Abtai Sain Khan (Mongolian: ᠠᠪᠲᠠᠶ ᠢᠰᠠᠶᠢᠨ ᠬᠠᠨ Абтай сайн хан; 1554–1588) - alternately Abatai or Avtai (Mongolian: Автай хан, meaning who have the gift of witchcraft (Автай)[1] and good (сайн) - was a Khalkha-Mongolian prince who was named by the 3rd Dalai Lama as first khan of the Tüsheet Khanate in 1587.[5] Around 1580, Abtai learned that his uncle Altan Khan (1507–1583) of the Tumeds had converted to Gelupga (Yellow Hat) Tibetan Buddhism.Abtai invited the lama Shiregetü Güüshi Chorjiwa from Altan's Inner Mongolian city Guihua (present day Hohhot) to teach him the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism.Stones from the nearby ruins of the ancient Mongol capital of Karakorum were used in its construction and the monastery was populated with images and relics Abtai had received from the Dalai Lama.Abtai's great-grandson Zanabazar (born Eshidorji) was recognized by the 5th Dalai Lama as the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu and Bogd Gegeen or spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism in Khalkha Mongolia in the 1640s.
