Thubten Gyatso (Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: Thub Bstan Rgya Mtsho; 12 February 1876 – 17 December 1933) was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet.
In 1878 he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He was escorted to Lhasa and given his pre-novice vows by the Panchen Lama, Tenpai Wangchuk, and named „Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal“. In 1879 he was enthroned at the Potala Palace, but did not assume political power until 1895, after he had reached his maturity.
Thubten Gyatso was an intelligent reformer who proved himself a skillful politician when Tibet became a pawn in The Great Game between the Russian Empire and the British Empire. He was responsible for countering the British expedition to Tibet, restoring discipline in monastic life, and increasing the number of lay officials to avoid excessive power being placed in the hands of the monks.
Thubten Gyatso declared independence from China in early 1913 (13 February), after returning from India following three years of exile. He then standardized the Tibetan flag in its present form. At the end of 1912 the first postage stamps of Tibet and the first bank notes were issued. Thubten Gyatso built a new medical college (Mentsikang) in 1913 on the site of the post-revolutionary traditional hospital near the Jokhang.
