Highness, due to the country's contributions to the Allied cause in the First World War. In 1923, the British government ended its protectorate and recognised Nepal as a wholly sovereign monarchy. While the semi-sovereign Rana oligarchy held power as hereditary Shree Teen Maharajas of Nepal until its deposition in 1951, the Nepalese monarchy continued until its abolition in 2008. De jure sovereign, but de facto British protected state; retained status in relation to India (Bhutan) A brief war between Bhutan and the British Raj in 1864 resulted in the Treaty of Sinchula, which forced Bhutan to relinquish territory and defined its relationship with the British. A loose agglomeration of semi-independent districts until 1907, Bhutan was unified in that year as a hereditary monarchy represented by Ugyen Wangchuck, the penlop (or governor) of the district of Tongsa, who was proclaimed the Maharaja and Druk Gyalpo (Dragon King) of Bhutan. In 1910, Bhutan signed the Treaty of Punakha, under which the British Raj guaranteed Bhutan's internal sovereignty, but, as with Sikkim, maintained control over its foreign relations. A British residency was officially installed in Bhutan, with a resident deputed from the Indian Political Service and answerable to the British government in India. The treaty, which established Bhutanese sovereignty, albeit as a protected state, remained in force until Indian independence in 1947; at this time, Bhutan was offered the options of remaining independent or acceding to the new Indian Union. Choosing to maintain its independence, Bhutan formally established relations with India in 1949, signing the India-Bhutan Treaty of Friendship on 8 August 1949; while reaffirming Bhutanese sovereignty, the new treaty gave India control over Bhutan's foreign policy. In 1963, however, Bhutan promulgated a new constitution which replaced the title of His Highness the Maharaja with His Majesty the Druk Gyalpo, formally promoting the country to the status of an independent, sovereign monarchy. In 1971, Bhutan joined the United Nations as a full member, and renegotiated the 1949 treaty with India in 2007, legally ending Bhutan's status as a protected state of India. British protectorate; subsequently an Indian protectorate and state (Sikkim) Though officially considered a princely state under its ruler, the Maharaja Chogyal, Sikkim was given the separate status of a British protectorate in 1861 under the Treaty of Tumlong, by which the British government could intervene in the state's internal affairs and oversee all external matters; despite this, Sikkim maintained a high