Khoshut Khanate

The Khoshut Khanate was the Oirat Mongol khanate of the Tibetan plateau, lasting from 1642 to 1717. Its founder Güshi Khan led his Khoshut horsemen into Tibet at the 5th Dalai Lama's invitation, crushed the Gelug school's enemies, and set up the priest-and-patron order: the Dalai Lama ruled souls from Lhasa's Potala, the khan held the sword, appointing ministers like Sonam Rapten to run civil affairs. Güshi accepted Qing seals in 1654, balancing Beijing against Lhasa with nomad skill. The balance broke under his great-grandson Lhazang Khan, who murdered the regent, deposed the sixth Dalai Lama for a pretender of his own, and united Tibet's monks against him. In 1717 the Dzungar prince Tseren Dondup marched over the passes, killed Lhazang, looted Lhasa and enthroned the seventh Dalai Lama. Seventy-five years of Khoshut rule ended there, and Tibet entered a century of Qing ambans, regents and war. The Potala Palace rising over Lhasa was built in those same decades.