In Central Asian Buddhist countries it has been widely believed for the last millennium that Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, has a special relationship with the people of Tibet and intervenes in their fate by incarnating as benevolent rulers and teachers such as the Dalai Lamas. This is according to The Book of Kadam, the main text of the Kadampa school, to which the First Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, first belonged.[10] In fact, this text is said to have ‘laid the foundation’ for the Tibetans' later identification of the Dalai Lamas as incarnations of Avalokiteśvara.[11] It traces the legend of the bodhisattva’s incarnations as early Tibetan kings and emperors such as Songsten Gampo and later as Dromtönpa (1004-1064).[12] This lineage has been extrapolated by Tibetans up to and including the Dalai Lamas.[13]