Bumthang (Jakar) is the cluster of high valleys in central Bhutan.
The History of Bhutan page puts the exiled Indian king Sindhu Raja at the Jakar Gutho palace and the Guru's visit in the eighth to ninth centuries (tradition) and says small monarchies ruled by a deb arose in Bumthang by the early ninth century. These are legends or late traditions. What stands in 1200 is a country of clan headmen, Nyingma lamas and temples such as Jambay Lhakhang.
Trongsa and the forested south (Zhemgang) are thinner still. The Chakhar traditions and the Zhabdrung state are later.
Who holds it
- Title
- Clan headmen of Bumthang
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No clan chief is named by any source we opened; the page names the legendary Indian exile Sindhu Raja (746) and the Guru Rinpoche tradition.
What it holds
- Bumthang and Trongsa valleys (Bumthang, Trongsa)
- The old temples (Old temples of Bhutan)
Allies and rivals
Not recorded.
How things stand that morning
Clan valleys with Nyingma lamas; no chief named.
Wealth
No source we could open gives figures; the usual base is estates and serfs, herds, pass tolls, trade in salt, wool, tea and barley, and the gifts of patrons.
Military
No standing army; the house or lord calls on retainers, tenants and kin. No troop numbers are given by any source we could open.
Customs
Mon traditions and Nyingma Buddhism; the page's 'Chakhar' and deb traditions are not used for 1200.
Assemblies
not described.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Tradition only. Treasury of Lives, the Blue Annals, the Red Annals, Petech, Sorensen and Hazod and Davidson could not be opened in this session (treasuryoflives.org and rigpawiki.org refused the fetch; the archive.org full texts were refused or cut off), so facts marked 'recalled' are from memory of those works and unchecked.
On the map: Modern gewog polygon.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.