thumb|300px|The region ruled by Altan Khan as of 1571 AD
Altan Khan (2 January 1508 – 13 January 1582; , ; ), also known as Anda (; ), was the leader of the Tümed Mongols and the de facto ruler of the Right Wing, or western tribes, of the Mongols. He was the grandson of Dayan Khan (1464–1543), a descendant of Kublai Khan (1215–1294). Altan Khan managed to unite a tribal league between the Khalkha Mongols in the north and the Chahars (Tsakhars) to the east. He later swore allegiance to the Ming dynasty of China as the Shunyi prince and became a patron of the Gelug Tibetan Buddhists.
Consolidation of power
Borjigin Barsboladiin Altan was the second son of Bars Bolud Jinong and a grandson of Dayan Khan, who had re-unified the Mongolian nobility in an attempt to regain the glory of the Yuan dynasty. After Dayan Khan's time, the Mongol tribes constituted six myriads (), which in turn were divided into a Left Wing and a Right Wing. The Left Wing was ruled by the Great Khan, descendants of grandson and successor Bodi Alagh. The Right Wing was ruled by Altan's father, Bars Bolud, who held the position of Jinong (vice-regent). Altan Khan ruled the Tümed subgroup of Mongols as his ' (patrimonial territory); the Tümed's pastures were north of the border with Shanxi, in present-day Inner Mongolia. Altan's elder brother, Gün Bilig, inherited the position of Jinong and ruled the Ordos Mongols. After Gün Bilig's death in 1542, Altan became the de facto leader of the whole of the Right Wing and was given the title, "Tösheetü Sechen Khan".
When Bodi Alagh Khan, the Khagan of the Mongols from the Chahar, died in 1547, Altan forced Bodi Alagh's successor Darayisung Küdeng Khan to flee eastward. In 1551 Darayisung made a compromise with Altan in exchange for giving the title "Gegeen Khan" to him. Altan Khan, who controlled the Ordos tumen of the Yellow River was well placed to keep pressure on the Chinese and the Oirat Mongols in Tibet while developing both agriculture and trade.
Altan Khan also founded the city of Köke Khota (Hohhot, meaning "The Blue City"), now the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.
Relations with the Ming dynasty
Altan Khan wanted to trade horses with the Ming dynasty in exchange for agricultural products and Chinese textiles. In 1550 he crossed gaps in the Great Wall and besieged Beijing, setting its suburbs on fire. In 1570 Altan Khan's grandson Daičing Ejei Taiji defected to the Ming due to a family strife. Ministers of the Longqing Emperor proposed that Altan Khan should accept Ming title and turn over Zhao in exchange for Daičing Ejei and trading rights with the Ming. After verifying that his grandson was appointed by the Ming as a commander, Altan Khan agreed to the proposal. Zhao and his co-conspirators were subsequently executed by the Ming. Longqing Emperor conferred the title of Shunyi prince () to Altan Khan and renamed his capital to Guihua (, present-day Hohhot). Despite his submission to the Ming, Altan Khan retained significant autonomy. American Orientalist Owen Lattimore writes that while the Mongols were nominally vassals and paying the tribute, the Ming was also eager to please them and the arrangement was more or less mutually beneficial.
Alliance with the Gelug school
right|300px|thumb|Altan Khan as icon of Buddhism.
Altan Khan is particularly remembered for establishing ties between Mongolia and the religious leaders of the Tibetan Gelug order. He became very interested in the Gelug, and Beijing was happy to provide him with Tibetan lamas (teachers), Tibetan scriptures, and translations.
Sonam Gyatso accepted Altan Khan's invitation to Tümed in 1577. Altan Khan later had Thegchen Chonkhor, Mongolia's first monastery, built at the place of the meeting. This monastery is also often (wrongly) referred to as the first monastery in Mongolia and it grew into a massive establishment. In 1792, it contained 68 temples and some 15,000 lamas.
Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who had converted Kublai Khan. He also claimed Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.
Altan Khan designated Sonam Gyatso as "Dalai" (a translation into Mongolian of the name Gyatso, meaning "ocean") in 1578, As a result, Sonam Gyatso became known as the Dalai Lama – frequently translated into English as "Ocean of Wisdom" – which since then has been used as a title. The title was also posthumously given to Gendun Drup and Gendun Gyatso, who were considered Sonam Gyatso's previous incarnations. Thus, Sonam Gyatso was recognized as being already the 3rd Dalai Lama. The Tümed Mongols and their allies were brought into the Gelug tradition, which was to become the main spiritual orientation of the Mongols in the ensuing centuries. He also secured an edict abolishing the Mongol custom of blood-sacrifices. "These and many other such laws were set forth by Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso and were instituted by Altan Khan."
A massive program of translating Tibetan (and Sanskrit) texts into Mongolian was commenced, with letters written in silver and gold and paid for by the Dalai Lama's Mongolian devotees. Within 50 years virtually all Mongols had become Buddhist, with tens of thousands of monks, who were members of the Gelug order, loyal to the Dalai Lama. Altan Khan's great-grandson, Yonten Gyatso, was selected as the 4th Dalai Lama in 1601.
See also
- Altan Khan of the Khalkha