The moment
Güshi Khan of the Khoshut Mongols defeated the ruler of Tsang, patron of rival orders, and in 1642 conferred rule over Tibet on the Fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso. His government, the Ganden Phodrang, united spiritual and temporal power in one office and governed Tibet until 1959; in 1645 he began the Potala Palace in Lhasa.
People: Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, 5th Dalai Lama, Güshi Khan