Dalai Lama

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First Dalai Lama Gendun Drub b.1391 - d.1474
Gendun Drub was born to a family of nomadic farmers in 1391 near Sakya in Tsang. His father was named Gonpo Dorje (mgon po rdo rje) and his mother Jomo Namkyi (jo mo nam mkha' skyid). His birth name was Pema Dorje (padma rdo rje).
http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/First-Dalai-Lama-Gendun-Drub/10687

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Second Dalai Lama Gendun Gyatso b.1476 - d.1542
Gendun Gyatso (dge 'dun rgya mtsho) was born in 1476 in the Tanak area of Tsang. He was born to a family of yogic practitioners who had forged a connection to his predecessor the first Dalai Lama, and also had a strong historic connection with Samye Monastery, where an anscestor was an abbot.
http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Second-Dalai-Lama-Gendun-Gyatso/11114

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Sonam Gyatso – 3rd Dalai Lama (1543 – 1588)
Name Variants: Sicho Pelzang; Sonam Gyatso

Sonam Gyatso (bsod nams rgya mtsho) was born in 1543 in the Kyisho (skyid shod) region of U to a family with strong ties to the Sakya tradition and the Pagmodru rulers of Tsang. His father, Namgyal Dragpa (rnam rgyal grags pa), was an official in the government. His mother, whose family also had ties to the Pagmodru family, was Peldzom Butri (dpal ’dzom bu khrid). Her father, Wangchuk Rinpoche (dbang phyig rin po che) was a renowned tantric master in the service of the royal household. Because of negative omens that preceded his birth, his parents gave him the milk of a white nanny goat, earning him the name Ranusi Chopal Zangpo (ra nu sri chod dpal bzang po) – “happy boy protected by goat’s milk.”
http://www.tibetanlineages.org/biographies/view/94/12828

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Yontan Gyatso – 4th Dalai Lama (1589 – 1616)

Following the unexpected death of the Third Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso (bsod nam rgya mtsho) in Mongolia in 1588, his patrons there, the leaders of the Tumed Mongols, decided to identify his reincarnation among their own people. No doubt eager to preserve the patronage of the Mongolians that the Third Dalai Lama had only recently established, the Gelug hierarchs accepted the arrangement.

Yontan Gyatso was born in 1589, the child of Sumbur Secen Cugukur, the son of Altan Khan’s successor Sengge Durureng Khan, and his wife, Bighcogh Bikiji.

Although the identification was an immediate boon for the new Gelug tradition in Mongolia, Tibetans back in Lhasa were less enthusiastic, and Yontan Gyatso did not travel to Tibet until he was more than ten years old. Instead, he enjoyed the patronage of the Tumed Mongols, enthroned at the Erdeni-juu temple in Kokekhota, which had been built by Altan Khan.
http://www.tibetanlineages.org/biographies/view/95/3085/lineage

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Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso – 5th Dalai Lama (1617 – 1682)

Name Variants: Dorje Togmetsal; Ganshar Rangdrol; Jangsem Nyugusel; Nagpo Silgnon Dragpotsal; Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso; Sahor Ngaknyon Silgnon Shepatsal; Silngon Dragtsal Dorje; Silngon Shepatsal

Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho) was born to a family of Nyingmapa practitioners in 1617 in the Yarlung Valley of Tibet, descendents of the Imperial line of the Yarlung Dynasty. His father was Miwang Dundul Rapten (mi dbang bdud ’dul rab brtan) and his mother was Kunga Lhadze (kun dga’ lha mdzes). In 1622 he was indentified as the rebirth of Sonan Gyatso by the First Panchen Lama Lobzang Chokyi Gyaltsan (paN chen bla ma blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan), who had been the tutor to the Fourth Dalai Lama. The Panchen Lama gave him the name Lobzang Gyatso (blo bzang rgya mtsho) and enthroned him at Drepung (’bras spungs).
http://www.tibetanlineages.org/biographies/view/96/6065/lineage

Cinorjer

Actually....

Sonam Gyatso was the first Dalai Lama, because the title didn't exist before it was bestowed upon him by the reigning Mongol ruler or Khan of the time, Altan Khan.

However, Sonam Gyatso then claimed he was a reincarnation of the famous monk Chogyal Phagpa, and that this Altan Khan was the reincarnation of the famous Kublai Khan. He then extended the title to his previous two incarnations, even though it had just been invented, making him the 3rd Dalai Lama but the first to be known by that title.

I just love reading Tibet history. They are a truly fascinating people and a time capsule of Eastern political and religious traditions.

BonsaiDoug

I just love reading Tibet history. They are a truly fascinating people and a time capsule of Eastern political and religious traditions.

Which makes what's currently happening to them and their culture under the heel of the Chinese even more tragic. If that's even possible?

Apologies for going off-topic, but I feel so helpless for the plight of those wonderful people. ॐ

Cinorjer

The history of Buddhism in the East is a series of blossomings and expansions, followed by sometimes violent supression as religions and empires jostled for power. That little corner of the world has changed hands many times over recorded history, and eventually will again, I'm sure. Not mitigating the current problems. Just pointing out that these people have faced the same problems before and proved they are survivers.