List of rulers of Bhutan
| King of Bhutan | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Incumbent | |
.jpg) |
|
| Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck | |
| 5th Dragon King | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| Heir presumptive | Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck |
| First monarch | Ugyen Wangchuck |
| Formation | 21 December 1907 |
Bhutan was founded and unified as a country by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche in the mid–17th century. After his death in 1651, Bhutan nominally followed his recommended "dual system of government". Under the dual system, government control was split between a civil administrative leader, the Druk Desi (འབྲུག་སྡེ་སྲིད་, aka Deb Raja); and a religious leader, the Je Khenpo (རྗེ་མཁན་པོ་).
Both the Druk Desi and Je Khenpo were under the nominal authority of the Zhabdrung Rinpoche, a reincarnation of Ngawang Namgyal. In practice however, the Zhabdrung was often a child under the control of the Druk Desi, and regional penlops often administered their districts in defiance of the power of the Druk Desis until the rise of the unified House of Wangchuck in 1907.
Since the rise of the unified House of Wangchuk in 1907, the Druk Gyalpo (འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་; lit. "Dragon King") have been the head of state of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
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