See Also: Altan(encyclopedia)

Altan (sh)




or Anda

died 1583, Mongolia

Mongol khan who terrorized China in the 16th century.

He established a Chinese-style government in his homeland and concluded a peace treaty with Ming-dynasty China in 1571. He converted the Mongols to the reformed, or Dge-lugs-pa, sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1578 Altan granted the head of the sect the title of Dalai Lama. With Mongol military aid, later Dalai Lamas crushed the more established Karma-pa (Red Hat) sect in Tibet to become Tibet's spiritual and temporal rulers. See also Gtsang dynasty.