7th Dalai Lama - Enthronement

Enthronement

A second, larger, expedition sent by the Kangxi Emperor, together with Tibetan forces under Polhaney (also spelled Polhanas) of Tsang and Gangchenney (also spelled Kanchenas), the governor of Western Tibet, expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720. They brought Kelzang Gyatso with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and he was enthroned as the seventh Dalai Lama in the or in November 1720. He took the novice vows of monk-hood from the 5th Panchen Lama Lobsang Yeshi, who gave him the name Kelsang Gyatso. He took the Gelong vows (full ordination) from Lobsang Yeshi in 1726. He received teachings from the tutor of Lobsang Yeshi, the Abbot of Gyumey Monastery and also from the Abbot of Shalu Monastery, Ngawang Yonten on all the major Buddhist philosophical treatises and became a master in both sutra and tantra. He was a great scholar and wrote many books, especially on the tantra. He was also a noted poet who, unlike the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, dwelt mainly on spiritual themes.

The Kangxi Emperor (1622–1723) declared Tibet a protectorate of the Qing Empire and in 1727 installed two high commissioners, or ambans, and a garrison of Qing troops from China in Lhasa. The walls of Lhasa were torn down and "Kham (with Batang, Litang, Tatsienlu, etc.) annexed to the Chinese province of Sichuan. The Qing protectorate, which was to last till the end of the Qing Dynasty (1912), was established."

Pho-lha-nas or Polhaney of Tsang, an important Tibetan aristocrat, ruled Tibet with Qing support in 1728–1747. In 1728 Kelzang Gyatso was invited to visit Beijing, but Pho-lha-nas only had him moved from Lhasa to Litang to make it more difficult for him to influence the government. After Pho-lha-nas died, his son ruled until he was killed by the ambans in 1750. This provoked riots during which the ambans were killed. A Qing army entered the country and restored order.