Ligdan Khan
The new Dalai Lama, born in 1617, was eventually received in the Repung monastery in 1622. Pilgrims, notables and soldiers arrived in increasing numbers from Mongolia to Central Tibet and worried Karma Tenkyong. The Tsangpa ruler gathered around him members of the old nobility and old religious communities who looked on the expansion of the Gelugpa with suspicion. In 1631 he was able to push back the Gelugpa positions so that Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was forced to seek refuge in Nêdong, the royal seat of the by now impotent Phagmodrupa dynasty. Karma Tenkyong furthermore allied with the senior ruler of the Mongols, Ligdan Khan, a convert to the Shamarpa sect. Ligdan Khan actually captured the Kokonor area in 1633 but died of smallpox in the following year, and the supreme Mongol khanate lapsed after his demise. In 1635 a new foreign invader approached Tibet. This was Arslan, son of the Shamarpa-minded khan Chogthu of the Northern Khalkha Mongols, who headed a looting expedition. The rivalling factions of Tibet attempted to draw him to their side. The Shamarpa, enjoined by Karma Tenkyong, secured a Tsangpa-Chogthu alliance. Arslan's army proceeded to ravage the Gelugpa territories, reaching Drepung and Lhasa. Then, however, the Arslan suddenly changed his allegiance, declared for the Dalai Lama and attacked the Tsangpa positions. His troops conquered Shigatse and Gyangtse but were then dispersed by another Mongol chief. Karma Tenkyong and the Shamarpa hierarch sent message to Arslan's father and denounced the conduct of his son. Chogthu sent emissaries who murdered Arslan and a few of his followers.