History

Dzongpon Kunzang Thinley (1860-1920) has often been mistaken for the First Druk Gyalpo Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck.

As cousin, father in law and ally, he was the King’s trusted man and served as the Thimphu Dzongpon. Popularly known as Apay Agey, his father Trongsa Penlop Dungkar Gyeltshen was the brother of Desi Jigme Namgyal, father of the first king.

In 1974, in a short and simple but traditional ceremony, the Ngulturm was formally launched in Thimphu as the legal tender of the country. Five years later, in 1979, the national currency was declared as the only legal tender money in Bhutan. 

Gongzim Ugyen Dorji, a diplomat with powerful negotiations skill was someone who never saw violence as an option rather chose to mediate.

He was a simple man born to Kazi Shaba Punchung and Tsherim a farmer’s daughter from Tsento in upper Paro in 1855.