The 14th Dalai Lama

was born Lhamo Dhondub to a peasant family in a small village in north-eastern Tibet on 6 July 1935. His parents were farmers with several other children.

When he was two years old, a search party of Buddhist officials recognised him as the reincarnation of the 13 previous Dalai Lamas.

He was educated at a monastery and went on to achieve the Geshe Lharampa Degree, a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.

In 1950, when he was 15, China invaded Tibet. As troops poured into the country, he assumed full power as the head of state. In March 1959, as Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama fled into India.

Now recognised as one of the world's leading religious figures, the Dalai Lama is widely seen as a charismatic and tolerant character and a life-long advocate of peace.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

His Holiness' reputation as a scholar and man of peace grew steadily. A number of western universities and institutions have conferred Peace Awards and honorary Doctorate Degrees upon His Holiness in recognition of his distinguished writings in Buddhist philosophy and of his leadership in the service of freedom and peace.

In 1954, the Dalai Lama went to Beijing to discuss the future of the Tibetan people with Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung. But as China failed to abide by the agreement, Tibetans continued to resist Chinese rule.

In March 1959, Tibetans took to the streets demanding an end to Chinese rule. Troops crushed the revolt and thousands of protesters were killed.

Living in Exile

The Dalai Lama fled to India, fearing arrest by the Chinese authorities. There he was offered asylum and settled in Dharamsala, in the north of the country.

Over the next few months approx 80,000 Tibetans, most of whom settled in the same area, now home to the Tibetan government-in-exile. There the Dalai Lama began the task of helping the exiles and preserving Tibetan culture.

He set up a system to educate refugee children in their language and culture, establishing the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.

He appealed to the United Nations and persuaded the General Assembly to adopt resolutions calling for the protection of the Tibetan people in 1959, 1961 and 1965.

Peaceful resistance

He has advocated a "middle way" to resolve the status of Tibet - genuine self-rule for Tibet within China.

In 1987, he proposed a five-point plan, in which he called for the establishment of Tibet as a zone of peace. He also argued for the end of the large-scale relocation of Han Chinese into Tibet.

In September 2002 representatives of the Dalai Lama made a trip to Beijing and Lhasa amid some signs of a thaw. Further discussions between the two sides are ongoing, but have not made substantive progress.

In a speech on March 2006 to mark the anniversary of the 1959 invasion, he stressed his goal of Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.

But he reiterated his commitment to a solution.

"I would like to emphasise that we leave no stone unturned to help the present process of dialogue for the resolution of the Sino-Tibetan problem," he said.