Zanabazar

Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (born Eshidorji) was the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu and the first Bogd Gegeen or supreme spiritual authority, of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism in Mongolia.

The son of a Mongol Tüsheet Khan, Zanabazar was declared spiritual leader of Khalkha Mongols by a convocation of nobles in 1639 when he was just four years old. The 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682) later recognized him as the reincarnation of the Buddhist scholar Taranatha and bestowed on him the Sanskrit name Jñānavajra (Sanskrit: ज्ञानवज्र, Zanabazar in Mongolian) meaning "thunderbolt scepter of wisdom". Over the course of nearly 60 years, Zanabazar advanced the Gelugpa school of Buddhism among the Mongols, supplanting or synthesizing Sakya or "Red Hat" Buddhist traditions that had prevailed in the area, while strongly influencing social and political developments in 17th century Mongolia. His close ties with both Khalka Mongol leaders and the devout Kangxi Emperor facilitated the Khalkha's submission to Qing rule in 1691.

In addition to his spiritual and political roles, Zanabazar was a polymath – a prodigious sculptor, painter, architect, poet, costume designer, scholar and linguist, who is credited with launching Mongolia's seventeenth century cultural renaissance. He is best known for his intricate and elegant Buddhist sculptures created in the Nepali-derived style, two of the most famous being the White Tara and Varajradhara, sculpted in the 1680s. To aid translation of sacred Tibetan texts, he created the Soyombo script from which sprang the Soyombo that later became a national symbol of Mongolia. Zanabazar used his artistic output to promote Buddhism among all levels of Khalkha society and unify Khalkha Mongol tribes during a time of social and political turmoil.

Zanabazar was born in 1635 in present-day Yesönzüil, Övörkhangai, Mongolia. Named Eshidorji at birth, he was the second son of the Tüsheet khan Gombodorj (1594-1655) and his wife, Khandojamtso. Gombodorj, one of three Khalkha khans who could trace his lineage directly back to Genghis Khan, was the grandson of Abtai Sain Khan (1554-1588), who had first opened Khalkha Mongol lands to the spread of “Yellow Hat” or Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhism. In 1578 Abtai's uncle, Altan Khan, bestowed the Mongolian language title "Dalai Lama" on the Gelug leader Sonam Gyatso.

According to tradition, Zanabazar showed signs of advanced intelligence, linguistic abilities, and religious devotion from an early age. Miraculous incidents allegedly occurred during his youth and he was able to fully recite the Jambaltsanjod prayer (praise of Manjusri) at age three. In 1639, an assembly of Khalkha nobles at Shireet Tsagaan nuur (75 km east of the former capital Karakorum) recognized Zanabazar as an Öndör Gegeen (high saint) and the Khalkh's supreme religious leader, even though he was only four years old at the time. They pledged their obedience, proclaiming him "He who brandishes the banner of the Sakyapa" school and "teacher of multitudes". This designation as supreme religious leader strengthened ties between the Khalkha aristocracy and the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, gave Khalkha nobility, added religious legitimacy, and served as a rallying point for Khalkha tribal leaders, who that same year had forged an uneasy alliance with western-based Oirat (Dzungar) Mongol tribes.

Zanabazar established his religious center in 1647, a traveling ger camp known as the “Monastery of the West” (Baruun Khüree), later renamed Shankh Monastery. In 1649, Zanabazar was sent to Tibet to receive personal instruction from the 5th Dalai Lama and the 4th Panchen Lama at Drepung Monastery. The Dalai Lama identified him as the reincarnation of the scholar Taranatha (1575–1634), who had led the rival Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism until his death in Mongolia one year before Zanabazar's birth. Taranatha was believed to be the 15th reincarnation (Khutuktu) of Jebtsundamba (one of the Buddha's original 500 disciples). Thus Zanabazar was recognized as the 16th reincarnation and he and his successors thereafter referred to as the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. The Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy also granted him the additional title Bogd Gegeen, or "Highest Enlightened Saint", designating him the top-ranking Lama in Mongolia.

Following his journeys to Tibet in 1651 and again in 1656, Zanabazar and his retinue of Tibetan lamas founded a series of Gelug-influenced monasteries, temples, and Buddhist shrines throughout Mongol territory, the most noteworthy being a stupa to house Taranatha's remains, the Saridgiin Monastery in the Khentii mountains (completed in 1680), and several movable temples which contained paintings, sculptures, wall hangings and ritual objects influenced by the Tibetan-Nepalese style and either imported from Tibet or produced by Zanabazar or his students.

By the late 1650s, Zanabazar further solidified his spiritual and political authority over Khalkha tribal leaders. The gers he received as gifts from Khalkha nobles upon his election in 1639 became his Örgöö, his ambulatory palatial residence. Known as the Shira Busiin Ord (Yellow Screen Palace) - later called Urga by the Russians and Da Khuree or Ikh Khuree by Mongols - it would eventually become the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar after settling at its current location, near the confluence of the Selbe and Tuul rivers and beneath Bogd Khan Uul in 1778. Zanabazar established seven aimags (monastic departments) to oversee his religious institutions; the Department of the Treasury, Department of Administration, Department of Meals, Department of the Honored Doctor, Department of Amdo, Department of Orlog and the Department of Khuukhen Noyon. His authority was further substantiated in 1658 when he presided over a convocation of nobles at Erdene Zuu and a year later he conferred titles on nobles at Olziit Tsagaan Nuur. Nevertheless, despite being recognized as the undisputed spiritual leader of the Kalkha, Zanabazar's moral influence failed to overcome the Mongols’ traditional tribalism, both among various Khalkha tribes as well as the rivalry between the Khalkha and Oirat-Dzungar Mongols to the west.