Kurmaed Province

Kurmaed Province (Dzongkha: ཀུར་སྨད་; Wylie: kur-smad; "Lower Kur") was one of the nine historical Provinces of Bhutan.

Kurmaed Province occupied lands in southeastern Bhutan. It was administered jointly with Kurtoed Province. By the 19th century, the ruling governor had become subordinate to the Penlop of Trongsa, who wielded effective power throughout eastern Bhutan.

Under Bhutan's early theocratic dual system of government, decreasingly effective central government control resulted in the de facto disintegration of the office of Zhabdrung after the death of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1651. Under this system, the Zhabdrung reigned over the temporal Druk Desi and religious Je Khenpo. Two successor Zhabdrungs – the son (1651) and stepbrother (1680) of Ngawang Namgyal – were effectively controlled by the Druk Desi and Je Khenpo until power was further splintered through the innovation of multiple Zhabdrung incarnations, reflecting speech, mind, and body. Increasingly secular regional lords (penlops and dzongpons) competed for power amid a backdrop of civil war over the Zhabdrung and invasions from Tibet, and the Mongol Empire. The penlops of Trongsa and Paro, and the dzongpons of Punakha, Thimphu, and Wangdue Phodrang were particularly notable figures in the competition for regional dominance. During this period, there were a total of nine provinces and eight penlops vying for power.

...
Wikipedia