Altan Khan of the Tümed (2 January 1508[1] – 13 January 1582;[2] Mongolian: ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ ᠬᠠᠨ, Алтан хан; Chinese: 阿勒坦汗), whose given name was Anda (Mongolian: Алтан (Аньда);[3] Chinese: 俺答), was the leader of the Tümed Mongols[4][5][6] de facto ruler of the Right Wing, or western tribes, of the Mongols, and the first Ming Shunyi King (順義王).

Borjigin Barsboladiin Altan was the second son of Bars Bolud Jinong, and a grandson of Batumongke Dayan Khan who had re-unified the Mongolian nobility in an attempt to regain the glory of the Yuan dynasty.

After Gün Bilig's death in 1542, Altan became the de facto leader of the whole of the Right Wing and was given the title, "Tösheetü Sechen Khan".

[7] Altan Khan, who controlled the Ordos tumen of the Huang He or Yellow River was well placed to keep pressure on the Chinese and the Oirat Mongols in Tibet while developing both agriculture and trade.

[12] Han official Zhao Quan (赵全) under Altan Khan suggested to attack Ming to get Bǎhànnàjí back.

[15][4][16][17] More than 60 other people including Altan Khan's brother and nephew were also assigned with high official positions of the Ming.

Altan Khan is particularly remembered for establishing ties between Mongolia and the religious leaders of the Tibetan Gelug order.

[4] Altan Khan first invited Sonam Gyatso to Tümed in 1569, but apparently he refused to go and sent a disciple instead, who reported back to him about the great opportunity to spread Buddhist teachings throughout Mongolia.

[25] Also, the ruler of the Khalkha Mongols, Abtai Sain Khan, rushed to Tümed to meet the Dalai Lama.

The Erdene Zuu Monastery was built by him in 1586, at the site of the former Mongol capital of Karakorum following his adoption of Buddhism as the state religion.

[27] Sonam Gyatso publicly announced that he was a reincarnation of the Tibetan Sakya monk Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280) who had converted Kublai Khan.

[30] As a result, Sonam Gyatso became known as the Dalai Lama which, since then, has been used as a title – frequently translated into English as "Ocean of Wisdom".

Within 50 years virtually all Mongols had become Buddhist, with tens of thousands of monks, who were members of the Gelug order, loyal to the Dalai Lama.

[28] Altan Khan's title Shunyi Wang (順義王) was succeeded by his son Sengge Düüreng who was supported by the Ming court of China.