Jigme Palden Dorji

"Jigme Dorji" redirects here. For the Bhutanese footballer, see Jigme Dorji (footballer).
Dasho
Jigme Palden Dorji
1st Prime Minister of Bhutan
In office
1952 – 6 April 1964
MonarchJigme Dorji Wangchuck
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byLhendup Dorji
Personal details
Born(1919-12-14)14 December 1919
Bhutan House, Kalimpong, India
Died6 April 1964(1964-04-06) (aged 44)
Phuntsoling Guesthouse, Bhutan
Manner of death Assassination by gunshot
Political partyIndependent
SpouseAshi Tsering Yangzom
Children4 (including Paljor Dorji, Kalden Dorji, Tobgye Dorji)
Parent(s)Sonam Topgay Dorji
Chuni Wangmo

Dasho Jigme Palden Dorji[citation needed] (14 December 1919[1] – 6 April 1964)[2] was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck.[3]

The brother-in-law of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Dorji was close to his kinsman and accompanied the future king when he lived in the United Kingdom in 1950.[4] He was educated at North Point in Darjeeling and the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla.[5]

In 1928, at the age of nine, Jigme Palden Dorji was appointed the Trungpa (Administrator) of Haa Dzongkhag and in 1953, he succeeded his father Raja Tobgay, after his death, as Bhutan Agent to Kalimpong.[6] He became the first man to hold the title Prime Minister of Bhutan (Lyonchen).[citation needed] This followed the upgrading of the old position in 1958 as part of a wider series of reforms by Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.[7] As brother-in-law of the Dragon King of Bhutan Dorji helped to drive the king's modernisation policies. However his reforms antagonised both the military and the religious institutions leading to a corporal in the army assassinating him in April 1964. Brigadier Bahadur Namgyal, head of the Royal Bhutan Army, was amongst those executed for the murder plot.[7]

  1. ^ Bhutan, 100 Years of Wangchuck Vision. Written by Shubhi Sood
  2. ^ Lindsay Brown, Bradley Mayhew, Stan Armington, Richard Whitecross, Bhutan, 2007, p. 40
  3. ^ BHUTAN (Kingdom) Archived 2009-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Grooming of the Father of Modern Bhutan". Archived from the original on 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  5. ^ Wangchuk, Dorje (2016). "Foundations of Bhutan History - A Concise Guide".
  6. ^ Rustomji, Nari (1978). Dragon Kingdom In Crisis. Oxford University Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-19-561062-8.
  7. ^ a b Modernization under Jigme Dorji, 1952-72