The Treasury of Lives

In 1618, the ruler of Tsang, a supporter of the Kagyu tradition, forced the ruler of U into submission. The Fifth Dalai Lama and his political supporters in Lhasa formed an alliance with the Khoshot Mongol leader Gushri Khan. In 1642 Gushri Khan defeated the Tsang regime and offered the thirteen myriarchies of Tibet to the Fifth Dalai Lama, thus beginning the consolidation of political power of the Ganden Podrang government in Lhasa under the Dalai Lamas. Beneficiaries of the King of Tsang such as the Tenth Karmapa were forced into exile, and the Jonang tradition was suppressed. Gushri Khan’s line continued to claim kingship over Tibet until the fall of his descendant Lhazang Khan six decades later. Elsewhere, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel founded an ecclesiastical state in Bhutan and Puntsok Namgyel, the first Tibetan king, was enthroned in Sikkim. The Fifth Dalai Lama sponsored the construction of three major Nyingma monasteries: Zhechen (1695), Dzogchen (1685), and Mindroling (1676). Two other Nyingma monasteries were also built: Dorje Drak in 1632 and Pelyul in 1665.

Biographies

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