Altan Khan - Alliance With The Gelug

Alliance With The Gelug

Altan Khan is particularly remembered for re-establishing ties between Mongolia and the religious leaders of the Tibetan Gelug order. Altan Khan first invited Sonam Gyatso to Tumet in 1569, but apparently he refused to go and sent a disciple instead, who reported back to him about the great opportunity to spread Buddhist teachings throughout Mongolia. In 1571, Altan Khan got the title Shunyi Wang ("Obedient and Righteous King") from Longqing Emperor (March 4, 1537- July 5, 1572), the 12th emperor of China (Ming dynasty). In 1573, Altan Khan took some Tibetan Buddhist monks prisoner.

Sonam Gyatso accepted Altan Khan's invitation to Tumet in 1577. Altan Khan later had Thegchen Chonkhor, Mongolia's first monastery, built at the place of the meeting. Also, the ruler of the Khalkha Mongols, Abtai Sain Khan, rushed to Tumet to meet the Dalai Lama. The Erdene Zuu monastery (Mongolian: Эрдэнэ Зуу) was built by him in 1586, at the site of the former Mongol capital of Karakorum following his adoption of Buddhism as the state religion. This monastery is also often (wrongly) referred to as the first monastery in Mongolia and it grew into a massive establishment. In 1792, it contained 62 temples and some 10,000 lamas.

Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.

Altan Khan designated Sonam Gyatso as "Dalai" (a translation into Mongolian of the name Gyatso, meaning "ocean"). As a result, Sonam Gyatso became known as the Dalai Lama which, since then, has been used as a title - frequently translated into English as "Ocean of Wisdom". The title was also posthumously given to Gendun Drup and Gendun Gyatso, who were considered Sonam Gyatso's previous incarnations. Thus, Sonam Gyatso was recognized as being already the 3rd Dalai Lama.

Sonam Gyatso never returned to Tibet but remained proselytizing among the Mongols. The Tumed Mongols and their allies were brought into the Gelug tradition, which was to become the main spiritual orientation of the Mongols in the ensuing centuries.

Sonam Gyatso's message was that the time had come for Mongolia to embrace Buddhism, that from that time on there should be no more animal sacrifices, the images of the old gods were to be destroyed, there must be no taking of life, animal or human, military action must be given up and the immolation of women on the funeral pyres of their husbands must be abolished. He also secured an edict abolishing the Mongol custom of blood-sacrifices. "These and many other such laws were set forth by Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso and were instituted by Altan Khan."

A massive program of translating Tibetan (and Sanskrit) texts into Mongolian was commenced, with letters written in silver and gold and paid for by the Dalai Lama's Mongolian devotees. Within 50 years virtually all Mongols had become Buddhist, with tens of thousands of monks, who were members of the Gelug order, loyal to the Dalai Lama.

When Sonam Gyatso died in 1588, his incarnation - and thus, the new Dalai Lama - was "found" to be Altan Khan's great-grandson.