ur factors in
Tibetan politics.

1. The Gelugpa or Yellow Church, very strong but anxious to become
stronger both by increasing its temporal power and by suppressing
other sects. Its attitude towards Chinese and Mongols showed no
prejudice and was dictated by policy.

2. The Tibetan chiefs and people, on the whole respectful to the
Yellow Church but not single-hearted nor forgetful of older sects:
averse to Chinese and prone to side with Mongols.

3. The Mongols, conscious of their imperfect civilization and anxious
to improve themselves by contact with the Lamas. As a nation they
wished to repeat their past victories over China, and individual
chiefs wished to make themselves the head of the nation. People and
princes alike respected all Lamas.

4. The Chinese, apprehensive of the Mongols and desirous to keep them
tranquil, caring little for Lamaism in itself but patiently determined
to have a decisive voice in ecclesiastical matters, since the Church
of Lhasa had become a political power in their border lands.

Lo-zang was born as the son of a high Tibetan official about 1616 and
was educated in the Depung monastery under the supervision of
Chos-kyi-Gyal-tsan, abbot of Tashilhunpo and a man of political
weight. The country was then divided into Khamdo, Wu and Tsang, or
Eastern, Central and Western Tibet, and in each province there ruled a
king of the Phagmodu dynasty. In Central Tibet, and specially at
Lhasa, the Gelugpa was the established church and accepted by the king
but in the other provinces there was much religious strife and the
older sects were still predominant. About 1630 the regent of Tsang
captured Lhasa and 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 th