Kelsang Gyatsho (Dalai Lama)

Tibetan name
Tibetan script : བསྐལ་ བཟང་ རྒྱ་ མཚོ
Wylie transliteration : bskal bzang rgya mtsho
Other spellings: Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatsho ( Tibetan བསྐལ་ བཟང་ རྒྱ་ མཚོ Wylie bskal bzang rgya mtsho , born 1708 , Litang , died 1757 ) was the seventh Dalai Lama .

Political activity

education

Kelsang Gyatsho came from an aristocratic family in Litang ( Kham Province ). His parents Sönam Dargye and Phüntshog Wangmo were relatives of the parents of the sixth Penchen Lama .

Highly qualified masters were responsible for his education and no worldly activities prevented him from studying. Kelsang Gyatsho took his monastic vows from Penchen Lobsang Yeshe , from whom he was also intensively instructed in the religious scriptures.

Enthronement

In October 1720, Kelsang Gyatsho was enthroned in the Potala Palace after a military intervention by the Manchu or China with the support of the Tibetans . Four Tibetan ministers chaired by Prime Minister Sönam Gyelpo (who was already a minister under Lhabsang Khan ) took over the civilian government. These four ministers were given Chinese titles to equate them with the ministers in Beijing. Chinese troops stationed between Chengdu and Lhasa and in Lhasa itself and were subordinate to a military governor in Lhasa served as military security . These troops were paid by the Tibetans, which caused dissatisfaction. The whole construct was never legitimized by a contract or an exchange of letters between Emperor Kangxi and the Dalai Lama or his government. It was apparently viewed as a temporary measure, as Kangxi's successor withdrew his troops in 1723.

Civil War and Phola Tedji

In August 1727, however, there was a new coup in Tibet: Prime Minister Sönam Gyelpo was murdered and the second minister, Sönam Tobgyel, occupied Lhasa with his troops . The reason for the act of violence was tensions within the Tibetan government, which revolved around personal claims to power by its members and planned austerity measures. Sonam Dargye, the birth father of the Dalai Lama, is said to have played a certain role in these intrigues. Sönam Tobgyel asked China to send a new army to restore order and carry out reforms, which also took place in 1728, when the civil war had already been decided. This time the winner was appointed regent as (Chinese) Phola Tedji or (Tibetan) Gyelpo Miwang. He was given two permanent representatives of China - titled " Amban " - who had to approve his orders.

Now Beijing interfered in the civil and military administration of Tibet. The Penchen Lama Lobsang Yeshe was offered greater powers, the administration was reorganized by instructions from Beijing, the borders in eastern Tibet were moved and Lhasa was permanently occupied by Chinese troops. The Dalai Lama was supposed to go on a trip to Beijing but was instead exiled to Kahdag for six years . In the course of time Phola Tedji acted more and more independently and for some time represented a kind of king (honorary title from the emperor in 1740), who turned the protectorate of Manchu-China into a formality. Since Phola Tedji belonged neither to a large noble family nor to the clergy, he had to use all his skill to avoid getting into trouble. When the Dalai Lama returned from exile, he took care of religious matters, maintained close personal relationships with the aged Penchen Lama Lobsang Yeshe († 1737) and left the government with Phola Tedji.

Renewal of religious rule

After the death of the regent / king Phola Tedji or (Tibetan) Gyelpo Miwang in 1747, the Chinese emperor appointed his son Gyurme Namgyel as his successor. After a while, however, Gyurme Namgyel tried to get rid of the supremacy of China. He asked Emperor Qianlong (r. 1735–96) to withdraw his troops and the two " Ambane " and - when Qianlong only reduced his troops - concluded an alliance with the jungle . Gyurme Namgyel was so brutal, arrogant and clumsy in his actions that the Ambane murdered him in November 1750, assuming that the Tibetans would behave calmly. It was a mistake, they were forced to commit suicide in a popular uprising. The Dalai Lama and the ministers tried to appease the popular uprising but were unsuccessful.

The Dalai Lama himself took over the government and tried to forestall a new intervention by China. But the surviving representatives of China reacted faster than he did and Emperor Qianlong sent a new army, which occupied Lhasa in 1751. This time the government was handed over to the Dalai Lama and the secular rule of the religious leadership was renewed. Four ministers were assigned to the Dalai Lama - titled "Kalön" - but the two Ambanen were also given a certain right to participate in the government, which was primarily aimed at controlling Tibet's foreign policy. Between 1751 and 1756, Kelsang Gyatsho led the government both legally and practically. Then he retreated to the retreat after Chökhorgyel back.

literature

• Günther Schulemann : History of the Dalai Lamas. Harrassowitz, Leipzig 1958.
• Roland Barraux: The History of the Dalai Lamas. Divine compassion and earthly politics. Walter, Solothurn u. a. 1995, ISBN 3-530-50001-1 .
• Karl-Heinz Golzio, Pietro Bandini: The fourteen rebirths of the Dalai Lama. The rulers of Tibet - how they come back, how they are found, what they have left behind . OW Barth u. a., Bern / Munich / Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-502-61002-9 .
• Andreas Gruschke : Dalai Lama (= Diederichs compact. ). Hugendubel, Kreuzlingen / Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7205-2461-2 .
• Martin Brauen (Ed.): The Dalai Lamas. Tibet's reincarnations of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Arnold, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-89790-219-2 .

Web links

Commons : Kelsang Gyatsho (Dalai Lama)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• bskal bzang rgya mtsho
• Using Illness To Train The Mind By Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelsang Gyatso

Kelsang Gyatsho (alternative names of the lemma)
Kelsang Gyatso, singing Jiacuo 格桑嘉 错, Gasang Jiacuo 噶 桑嘉 错