Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The concept of reincarnation was first introduced by the Karmapa and adopted in the 15th
century by the Gelugpa order and the Dalai Lamas.
Manchus, Mongols & Murder
With the death of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1682, the weakness of reincarnation as a system
of succession became apparent. The Tibetan government was confronted with the prospect
of finding his reincarnation and then waiting 18 years until the boy came of age. The great
personal prestige and authority of the fifth Dalai Lama had played no small part in holding
together a newly unified Tibet. The Dalai Lama's regent decided to shroud the Dalai
Lama's death in secrecy, announcing that the fifth lama had entered a long period of med-
itation (over 10 years!).
In 1695 the secret was leaked and the regent was forced to hastily enthrone the sixth
Dalai Lama, a boy of his own choosing. The choice was an unfortunate one and could not
have come at a worse time.
Tibet's dealings with the new Qing government went awry from the start. Kangxi, the
second Qing emperor, took offence when the death of the fifth Dalai Lama was concealed
from him. At the same time, an ambitious Mongol prince named Lhabzang Khan came to
the conclusion that earlier Mongol leaders had taken too much of a back-seat position in
their relations with the Tibetans and appealed to Emperor Kangxi for support. It was gran-
ted and, in 1705, Mongol forces descended on Lhasa, deposing the sixth Dalai Lama.
Depending on your source, he either died at Lithang (where he was probably murdered), or
he lived to a ripe old age in Amdo. The seventh Dalai Lama was subsequently found in
Lithang, fulfilling a famous poem written by the sixth.
In 1717 the Dzungar Mongols from Central Asia attacked and occupied Lhasa for three
years, killing Lhabzang Khan and deposing the seventh Dalai Lama. The resulting confu-
sion in Tibet was the opportunity for which Emperor Kangxi had been waiting. He respon-
ded by sending a military expedition to Lhasa. The Chinese troops drove out the Dzungar
Mongols and were received by the Tibetans as liberators. They were unlikely to have been
received any other way: with them, they brought the seventh Dalai Lama, who had been
languishing in Kumbum Monastery under Chinese 'protection'.
Emperor Kangxi wasted no time in declaring Tibet a protectorate of China. Two
Chinese representatives, known as
ambans
(a Manchurian word), were installed at Lhasa,
