Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588) was the first to bear the title Dalai Lama, a line of successively re-incarnating teachers in Tibetan Buddhism. Gedun Drub and Gedun Gyatso, referred to as the first and second Dalai Lamas, were posthumously recognized as his predecessors. It was the 5th Dalai Lama, also known as the Great 5th, Ngagwang Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682) that unified Tibet once again and established the Ganden Podrang Government. The successive Dalai Lamas have been the acting or nominal Heads of State since the time of the Great 5th. Depictions of the Dalai Lamas can be recognized by the iconographic characteristics of a white lotus flower held in the right hand and a yellow Pandita hat. The yellow hat is an attribute also shared with Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug Tradition, and with other Gelug teachers that followed. The white lotus flower is the principal attribute of the bodhisattva Lokeshvara.
1st Dalai Lama, Gendun Druba (1391-1474)
2nd Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso (1476-1542)
3rd Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso (1543-1588)
4th Dalai Lama, Yontan Gyatso (1589-1617)
5th Dalai Lama, Lobzang Gyatso (1617-1682)
6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-1706/46)
7th Dalai Lama, Kalzang Gyatso (1708-1757)
8th Dalai Lama, Jampal Gyatso (1758-1804)
9th Dalai Lama, Lungtog Gyatso (1805-1815)
10th Dalai Lama, Tsultrim Gyatso (1816-1837)
11th Dalai Lama, Kedrub Gyatso (1838-1855)
12th Dalai Lama, Trinle Gyatso (1856-1875)
13th Dalai Lama, Tubten Gyatso (1876-1933)
14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (b.1935)
