Güshi Khan

Güshi Khan (also spelled Gushri Khan, 1582 – 14 January 1655) was a Khoshut prince and leader of the Khoshut Khanate, who supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan as the main benefactor of the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1637, Güshi Khan defeated a rival Mongol prince Choghtu Khong Tayiji, a Kagyu follower, near Qinghai Lake and established his khanate in Tibet over the next years. His military assistance to the Gelug school enabled the 5th Dalai Lama to establish political control over Tibet.

Güshi Khan was born Torobaikhu, the third son of Akhai Khatun and Khanai Noyan Khonggor, chief of the Khoshuts. He was descended from a brother of Genghis Khan, Qasar. At the age of 12, Torobaikhu had already won renown in battle against the Turkistanis. In 1625 a conflict erupted between the Khoshot chief Chöükür and his uterine brother Baibaghas over inheritance issues. Baibaghas was killed in the fight. However, his younger brothers Güshi and Köndölön Ubashi took up the fight and pursued Chöükür from the Ishim River to the Tobol River, attacking and killing his tribal followers in 1630. The infighting among the Oirats inspired one sub-group, the Torgut Oirat, to migrate westwards and eventually settle by the Volga River. Now Güshi succeeded to the position of Baibaghas as chief of the Khoshut.

In 1615, when the Oirats were still under the suzerainty of the Khalkha leader Ubasi Khong Tayiji, the elite had largely converted to Tibetan Buddhism. However, the period saw a rise in the internal religious rivalries within Tibet, in particular between the Gelug and Karma Kagyu schools. The main Gelug religious figure church was the Dalai Lama while the Karma Kagyu were supported by the dynasty of the Tsangpa based in Samdrubtse (modern Shigatse). They, in turn, found support from groups of Khalkhas and Chahars.

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