brief descriptions of events in history of bhutan are given below

• there are archaeological evidence to prove that bhutan was inhabited by people as early as 2000 bc. however in the absence of any historical records very little is known about this period. before the introduction of buddhism, bonism was the dominant religion.
• tibetan king songtsen gampo introduced buddhism in bhutan in 7^th century. it is believed that he had built buddhist temples (108 in total) throughout himalayan mountains to subdue a demoness. couple of these temples were built in bhutan which are kyichu lhakhang in paro and jambay lhakhang in bumthang.
• 8^th century saw the arrival of guru padmasambhava also known as guru rinpoche. he is widely regarded to as second buddha. it was after his arrival that buddhism flourished in bhutan. he was responsible for introducing mahayana or vajrayana (tantric) form of buddhism. it is believed that guru rinpoche made three visits to bhutan. it was during his second visit that he flew dorji drakpo (a wrathful form of guru rinpoche and one of his eight manifestations)  to taktsang monastery in paro on a flaming tigress back from singye dzong in eastern bhutan, giving the famous taktsang monastery the name ‘tiger’s nest.
• the next major event in the history of bhutan took place in 17^th century with the arrival of ngawang namgyal. he became spiritual leader of bhutan and took the title zhabdrung rinpoche. prior to his arrival, political picture of bhutan was fragmented between many local chiefs. it was under him bhutan became a unified country. he established dual system of government with a civil leader (druk desi) and religious leader (je khenpo) known as choe sid. it was under his regime that there were a lot of construction of dzongs throughout bhutan with the most famous being punakha dzong. he passed away in 1651. post his death there was a long period of civil strife and infighting amongst various penlops (districts).
• these civil strifes continued until the trongsa penlop ugyen wangchuck was able to gain control and with the support of the people establish himself as bhutan’s first hereditary king in 1907. his majesty ugyen wangchuck became the first druk gyalpo (dragon king) and set up the wangchuck dynasty that still rules today.
• king jigme singye wangchuck, the fourth king, abdicated december 14, 2006 on behalf of his son, jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck, to “allow him to prepare for the role of king” and lead the country towards constitutional transformation. on 18 july 2008 the new constitution was passed, and november 6, 2008 jigme khesar namgyel wangchuck, was officially enthroned as the fifth druk gyalpo, at tashichhoe dzong of thimpu, the day of the celebrations of 100 years of monarchy in bhutan.