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The Fifth Dalai Lama (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso)

The Fifth Dalai Lama (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso)

1617 CE–1682 CE · Modern · Chongye (Chingwar Taktse)

1617–1682 CE

The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682 CE), known as 'the Great Fifth,' unified Tibet under the authority of the Dalai Lama institution and ruled as both its spiritual and temporal head. With the military support of the Khoshut Mongol leader Gushri Khan, he established in 1642 a Lhasa-centered government over a unified Tibet, began construction of the Potala Palace, and traveled to the Qing court in 1652–53. A learned author across Gelug and Nyingma traditions as well as a statesman, he is one of the most consequential and best-documented figures in Tibetan history. His dates and career are securely attested.

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Did you know?

  • The ruler who began the Potala Palace

    The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682), known as "the Great Fifth," became the political ruler of a unified Tibet in 1642 and began construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa around 1645; the Ganden Phodrang government he established endured until 1959 — some 317 years.

    How we know

    Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso b.1617 d.1682; unified Tibet under Ganden Phodrang 1642 (with Gushri Khan); Potala Palace White Palace begun 1645; Ganden Phodrang government ended 1959. 1959−1642 = 317 years.

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Chongye (Chingwar Taktse)

What they did here

DOCUMENTED ORIGIN: born in the Chongye valley south of Lhasa and recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama.

About Chongye (Chingwar Taktse)

Chongye (Chonggye), in the Yarlung area of south-central Tibet, is the old heartland of the Tibetan kings, with their royal tombs nearby. The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, was born in 1617 at Chingwar Taktse castle in the Chongye valley.

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The world in their lifetime

Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with The Fifth Dalai Lama (Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso)’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

Works

No works attributed in the corpus yet.