tion for the great lamas was, however, spreading, and as early as 1475 the head of the Galdan Monastery (near Lhasa) seems to have been able to rule nearly the whole country, but his authority in civil matters was exercised through a regent, called variously Depa or Jaypa ; and this method of corn-promising, with the theory that an incarnation should have no concern with things earthly, has been followed ever since. So wide was the reputation for sanctity of the Tibetan Incarnations that rude tribes of the Far North bent to their authority, in spiritual matters, while brooking on earth no foreign sway which could not write its title in blood.
One of the great Tartar chiefs, Altan, desirous of knowing more intimately the sacred teachings, and perhaps thinking to add lustre to his savage Court, secured a lama of special power and veneration to visit him. This was in 1576, and this lama, Sodman Gynatso, seems to have been the first to bear specifically the title of Dalai (Great), which now distinguishes the ruler of Tibet. This establishment of a body of spiritual followers of Lamaism in distant territory was soon followed by important consequences, and is to-day the source of a current of events which promises to radically change the political orientation of the country. Feeling that their conversion gave them a proper interest in the conduct of pontifical affairs, the Mongols came down about the year 1644 A.D. to intervene in the troubled affairs of the land, which was that of their newly adopted shrines. A powerful lama of the time, unappreciative of their burning zeal, bought their departure with a price. This the Mongol leader
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