Dalai Lama Assumes Power

Date: November 17, 1950 • Location: New Delhi, India

The 14th Dalai Lama (pictured) assumed full temporal power as ruler of Tibet at the age of 15.

The 14th Dalai Lama is the current Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served as the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet before 1959, and subsequently led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala, India.