Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuck (Dzongkha: ཨོ་རྒྱན་དབང་ཕྱུག, Wylie: o rgyan dbang phyug; 11 June 1862 – 26 August 1926) was the founder and first king of Bhutan, reigning from 17 December 1907 until his death in 1926. In his lifetime, he made efforts to unite the fledgling country.
Life
Embattled boyhood and rise to power
Ugyen Wangchuck was born in Wangdicholing Palace, Jakar, Bumthang in 1862. His father, Jigme Namgyal, was the Druk Desi of Bhutan at the time and he was apprenticed at the court of his father in the art of leadership and warfare at a very young age. Because he grew up in an embattled period, Ugyen Wangchuck was trained as a skilled combatant. In 1876, when he was 14, Ugyen joined his father in fighting the rebellious Penlop of Paro, Tshewnag Norbu. In early 1877 his father left Ugyen in Paro to deal with a rebellion in Punakha. Ugyen was kidnapped by one of his father's enemies, Damchö Rinchen. When Jigme Namgyal threatened to kill twelve members of Rinchen's sister's family, Rinchen released Ugyen. Soon afterwards, in 1878, Jigme Namgyal appointed Ugyen as the Penlop of Paro at the age of 16. Soon after, in 1881, Jigme died, and Ugyen took on many of his father's responsibilities. He tried to reconcile with the enemies of his father, offering gifts to monasteries that disliked Jigme Namgyal, and showing kindness and forbearance to those that had personally wronged his father.
Afterwards, Ugyen began work to consolidate power and put those he trusted into key positions of government. In 1882, after a period of strife and civil war, Ugyen assumed the position as the Penlop of Trongsa, a post his father had held. Ugyen continued to further suppress dissent. Two of Ugyen's trusted allies, Alu Dorji and Phuntsho Dorji, rebelled against him and attempted to instate a monk of their choosing as the 55th Druk Desi. This culminated in the battle of Changlimethang in 1886, the last armed civil conflict in Bhutanese history. Ugyen, now 24, held a decisive victory, eliminated all internal strife, making him the de facto ruler of Bhutan.
