Yonten Gyatso, 4th Dalai Lama

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Yonten Gyatso, 4th Dalai Lama
1589 -1616
Name
His Holiness Yonten Gyatso,
the 4th Dalai Lama
Birth Tibet
School/tradition Gelug

Yonten Gyatso (1589 – 1616) was the 4th Dalai Lama. As the great-grandson of Altan Khan of the Tümed Mongols, Yonten Gyatso was a Mongolian, making him the only non-Tibetan to be recognized as Dalai Lama other than the 6th Dalai Lama, who was a Monpa—Monpas can be seen either as a Tibetan subgroup or a closely related people.

"He was recognized by a delegation from his Drêpung monastery and the princes of Ü, which had gone to Kweisui (Köke Qoto, Inner Mongolia) to meet him 1601."[1]

Yonten Gyatso was controversial because he was appointed by the Mongolians in an apparent attempt to exercise control over Tibet. The Gelugpa-monasteries had decided nevertheless to recognize him. In 1601 he and his many Mongolian advisers were installed in the Drepung Monastery, where he was a student of the Fourth Panchen Lama Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen.

Many Tibetans did not recognize him and tried to retake power, supported by the Kagyupa order. This resulted in a civil war and Yonten Gyatso was forced to leave Lhasa. He died under suspicious circumstances at the age of 28.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Stein, R. A. (1972). Tibetan Civilization, p. 82. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0806-1 (cloth); ISBN 0-8047-0901-7 (paper).
Buddhist titles
Preceded by
Sonam Gyatso		 Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama Succeeded by
Lozang Gyatso
v • d • e
Dalai Lamas
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