Zanabazar, Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu

Timeline

1. 1649–1651Drepung Monastery, Lhasa · LhasaZanabazar had already been acclaimed as religious leader by the Khalkha nobility around 1639. He entered Tibet in 1649 and studied under the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Fourth Panchen at Drepung and elsewhere. The Fifth Dalai Lama recognized him as the reincarnation of Taranatha and bestowed the Sanskrit name Jñānavajra (Zanabazar), establishing the Jebtsundamba's Gelug lineage among the Khalkha. He returned to the northern steppe around 1651.
2. 1651–1688Around Erdene Zuu · KhovdAfter returning to Khalkha, he promoted the Gelug school through the mobile monastery at Kuree, suppressing or absorbing the existing Sakya traditions, and personally made gilt-bronze statues of Tara, Vajradhara, and others, forming what later generations called the Zanabazar style. In 1688 Galdan defeated the Khalkha, and Zanabazar fled south with the Tüsheet Khan into Inner Mongolia, seeking Qing protection.
3. 1688–1691Dolonnor · DulunFacing Galdan's occupation of the northern steppe, Zanabazar strongly advocated submitting to the Qing rather than turning to Russia. In 1691 the Kangxi Emperor convened an assembly of the Khalkha tribes at Dolonnor, organized them into banners with jasagh offices, and formally incorporated the Khalkha into the Qing's vassal system. Participating as the highest living Buddha of the Khalkha, he became the key intermediary in this political shift.