300 Ngultrums João Cabral

João Cabral was a Portuguese Jesuit priest who, in 1628, became one of the first Europeans to enter Bhutan — arriving not by design but after being turned away from Tibet. He and his companion Estêvão Cacella spent several months at the court of Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the lama-ruler then consolidating Bhutan as a distinct political and religious entity. Cacella died in Bhutan; Cabral eventually reached Tibet on a second attempt.

This coin belongs to Bhutan's series of silver commemoratives issued through the early 1990s honoring explorers with historical connections to the region — a program largely aimed at the collector market rather than circulation.