Güshi Khan

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Gushi Khan, founder of the Khoshut Khanate
Gushi Khan, founder of the Khoshut Khanate

Güshi (or Gushri) Khan (1582-1655), a Khoshut-Oirat prince and leader of the Khoshut Mongol tribe, who had supplanted the Tumed[1] descendants of Altan Khan. His military assistance to the Gelug school enabled the 5th Dalai Lama to establish political control over Tibet. Güshi Khan's original name was Torbaikh Khan.

In 1637, Güshi Khan defeated a rival Mongolian prince Tsogt Khun Taij, a Kagyu follower, near Kokonor.

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[edit] Conquest of Tibet and installation of the 5th Dalai Lama

Further information: Tibet during the Ming Dynasty#Mongol-Tibetan alliance

Sonam Rapten, the Regent during the youth of Lozang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama, sought the help of Gushri Khan to end persecution of the Gelugpa school, and unify Tibet. It took three years for Gushri Khan to install Lozang Gyatso as the head of a unified Tibet.

The campaign was prepared in 1639. In the winter of 1640, Gushri conquered Kham with western Mongol cavalry from the Qoshot tribe assisted by Tibetans, overcoming resistance from Khalkha and Chahar Mongol tribes, allies of the king of Tsang and other anti-Gelug forces. The eastern Mongols were defeated in Tibet at the same time as they were being destroyed in Mongolia by invading Manchus.[2]

His invasion of Tibet resulted in overthrowing the prince of Tsang in 1642, displacing the rival dominant school of the Karmapas, and the Fifth Dalai Lama was then seated on the throne of the deposed king. 5th Dalai Lama then gave Gushri Khan the title of King of Tibet.[3]

[edit] Death and succession

Gushri Khan died in 1655 leaving ten sons. Eight of them, with their tribes, settled in the strategically important Koko Nur region in Amdo and quarreled constantly over territory. The 5th Dalai Lama sent several governors in 1656 and 1659. The Mongols were gradually Tibeanised and played an important role in extending the Gelug school's influence in Amdo.[4]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition (1977), Vol. 18, p. 380h.
  2. ^ Laird, Thomas. (2006). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, pp. 158-161. Grove Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.
  3. ^ Laird, Thomas. (2006). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, pp. 158-161. Grove Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.
  4. ^ Karmay, Samten C. (2005). "The Great Fifth", p. 2. Downloaded as a pdf file on 16th December, 2007 from: [1]

[edit] External links