Lozang Gyatso, 5th Dalai Lama
Lozang Gyatso (Wylie transliteration: Blo-bzang Rgya-mtsho), the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, (1617-1682),
The fifth Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso was a political and religious leader in seventeenth century Tibet. He was the first Dalai Lama to yield effective political power over central Tibet. He initiated the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
The 5th Dalai Lama is known for unifying Tibet under the control of the Gelugpa (Dge-lugs) school of Tibetan Buddhism, after defeating the rival Kagyupa (Bka'-brgyud) sect and the secular ruler, the prince of Shang, during a prolonged civil war.
He accomplished this by requesting the aid of Gushi Khan, a powerful Mongol military leader. The Dalai Lama also established warm relations with Shunzhi, the second emperor of the Qing Dynasty, during a state visit to Beijing in 1652. The emperor gave him the honorific title Dalai Lama, Overseer of the Buddhist Faith on Earth Under the Great Benevolent Self-subsisting Buddha of the Western Paradise. From this meeting onwards, the Dalai Lamas were considered priests to the throne by successive Qing emperors.
The death of the fifth Dalai Lama was kept hidden for 15 years, by his assistant, confidant, and possibly son De-srid Sangs-rgyas Rgya-'mtsho in order that the Potala Palace could be finished, and in order that Tibet's neighbors not take advantage of interagnum in the reign of the Dalai Lama's.
| Preceded by: Yonten Gyatso | Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama | Succeeded by: Tsangyang Gyatso |