Bhutan was founded and unified as a country by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche in the mid–17th century. After his death in 1651, Bhutan nominally followed his recommended "dual system of government". Under the dual system, government control was split between a civil administrative leader, the Druk Desi (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་སྡེ་སྲིད་; , also called Deb Raja); and a religious leader, the Je Khenpo (Dzongkha: རྗེ་མཁན་པོ་; ).