Dalai Lama XIV or Tenzin Gyatso as he is known with his worldly name was born on 6 July 1935 to a small farming family in the small hamlet of Taktser, Amdo, which is in northeastern Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has been the political ruler of Tibet at least since 1642, with nearly 500 years of a Tibetan government under the institution of the spiritual leader.