1st Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama of Tibet (1391-1474)
The 1st Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa (Tibetan: དགེ་འདུན་གྲུབ་པ།, Wylie: dge 'dun grub pa) (1391–1474) was a student of Je Tsongkhapa, and became his first Khenpo (Abbott) at Ganden Monastery. He also founded Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse. He was posthumously awarded the spiritual title of Dalai Lama.
Biography
Gedun Drupa was born in a cow-shed in Gyurmey Rupa near Sakya in the Tsang region of central Tibet, the son of Gonpo Dorjee and Jomo Namkha Kyi, nomadic tribespeople. He was raised as a shepherd until the age of seven. His birth name (according to the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, his personal name) was Péma Dorjee (Tibetan: པད་མ་རྡོ་རྗེ་, "Vajra Lotus").
Ordination
Later he was placed in Narthang Monastery. In 1405, he took his getsul (novitiate) vows from the abbot of Narthang, Khenchen Drupa Sherap. When he was 20 years old, in about 1411, he received the name Gedun Drupa upon taking the vows of a bhikṣu (monk) from the abbot of Narthang Monastery. Also at this age he became a student of the scholar and reformer Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), who some say was his uncle.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q25260. VIAF identifies the subject as 10645178. The Library of Congress control number is n80079448. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1391, 1474, 1405 and 1411.
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