MYSTIC RULER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 301, 21 December 1933, Page 7

MYSTIC RULER

DALAI LAMA DEAD TEMPORAL HEAD OF TIBET FORMER FLIGHTS RECALLED SUCCESSOR TO BE CHOSEN CALCUTTA, Dec. 19. A telegram from Lhasa reports the death on Sunday of the Dalai Lama, the ruler of Tibet, aged 60. The Dalai Lama, the temporarl head of Tibet, shared the spiritual headship with Tashi Lama. He twice fled the country, from tho Younghusband Expedition in 1904, and the Chinese mission in J 909, and for a time took refuge in British India. His successor by reincarnation will be selected from male infants born in Tibet during a short period after his death. EVENTFUL CAREER. His Holiness Nagwang Lozang, Supremo Pontiff of tho Lamaist Church Gyalwa Rinipoche, Precious Protector of the Buddhist Faith, was the thirteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Beyond the confines of his own country he was revered by millions in China and Mongolia as the Living Buddha. Born of peasant parents, in a village to the north-east of Lhasa, the young Dalai Lama was unquestioningly received as the true earthly incarnation of Buddha, both by reason of the portents that marked his birth and the superior intelligence shown by him even in childhood. Moreover, the Chinese authorities at Lhasa themselves sanctioned and approved his installation as the spiritual head of the Church in Tibet. The infant Dalai was brought to Lhasa by his parents, who cared for him till his fifth year, after which he was handed over to the priests for training in religious matters. As a mark of honour the Dalai Lama’s father was given the title of Kung, or Duke, and large estates were bestowed on him by the Tibetan Government. At the ago of eighteen, by the opportune deaths of his principal opponents in the Government of the country, the Dalai Lama was able to seize the reins of temporal power, an achievement which none of his four immediate predecessors had been able to accomplish. At this period the influence of Russia began to make itself felt in Tibet on account of the machinations of the Buriat Lama Doyieff, an emissary of the Tsar. Doyieff had held for some years the post of private tutor to the Dalai, and had made use of his position to impress ihat ruler with a sense of the might of Russia and the impotence of Great Britain. Having no experience or knowledge of the might of the latter Power, the Dalai Lama was easily persuaded to evade hi s treaty obligations, which evasion resulted in the Tibet Mission of 1904. Before the arrival of the British delegates and their armed escort in Lhasa the Dalai Lama, accompanied by his evil genius Doyieff, fled from the capital to Mongolia. For the next five years the ruler of Tibet wandered in that country and China, where he stayed at Peking as a guest of the Celestial Emperor. He returned to Lhasa towards the end of 1909. Immediately after his arrival in that city he became aware of a serious conspiracy, fostered by the Chinese, to assassinate him. He fled to India, arriving in that country in January, 1910, and for the next two and a-half years, spent in visiting the Buddhist shrines, was unable to return to Tibet. In 1912, however, the Republican revolution in China gave him the opportunity of returning to his country, which he re-entered in the latter months of that year. The Dalai Lama consolidated his position by appointing as Ministers those whom he knew by experience to be faithful to his cause and definitely threw off the yoke of Chinese suzerainty. As a matter of fact, Great Britain still recognises China as tho suzerain Power in Tibet, but this suzerainty exists'only in theory. China has had no voice in Tibetan affairs for the past twenty years. From the time of his visit to India the Dalai Lama continued a firm friend of the. British Government, and, having been greatly impressed by the administration and development of tho Indian Empire, endeavoured to develop his own country in a similar manner. Ho introduced the telegraph, and had a line from India to Lhasa itself. By sending youths to England for education and training in various professions he hoped to introduce mining, engineering, and similar industries into Tibet. The army and police were trained on linos similar to those of the Indian Army and police, and colleges were established at important centres, for aD of which tho Dalai Lama obtained the services of officials of tho Indian Government. Mints have been established on comparatively modern linos, and currency notes have been introduced. Although himself a priest, the Dalai Lama was the first to admit that the large, igorant priesthood of his country is the greatest drag on progress. Recently it was reported that the Tashi Lama, tho other grand Lama, whose temporal power is confined to one province, was organising a campaign against tho Dalai Lama and threatening his overthrow.