Zanabazar
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Zanabazar, also known as Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (Mongolian: Өндөр гэгээн Занабазар, 1635-1723), was the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism for the Khalkha in Outer Mongolia.
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[edit] Background
Zanabazar (his given name is Eshidorji, Ишдорж) was born as son of the Tüsheet Khan Gombodorj- at that time one of the three Khans in Khalkha- and his wife, Khandojamtso. Zanabazar became a religious leader in Eastern Mongolia. In that time Western Mongolia had gained in power under Galdan Boshogtu Khaan. Galdan Boshogtu Khaan tried to unite all the Mongolian States and defend Mongolia against its neighbor, the Manchu Empire, which was becoming their number one enemy. Zanabazar declined all the Western Mongols' proposals. Finally Galdan Khaan decided to re-unite the Mongol States by force. Thousands of warriors from the Western Mongol Empire went to war with Eastern Mongolia. When Galdan Khaan's army came to the area where today the city of Ulaanbaatar is located, Zanabazar escaped to Southern Mongolia. The Manchus were interested in defeating both Mongolian states, and this gave them an incredible chance to accomplish that goal. The Manchu army went to war with the Western (Oirad) Mongol Empire, Zanabazar's goal. After the battle at Zuun Mod (near present-day Ulaanbaatar) the Oirad Mongol warriors were defeated and went back to the west. Zanabazar became a religious leader in Mongolia while his native land (Eastern Mongolia) fell to and became a vessel of the Manchus.
[edit] Recognition
In 1640 Zanabazar was recognized by the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama as being a "Living Buddha", and he received his seat at Örgöö, then located in Övörkhangai- 400 miles from the present site of Ulaanbaatar- as head of the Gelug tradition in Mongolia. Miraculous occurrences allegedly took place during his youth, and in 1647 (aged 12) he founded the Shankh Monastery.
[edit] Contribution to arts
Zanabazar has been called[who?] the "Michelangelo of Asia" for bringing to the region a renaissance in matters related to spirituality (including theology), language, art, medicine, and astronomy. He composed sacred music and mastered the sacred arts of bronze casting and painting. He created a new design for monastic robes, and he invented the Soyombo script in 1686- based on the Lantsa script of India, as well as the Quadratic Script- based on the Tibetan and Phagspa scripts. Many people still believe that Zanabazar personally created many tankas and bronze statues of Buddha, but a more realistic idea is that he founded a school of Buddhist art. The talented monks of his school created many figures of Buddha.
The scholar Ragchaagiin Byambaa has suggested that both of the scripts invented by Zanabazar were combined to write in a tripartite "Dharma" language composed of Tibetan, Mongolian and Sanskrit, because, he says, the two scripts were specifically designed to better accommodate the phonetics of all three languages. At present, they are mainly used for sacred and ornamental Buddhist inscriptions and among learned Buddhist scholars in Mongolia.
