Ayuka’s Title of Daichin Khan: Examining Tibetan-Language Sources

Abstract

Introduction. Data from Tibetan-language sources on Ayuka’s full title ― Daichin Khan Ayuka ― have never been introduced into scientific circulation, nor have those been subject to any essential analysis. Goals. So, the article introduces a variety of messages dealing with the ruling era of Khan Ayuka and narrating how the latter received the title of Daichin Khan from the then Dalai Lama. Materials. The paper investigates Tibetan-language biographies of the Fifth Dalai Lama Lobsang Gyatso, Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, and Fifth Panchen Lama Lobsang Yeshe. Results. The study figures out the date when the mentioned ruler did receive the title of Daichin Khan, and specifies the dates of embassies that delivered the Kalachakra seal and that of Khan from the Sixth Dalai Lama. Conclusions. The article examines materials contained in various Tibetan-language texts, such as the autobiography of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and that composed by Desi Sangye Gyatso, biography of Fifth Panchen Lama, etc. The work ascertains the ruler of the Kalmyk Khanate received the title of Daichin Khan Ayuka from the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso in 1697. The paper also reveals some data on Khan Ayuka’s embassy to Tibet led by Arabjur and on the latter’s mother Tsojal. Another newly identified and important historical fact is that the Dalai Lama did send an embassy to Khan Ayuka to deliver a secret message about the Great Fifth’s death.