlop from the conspiracy).
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