Tibetans mark 360 years of Gaden Phodrang
7 June, 2002
A Brief Biography of the Fifth Dalai Lama
The Tibetan people refer to the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) as the Great
Fifth. The measure of his greatness lies in the fact that through sheer
brilliance in diplomacy he was able to re-unify the whole of Tibet as a
nation and to rule it as its undisputed sovereign. The Great Fifth Dalai
Lama established the Gaden Phodrang Government of Tibet, a unique form of
governance based on the principles of chosi-sungdril or the harmonious
blend of religion and politics.
Tibet under the leadership of the Fifth Dalai Lama pursued a vigorous
foreign policy and welcomed foreign travellers. The cho-yon or
teacher-disciple relationship that governed Tibet’s most important external
relations received new life during his reign. In return for the spiritual
guidance of the Dalai Lama, the disciple offered his military service. The
cho-yon system regulated Tibet’s relations with China till 1911 when the
Manchu dynasty was overthrown by nationalist Chinese forces. In other areas
of Tibet’s foreign relations, the Fifth Dalai Lama deputed a permanent
representative in Mongolia and deepened his contacts with the various Mongol
tribes that were operating in Central Asia. The rulers of Ladakh, Shah
Shuja, the Muslim ruler of Bengal, and Malla kings of Patan, Kathmandu and
Bhatgaon of Nepal sent envoys to the Fifth Dalai Lama’s court in Lhasa. The
kings of Mustang and Jumla between whom the whole of western part of modern
Nepal was divided visited Lhasa in person. So did the new Choegyal of
Sikkim. The Fifth Dalai Lama allowed the Tibetan-speaking community of
Newars of Nepal to operate commercial enterprises in Tibet. He permitted the
trading community of Ladakhi Muslims to open a mosque in Lhasa. The
Portuguese Jesuit, father Antonio de Andrada, accompanied by Manuel Marques,
established a Christian mission in western Tibet in the first quarter of the
17th century. The German Jesuit, John Grueber and his Belgian companion,
Albert d’Orville, entered Lhasa on 8 October 1661 and lived in the city
during the height of the Fifth Dalai Lama’s reign. Many Sanskrit scholars
from Varanasi and Kurukshresta visited Lhasa and stayed there for a long
time, teaching Sanskrit to Tibetan scholars.
The Fifth Dalai Lama’s ascendancy in Tibet’s political firmament coincided
with political turbulence within Tibet and beyond. Within, lacking a central
authority, Tibet was torn by the feud between U and Tsang, whose power
centres were based respectively in Lhasa and Shigatse.
Beyond Tibet, the seventeenth century saw enormous changes brewing
throughout Asia. The remnants of Genghis Khan’s empire, the marauding hordes
of Mongol cavalrymen, were roaming the steppes and were still a menace to
China and a force in Tibetan politics. In China a new power, the Manchus,
had emerged that was to later exert a damaging influence in Tibet. Tsarist
Russia had started her great expansion eastwards that would later pit her
against the British empire in the Great Game, a contest for influence in the
high reaches of Asia. In the south, the East India Company was getting a
foothold in the Indian subcontinent. The company would later dominate the
whole of India, making it the brightest jewel in the British imperial crown.
The Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, was born in Chongye, south of
Lhasa and the reputed cradle of Tibetan civilisation. When Sonam Choephel,
the chief attendant of the Fourth Dalai Lama, heard of the exceptional
abilities of the Chongye boy, he paid a visit and showed him articles
belonging to the previous Dalai Lama. The child claimed these as his own.
Sonam Choephel kept the discovery a secret because of the turbulent
political situation. When things settled down he was taken to Drepung
monastery in Lhasa where he was ordained into monkhood by the Panchen Lama.
In 1642 Gushri Khan had subdued the whole of Tibet and offered it to the
Fifth Dalai Lama. That year he was led in state to Shigatse and was
enthroned as both the spiritual and political leader of Tibet. His domain
extended from the borders of Ladakh in the west to Darstedo, Tibet’s
traditional border with China, in the east, an area that roughly
corresponded to Tibet of the imperial age. A month later the Fifth Dalai
Lama returned to Lhasa and to his monastery of Drepung. "There,"according
to Shakabpa’s Tibet: A Political History, "he made a proclamation declaring
that Lhasa would be the capital of Tibet and the government of would be
known as Gaden Phodrang, which was the name of his palace at Drepung. He
promulgated laws of public conduct, appointed governors to different
districts and chose ministers to form a new government."
Later the Fifth Dalai Lama conducted a census of Tibet to develop a more
accurate system of taxation.
In 1659, the Dalai Lama dispatched his representatives to Mongolia to ask
the various Mongol tribal chieftains to remain united instead of constantly
feuding with each other. The Manchu emperor, K’angsi, approached the Dalai
Lama to obtain the assistance of Mongol and Tibetan troops to quell a
rebellion he faced. However, the Dalai Lama refused to accede to the emperor
’s request, citing the hot climate in China as being unsuitable for the
fighting capabilities of the Mongol and Tibetan troops. Around the same time
the Dalai Lama received envoys from the dissident minister to seek his help
against the Manchu emperor. The Dalai Lama gave the same response but
simultaneously he sent representatives to Mongolia to ensure Mongol unity in
the event of civil strife breaking out in China.
Earlier, the Fifth Dalai Lama at the repeated requests of emperor Shun-chih,
the father of K’angsi, visited Peking. He was treated with respect and
equality by the Manchu emperor. Whatever later Chinese official historians
chose to read into this visit, the meeting was clearly one between equals.
Flinging protocol of his new position aside, the emperor was prepared to go
to the border of his domain to receive the Tibetan potentate. This is
because the Manchu emperor had deep respect and devotion to the Dalai Lama
and considered him a great religious teacher. To establish himself as a
genuine student he was prepared to waive aside protocol to receive the Dalai
Lama at the border of his vast dominion.
In 1645 the Dalai Lama laid the foundation for the construction of the
Potala Palace on the ruins of a palace built by Emperor Songtsen Gampo in
the seventh century. The Potala Palace, the apogee of a new spirit in
Tibetan architecture, came to symbolise and dominate Lhasa and Tibet.
Centuries later when the British invaded Tibet in 1904, regimental
Sergeant-Major Percy Coath wrote in his diary: "For sheer bulk and
magnificent audacity, Lamaism could not do more in architecture that it has
done in this huge palace-temple of the Grand Lama."
The Fifth Dalai Lama ushered Tibet into a golden age. He gave Tibet peace,
prosperity and greatly consolidated the institution of the Dalai Lama. Above
all, during his reign Tibet was looked upon as the centre of Buddhist
learning. The brightest and best minds of the whole of the Himalayan region,
from Ladakh in the west to present-day Arunachal Pradesh in the east, of
Mongolia and the pockets of Tibetan Buddhism in Russia travelled great
distances to study at the major monasteries in Tibet.
Because of the immense learning of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his contribution
to the development of Tibet, the Tibetan people attribute to him, his
predecessors and successors, the wisdom of the Buddha, the glories of the
ancient Tibetan emperors and the compassion of Avalokitesvara the
Protector of the Land of Snows.
Kalon Thubten Lungrik
Kalon for the Departments of Religion and Culture and Education
Chairman of the Organising Committee of the 360th Anniversary
5 June 2002
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