made himself sovereign of all Tibet.  He was a follower of the Sakya sect and his rule was a menace to the authority and even to the existence of the Yellow Church, which for some years suffered much tribulation.  When the young Grand Lama grew up, he and his preceptor determined to seek foreign aid and appealed to Gushi Khan.[962] This prince was a former pupil of Chos-kyi-Gyal-tsan and chief of the Oelot, the ancestors of the Kalmuks and other western tribes, but then living near Kokonor.  He was a staunch member of the Yellow Church and had already made it paramount in Khamdo which he invaded in 1638.  He promptly responded to the appeal, invaded Tibet, took the regent prisoner, and, after making himself master of the whole country, handed over his authority to the Grand Lama, retaining only the command of his Mongol garrisons.  This arrangement was advantageous to both parties.  The Grand Lama not only greatly increased his ecclesiastical prestige but became a temporal sovereign of considerable importance.  Gushi, who had probably no desire to reside permanently in the Snow Land, received all the favours which a grateful Pope could bestow on a king and among the superstitious Mongols these had a real value.  Further the Oelot garrisons which continued to occupy various points in Tibet gave him a decisive voice in the affairs of the country, if there was ever a question of using force.

The Grand Lamas had hitherto resided in the Depung monastery but Lo-zang now moved to the hill of Marpori, the former royal residence and began to build on it the Potala[963] palace which, judging from photographs, must be one of the most striking edifices in the world, for its stately walls continue the curves of the mountain side and seem to grow out of the living rock.  His old teacher was given the title of Panchen Rinpoche, which has since been borne by the abbots of Tashilhunpo, and the doctrine that the Grand Lamas of Lhasa and Tashilhunpo are respectively incarnations of Avalokita and Amitabha was definitely promulgated.[964]

The establishment of the Grand Lama as temporal ruler of Tibet coincided with the advent of the Manchu dynasty (1644).  The Emperor and the Lama had everything to gain from friendly relations and their negotiations culminated in a visit which Lo-zang paid to Peking in 1652-3.  He was treated as an independent sovereign and received from the Emperor a long title containing the phrase “Self-existent Buddha, Universal Ruler of the Buddhist faith.”  In return he probably undertook to use his influence with the Mongols to preserve peace and prevent raids on China.