Altan Khan Meets the Dalai Lama

1578

The Mongol ruler Altan Khan summoned the Gelug lama Sonam Gyatso to his camp on the eastern steppe and granted him the Mongol title Dalai, meaning ocean of wisdom. Tibetan Buddhism reclaimed its old patrons, and a new lineage of Dalai Lamas began, though the title was only retrospectively applied to his predecessors.