Person

Thubten Gyatso

1876–1933 · 20th century · Also known as 13th Dalai Lama

Thubten Gyatso was the 13th Dalai Lama. He fled the British invasion of Lhasa in 1904 and a Qing army in 1910, but returned after the Qing collapse and in 1913 proclaimed Tibet's independence. He then attempted to modernise Tibet's army, postal service and currency, though monastic opposition limited his reforms.

Thubten Gyatso
Image: M. Sain, Darjeeling · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Ganden PhodrangTibet (1912-1951)

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Thubten Gyatso. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thubten-gyatso
MLA
“Thubten Gyatso.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thubten-gyatso. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Thubten Gyatso.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thubten-gyatso.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Thubten Gyatso’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/thubten-gyatso (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻