Civil
war ensued when the "first reincarnation"
of Ngawang Namgyal, Jigme Dakpa, was recognized as the
shabdrung in 1728.
A rival claimant, however, was promoted by opposition
forces supported by Tibet.
The Tibetan-backed
forces were defeated by Jigme Dakpa's supporters, but
the political
system remained unstable. Regional rivalries contributed
to the gradual disintegration of Bhutan at the time,
the first British agents arrived.
In
the early eighteenth century, Bhutan had successfully
developed control over the principality of Cooch
Behar. The raja of Cooch
Behar had sought assistance from Bhutan against
the Indian
Mughals
in 1730,
and Bhutanese political influence was not long in following.
By the mid-1760s,
Thimphu
considered Cooch
Behar its dependency, stationing a garrison force
there and directing its civil administration. When the
druk desi invaded Sikkim
in 1770,
Cooch
Behari forces joined their Bhutanese counterparts
in the offensive.
In
a succession dispute in Cooch
Behar two years later, however, the druk desi's
nominee for the throne was opposed by a rival who invited
British troops, and, in effect, Cooch
Behar became a dependency of the British East India
Company.
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