5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang | |
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Title | His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama |
Personal life | |
Born | 1617 |
Died | 1682 (aged 64–65) |
Parents |
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Religious life | |
Religion | Tibetan Buddhism |
Senior posting | |
Period in office | 1642–1682 |
Predecessor | 4th Dalai Lama, Yonten Gyatso |
Successor | 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso |
The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (Tibetan: ངག་དབང་བློ་བཟང་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: Ngag-dbang blo-bzang rgya-mtsho; Tibetan pronunciation: [ŋɑ̀wɑ̀ŋ lɔ́psɑ̀ŋ cɑ̀t͡só]; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being the key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. He is credited with unifying all of Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang, after Gushri Khan's successful military interventions. As an independent head of state, he established priest and patron relations with both Mongolia and the Qing dynasty simultaneously,[1] and had positive relations with other neighboring countries. He began the custom of meeting early European explorers. The 5th Dalai Lama built the Potala Palace, and also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects.