The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu; ; "Venerable Excellent incarnate lama" or Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche is a title given to the spiritual head of the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

lineage of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. They also hold the title of ''Bogd Gegeen'', making them the top-ranked

lama Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...

in Mongolia.

History

The first Jebtsundamba, Zanabazar (1635–1723), was identified as the

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...

of the scholar Taranatha of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. Zanabazar was the son of the Tüsheet Khan Gombodorj, ruler of central Khalkha Mongolia, and himself became the spiritual head of the Khalkha Mongols. On May 29, the Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu paid homage to the Kangxi Emperor in 1691 at Dolonnor. Like Zanabazar, the 2nd Jebtsundamba Khutughtu was a member of Mongolia's highest nobility and direct descendant of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

. After Chingünjav's rebellion and the demise of the second Jebtsundamba Khutugtu, the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

decreed in 1758 that all future reincarnations were to be found from among the population of Tibet. When the region of Outer Mongolia declared independence from the Qing dynasty in 1911, the eighth Jebtsundamba (1869–1924) was elevated to theocratic ruler, called Bogd Khan and established the

Bogd Khanate of Mongolia The Bogd Khanate of Mongolia was a country in Outer Mongolia between 1911 and 1915 and again from 1921 to 1924. By the spring of 1911, some prominent Mongol nobles including Prince Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren persuaded the Bogd Khan, Jebstundamb ...

. He was the head of state until his death in 1924. The communist government of the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

, which replaced the theocracy in 1924, declared that there were to be no further reincarnations. A reincarnation was in fact found almost at once in north Mongolia, and some high lamas of the dead Khutughtu's suite went to interview the child's mother, Tsendjav, and to instruct her in the details of the life of the former incarnation, so that she could familiarize the child-candidate with the tests which he would have to undergo. Faced with the possibility of a new Khutughtu who was born within Mongolia and was not even a foreigner from Tibet, the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party decided in July 1925 to turn the matter over to the elderly 13th Dalai Lama in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

. The Dalai Lama's decision would nonetheless be subject to new Mongolian legislation for the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

. In February 1929, the installation of any further Khutughtus was forbidden. A 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu was installed by the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

as the head of a reinvigorated Jonang lineage. He was born Jampal Namdol Chökyi Gyaltsen in 1932 and he died in early 2012. Despite the Chinese government's claim to have inherited the authority and ultimate decision right for the choice of successor of all high lamas in Mongolia and Tibet, the 9th Jebstundamba will be reincarnated within the independent Mongolia and the selection will be confirmed by the Dalai Lama. This puts China in a dilemma of endangering their foreign affairs with Mongolia for the choice of the next Lama or to forfeit this right that they claim to have control of religious affairs, ultimately giving up their authority over the choice of the next Dalai Lama and putting their current choice of the Panchen Lama in question.

List of Jebtsundamba Khutuktus

Bogdo gegeen (Mongolian and ceremonial Tibetan language names) *1635–1723: Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (), 1st Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1724–1757: Luvsandambiydonmi (), 2nd Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1758–1773: Ishdambiynyam (), 3rd Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1775–1813: Luvsantüvdenvanchug (), 4th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1815–1841: Luvsanchültimjigmed (), 5th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1843–1848: Luvsantüvdenchoyjijaltsan (), 6th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1850–1868: Agvaanchoyjivanchugperenlaijamts (), 7th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu *1870–20 May 1924: Agvaanluvsanchoyjinyamdanzanvaanchigbalsambuu (), 8th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu and Bogd Khan *1936–1 March 2012: Jambalnamdolchoyjijantsan (''Jampal Namdrol Chokye Gyeltsen''), 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu (b. 1933; from 1991, recognized by the Dalai Lama; exile in Tibet to 1959, then in India; died in Ulaanbaatar) *Current: 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu - In Nov 2016, during a visit to Mongolia, the

announced his belief that the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu had been reborn in Mongolia and that a process for identifying him had begun. On March 8, 2023, at a ceremony in Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama announced the presence at the ceremony of the 10th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu.

Notes

References

External links

The Zanabazar quadratic script, Ragchaagiin Byambaa
* ttp://news.gogo.mn/event/print/30526 List of the first eight Jebtsundamba Khutuktus (in Mongolian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Khutuktu, Jebtsundamba * Gelug Buddhists Tulkus