Lha-bzang Khan

Who was Lha-bzang Khan?

Lha-bzang Khan was chief of the Khoshut tribe of the Oirat Mongols and the son of Dalai Khan and grandson of Güshi Khan and the last Khoshut-Oirat King of Tibet. He became Khan by poisoning his brother Vangjal. Since Güshi's time, the Khoshuts had lost real power in Lhasa to the Regent there. Lha-bzang set about to change this.

He attacked Lhasa with the approval of his ally, China's Kangxi Emperor, in 1705 to depose the 6th Dalai Lama. Accounts differ as to whether he was sincerely offended by the 6th's scandalous behavior, or he merely used it as an excuse. In any case, Lha-bzang had been excluded from Lhasa court affairs by the regent Sangye Gyatso, who had allied himself with the Zunghar Khanate, and even attempted to poison Lha-bzang and his chief minister. The regent lost 400 men in a decisive battle. Lha-bzang killed the regent and forcibly sent the Dalai Lama to China. The Dalai Lama died on the way, possibly killed on Lha-bzang's orders. He then had a new Dalai Lama enthroned without consulting with the religious authorities. Tibetans as well as Lha-bzang's Khoshut rivals rejected this Dalai Lama. Kangxi recognized Lhazang's choice, but hedged his bets, protected Kelzang Gyatso in Kumbum.