In 1542 the Mongol leader Altan Khan began to harass China along the northern border.

In 1578 the Mongol ruler Altan Khan bestowed the title Dalai Lama on Sonam Gyatso.

However, the 14th Dalai Lama asserts that Altan Khan did not intend to bestow a title as such and that he intended only to translate the name " Sonam Gyatso " into Mongolian.

Yonten Gyatso ( 1589 – 1616 ), the 4th Dalai Lama, and a non-Tibetan, was the grandson of Altan Khan.

* Altan Khan besieges Peking.

It has been commonly claimed that the title " Dalai Lama " was first bestowed by the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan upon Sonam Gyatso in 1578.

Sonam Gyatsho proclaimed Altan Khan to be the reincarnation of Khublai Khan, and in return, Altan Khan gave the title Dalai Lama to Sonam Gyatsho.

Altan Khan posthumously awarded the title to his two predecessors, making Sonam Gyatsho the 3rd Dalai Lama.

He found this patron in the Altan Khan.

Altan Khan first invited the 3rd Dalai Lama to Mongolia in 1569, but apparently the Dalai Lama refused to go and sent a disciple again, who reported back to the Dalai Lama about the great opportunity to spread Buddhist teachings throughout Mongolia.

In 1573 Altan Khan took some Tibetan Buddhist monks prisoner.

Altan Khan invited the 3rd Dalai Lama to Mongolia again in 1571 and embraced Tibetan Buddhism.

When they arrived there, they were greeted by over ten thousand people including Altan Khan dressed in a white robe to symbolize his devotion to the Dharma.

Some sources say this first meeting between Sonam Gyatso and Altan Khan took place in Amdo or near ( lake ) Kokonor, rather than in Mongolia itself.

Further, some claim that Altan Khan bestowed the title Dalai on Sonam Gyatso, while the latter gave the title of Brahma, the king of religion, to Altan Khan.

Altan Khan had Thegchen Chonkhor, Mongolia's first monastery, built, and a massive program of translating Tibetan texts into Mongolian was commenced.

" These and many other such laws were set forth by Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso and were instituted by Altan Khan.

Gaoth Dobhair in County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, which is home to regional studios of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and world-class musicians, such as Proinsias Ó Maonaigh, Altan, Moya Brennan ( Máire Ní Bhraonáin ), Enya ( Eithne ), and Clannad, who were all raised with Irish as their first language.

At the beginning of the 17th century, a young leader named Khara Khula emerged to unite the Oirats to fight Sholui Ubashi Khong Tayiji, the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha, who few years earlier expelled the Oirats from their home in the Kobdo region in present-day northwest Mongolia.

Illustrative of this history is the Oirat epic song, ' The Rout of Mongolian Sholoi Ubushi Khong Tayiji ', about the war between the Oirats and the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha.

Altan Khan, the king of the Tümed Mongols, first invited Sonam Gyatso, the head of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism ( and to be known later as the third Dalai Lama ), to Mongolia in 1569.

Altan Khan later had Thegchen Chonkhor, Mongolia's first monastery, built at the place of the meeting.

In 1989, Altan released their very first album, Horse with a Heart, a well-received album that featured the fiddle-playing of Dublin's Paul O ' Shaughnessy.

In 1989, Altan released The Red Crow, which became the first of three Altan albums to win the prestigious “ Celtic / British Isles Album of the Year ” award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors and Manufactures ( NAIRD ).

In 1996, Altan released Blackwater, their first album on Virgin Records.

In July 2009, Ní Mhaonaigh announced that Altan would also release their first DVD as the video recording of a concert on 14 August 2009 in the National Concert Hall ( NCH ), Dublin, Ireland ( again with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra ).

In spring 2011 Altan toured Europe, notably visiting France in May and, for the first time, the city of Lyon on 13 & 14 May 2011.

He was the first Altan Khan of Khalkha who ruled Khotgoids in northwestern Khalkha See Altan Khan of the Khotgoid.

After 24 years with Altan, Mairéad released her first solo album Imeall, in 2009, and she was part of the Irish supergroup T with the Maggies, who released an album in 2010.

In 1577 Sonam Gyatso, who was considered to be the third incarnation of Gyalwa Gendün Drup, formed an alliance with the then most powerful Mongol leader, Altan Khan.

The Gelug-Mongol alliance was further strengthened as after Sonam Gyatso's death, his incarnation was found to be Altan Khan's great-grandson.

* 1578: Altan Khan of the Tümed gives the title of Dalai Lama to Sonam Gyatso ( later known as the third Dalai Lama ).

Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa ( 1235 – 1280 ) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan ( 1215 – 1294 ), the famous ruler of the Mongols and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.

Sonam Gyatso accepted Altan Khan's invitation to Tumet in 1577.

Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa ( 1235 – 1280 ) who converted Kublai Khan, while Altan Khan was a reincarnation of Kublai Khan ( 1215 – 1294 ), the famous ruler of the Mongol Empire and Emperor of China, and that they had come together again to cooperate in propagating the Buddhist religion.

Altan Khan designated Sonam Gyatso as " Dalai " ( a translation into Mongolian of the name Gyatso, meaning " ocean ").

" These and many other such laws were set forth by Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso and were instituted by Altan Khan.

When Sonam Gyatso died in 1588, his incarnation-and thus, the new Dalai Lama-was " found " to be Altan Khan's great-grandson.

Altan Khan's great-grandson, Yonten Gyatso, was selected as the 4th Dalai Lama.

Last but not least, Yonten Gyatso, the fourth Dalai Lama, was a grandson of Altan Khan.

Yonten Gyatso ( 1589 – 1616 ), the fourth Dalai Lama and a non-Tibetan, was the grandson of Altan Khan.

Altan Khan's great-grandson, Yonten Gyatso, was selected as the 4th Dalai Lama.

As the son of the chieftain of the Chokur tribe, Tsultrim Choeje, and great-grandson of Altan Khan of the Tümed Mongols and his second wife PhaKhen Nula, Yonten Gyatso was a Mongolian, making him the only non-Tibetan to be recognized as Dalai Lama other than the 6th Dalai Lama, who was a Monpa — but Monpas can be seen either as a Tibetan subgroup or a closely related people.