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INCARNATIONS AND THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS AS SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS
rgyal po gu shi han) — Patron and Ruler of the Teaching, the Wise khan — the title,
bestowed to him by the Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (Ngag dbang blo
bzang rgya mtsho, 1617-1682) in 1638, when Töröbaigu secretly visited Tibet. It
was settled during the meeting with the Dalai Lama that king (Tib. rgyal po) Güshi
and his people would move to the Kukunor lake region; thus, the Khoshut Khanate
did emerge. It was the first most obvious impact of the outer spiritual leader on the
inner and outer Oirat politics.
After 1642, when the enemies of the Gelugpas had been destroyed, the Dalai
Lama and Gushi Khan established chos yon relationship,° which implied an alliance
between the Lama — Tutor and Teacher, and the secular patron leader. The Dalai
Lama did receive the support of Khoshut forces all over Tibet, and quite soon the
situation in Tibet was pacified, after many years of struggle and battles. The Tibetan
leader mainly was an object in the politics of Oirats, who did give support to him in
establishing the realm with religion as the ruling principle.
One of the most important clerics, who had played a significant role in the
history of Oirat-Tibetan relations, was highly ranked lama Ensa (Tib. dBen sa)
Khutuktu (1605-1644). He is known not only as a preacher and learned Gelugpa
lama, but also as an active participant in the Oirat political processes. Already in
1631 he led a group of Oirats to the Dalai Lama, who noted about this event in his
Autobiography: “Ensa, Sangye Yeshe’s tulku, who headed about 200 Oirat monks
and laymen, arrived along with people from Lhasa [and they] came to meet [me]
at Lhadong harbor.”’ Below the Dalai Lama named those Oirats as sog po: “Sog
po, who had been headed by Ensa tulku, came and met [me].”* This passage al¬
lows assuming, that, perhaps, at least from the end of the 1620s Ensa Khutuktu
was highly estimated among the Oirats, and had done his best for strengthening of
Gelugpa-Oirat ties, and that’s why he should be accepted as the subject and object
of the Oirat policy.
The next information about Ensa’s activity among the Oirats concerns the be¬
ginning of 1643: according to the Autobiography of the Fifth Dalai Lama, at that
time “Ensa Tulku and Thorgut Daichin have arrived, leading many pilgrims. Thor¬
got Daichin came for the first time and presented one hundred horses with saddles
along with the ceremonial scarf, khata (Tib. kha btags).”” It’s important to note that
Daichin (?—1672), who was the elder son of Kho-Urluk (died in January 1644, the
6
Ruegg, David Seyfort: Mchod yon, yon mchod and mchod gnas / yon gnas: on the Historiography and
Semantics of a Tibetan Religio—social and Religio—political Concept. In: The History of Tibet. Ed. by
Alex McKay. Routledge Curzon, London — New York 2003, Vol. 2, pp. 362-372.
Tib. dBen sa sangs rgvas ye shes kyi sku skyes thog drangs o rod skya ser nyis brgya tsam zhig ‘byor
ba lha sa ba rnams dang mnyam du lha gdong gru khar bsu ba la byung. Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya
mtsho: rGyal dbang Inga pa Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho i rnam thar du ku la’i gos bzang. Bod
ljongs mi dmangs dpe skrun khang, Lhasa 2012, Vol. 1, p. 121.
Tib. dBen sa sku skyes gtsos sog po rnams dang phrad. Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho: rGyal
dbang Inga pa..., p. 121.
Tib. dben sa sprul sku dang thor god dai chin gyis gtsos pa‘i ,grul pa mang ba , byor/ thor god dai
chin gyis thog mar mjal dar la rta sga ma brgya tham pa byung. Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho:
rGyal dbang Inga pa..., p. 219.
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