Publisher's Synopsis
Squashed by the humid plains, the impenetrable jungles of Bengal and the jagged icy peaks of Bhutan is a narrow strip of land adjacent to the steeply rising foothills. This region, a malariainfested jungle and swampy zone, is known as the Duars or Duoars. Today the production of tea has become the main economic mainstay of this region.But how did this now productive land become part of India?Bhutan is still an isolated domain, its ruler mindful of the impact that sudden change can bring. This fear of that beyond its borders is today a reflection of its history.David Field Rennie was a medical officer who had direct experience of the brief hostilities between colonial India and Bhutan in the late eighteen hundreds. His lively accounts bring the history of this period to life.PrefaceIf you drive along the foothills of Bhutan east from Siliguri towards Assam it will be apparent that there is an obvious tranqullity. You pass mile after mile of tea gardens, cross tracts of thick jungles and pass quiet country villages.Looking northwards you will see an abrupt wall of hills reaching upwards to the skies in terrifyingly steep reises. Beyond lies a hidden kingdom of mysterious monasteries, forts, devoted monks and amazing mountain scenery with quaint chalet-style houses. This place, apparently a 'Shangri La' of peace, was not always so quiet. For a few turbulent years a silent war progressed. Imperialist expansion, cloaked as security and trade issues, was pitched against brigandry and an isolationist tendency that bordered on mania.The Duoar wars were brief and eventually resolved, but at the time the intrigues, fears and dogmatic attitudes combined to be a great threat to peace in the region. Raids by rough elements and some warlords in the east of Bhutan initiated a series of military expeditions into Bhutan b
