Editing Dalai Lama (section)

==== Re-unification of Tibet ====
Having thus defeated all the Gelugpa's rivals and resolved all regional and sectarian conflicts Güshi Khan became the undisputed patron of a unified Tibet and acted as a "Protector of the Gelug",<ref>René Grousset, ''The Empire of the Steppes'', New Brunswick 1970, p. 522.</ref> establishing the [[Khoshut Khanate]] which covered almost the entire Tibetan plateau, an area corresponding roughly to '[[Greater Tibet]]' including [[Kham]] and [[Amdo]], as claimed by exiled groups (see maps). At an enthronement ceremony in [[Shigatse]] he conferred full sovereignty over Tibet on the Fifth Dalai Lama,<ref name="bell273">Bell 1946, p. 273.</ref> unified for the first time since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire exactly eight centuries earlier.<ref name=TN2 /><ref name=TN3>Smith 1997, p. 108.</ref> Güshi Khan then retired to [[Qinghai|Kokonor]] with his armies<ref name=TN2 /> and [according to Smith] ruled Amdo himself directly thus creating a precedent for the later separation of Amdo from the rest of Tibet.<ref name=TN3 />

In this way, Güshi Khan established the Fifth Dalai Lama as the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet. 'The Great Fifth' became the temporal ruler of Tibet in 1642 and from then on the rule of the Dalai Lama lineage over some, all or most of Tibet lasted with few breaks for the next 317 years, until 1959, when the [[14th Dalai Lama]] fled to India.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2014|p=210}} In 1645, the Great Fifth began the construction of the [[Potala Palace]] in Lhasa.<ref name=mull201>Mullin 2001, p. 201.</ref>

Güshi Khan died in 1655 and was succeeded by his descendants [[Dayan Khan (Khoshut)|Dayan]], [[Tenzin Dalai Khan]] and Tenzin Wangchuk Khan. However, Güshi Khan's other eight sons had settled in Amdo but fought amongst themselves over territory so the Fifth Dalai Lama sent governors to rule them in 1656 and 1659, thereby bringing [[Amdo]] and thus the whole of Greater Tibet under his personal rule and Gelugpa control. The Mongols in Amdo became absorbed and Tibetanised.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Karmay, Samten C.|title=The Great Fifth|journal=The Newsletter|year=2005|volume=Winter 2005|issue=39|page=2|url=http://www.iias.nl/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL39_1213.pdf|access-date=14 June 2015|series=Research|publisher=International Institute for Asian Studies|location=Leiden, the Netherlands|quote=Over time the region's Mongols were completely Tibetanized but continued to enjoy prestige among the Tibetans as Gushri Khan's descendants and played a significant role in the Gelug Order's expansion in Amdo.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207235713/http://www.iias.nl/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL39_1213.pdf|archive-date=7 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>