77-528: Tangra may refer to: Tangra , the Bulgarian name of Tengri , the deity of Tengriism Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island, Antarctica, named after the deity Tangra 2004/05 , an expedition to Antarctica Tangra (band) , a Bulgarian band from the 1970s and 1980s Tangra, Kolkata , a neighborhood in the city of Kolkata in West Bengal, India WASP-21 ,
154-561: A big ger cart on the main road and followed Temujin, bellowing "Heaven and Earth have agreed to make Temujin the Lord of the nation and I am now carrying the nation to you". Temujin afterward tells his earliest companions Boorchi and Zelme that they will be appointed to the highest posts because they first followed him when he was "mercifully looked upon by Tengri" (paragraph 125). In the Battle of Khuiten, Buyuruk Khan and Quduga try using zad stones to cause
231-696: A chosen person to earth. It is also one of the terms used for the primary chief deity of the early Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Worship surrounding Tengri is called Tengrism . The core beings in Tengrism are the Sky Father (Tenger Etseg) and the Earth Mother ( Umay Ana ). It involves ancestor worship , as Tengri was thought to have been the ancestral progenitor of mankind in Turkic regions and Mongolia , shamanism , animism , and totemism . The oldest form of
308-496: A dynastical legitimation. It is at least agreed that Tengrism formed from the diverse folk religions of the local people and may have had diverse branches. It is suggested that Tengrism was a monotheistic religion only at the imperial level in aristocratic circles, and, perhaps, only by the 12th-13th centuries (a late form of development of ancient animistic shamanism in the era of the Mongol empire). According to Jean-Paul Roux ,
385-552: A large role in the religion of Mongol Empires as the primary state spirituality. Genghis Khan and several generations of his followers were Tengrian believers and "Shaman-Kings" until his fifth-generation descendant, Uzbeg Khan, turned to Islam in the 14th century. Old Tengrist prayers have come to us from the Secret History of the Mongols (13th century). The priests-prophets ( temujin ) received them, according to their faith, from
462-575: A loan into Chinese from a prehistoric Central Asian language. However, this proposal is unlikely in light of recent reconstructions of the Old Chinese pronunciation of the character "天", such as * qʰl'iːn ( Zhengzhang ) or * l̥ˤi[n] ( Baxter-Sagart ), which propose for 天 a voiceless lateral onset, either a cluster or single consonant, respectively. Baxter & Sagart (2014:113-114) pointed to attested dialectal differences in Eastern Han Chinese ,
539-599: A loanword from Proto-Yeniseian *tɨŋgVr- "high". Amy Chua renders the name as "[T]he Eternal Blue Sky", likely because of the connotations of the name's usage. Tengri was the national god of the Göktürks , described as the "god of the Turks" ( Türük Tängrisi ). The Göktürk khans based their power on a mandate from Tengri. These rulers were generally accepted as the sons of Tengri who represented him on Earth. They wore titles such as tengrikut , kutluġ or kutalmysh , based on
616-431: A nationalist ideology of Turanism and Kemalism contributed to the revival of Tengrism. Islamic censorship was abolished, which allowed an objective study of the pre-Islamic religion of the Turks. The Turkish language was purified of Arabic, Persian and other borrowings. A number of figures, while they did not officially abandon Islam, adopted Turkic names, such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( Atatürk — "father of Turks") and
693-814: A pause before it is followed by the phrase Khagan-u Suu ("Majesty of the Khan"): Under the Power of the Eternal Tengri. Under the Majesty of the Khan ( Kublai Khan ). Arghun Our word. To the Ired Farans (King of France). Last year you sent your ambassadors led by Mar Bar Sawma telling Us: "if the soldiers of the Il-Khan ride in the direction of Misir (Egypt) we ourselves will ride from here and join you", which words We have approved and said (in reply) "praying to Tengri (Heaven) We will ride on
770-544: A predominantly polytheistic religion based on the shamanistic concept of animism , and was first influenced by monotheism during the imperial period, especially by the 12th–13th centuries. Abdulkadir Inan argues that Yakut and Altai shamanism are not entirely equal to the ancient Turkic religion. The term also describes several contemporary Turkic and Mongolic native religious movements and teachings. All modern adherents of "political" Tengrism are monotheists. Tengrism has been advocated for in intellectual circles of
847-639: A role in search for native spiritual roots and Pan-Turkism ideology since the 1990s, especially in Kyrgyzstan , Kazakhstan , Mongolia , some autonomous republics of the Russian Federation ( Tatarstan , Bashkortostan , Buryatia , Yakutia , and others), among the Crimean Karaites and Crimean Tatars . After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution , and especially after the proclamation of the Republic in 1923,
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#1732851661138924-455: A star named Tangra after the deity See also [ edit ] Tangara (disambiguation) Tangra Blues , a 2021 Indian Bengali-language musical thriller film Tangra railway station , Punjab, India Tengra , a village in West Bengal, India Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Tangra . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
1001-483: A thunderstorm against Temujin but it backfires and they get stuck in slippery mud. They say "the wrath of Tengri is upon us" and flee in disorder (paragraph 143). Temujin prays to "father Tengri" on a high hill with his belt around his neck after defeating the Taichiud at Tsait Tsagaan Tal and taking 100 horses and 50 breastplates. He says "I haven't become Lord thanks to my own bravery, but I have defeated my enemies thanks to
1078-538: Is a religion originating in the Eurasian steppes , based on shamanism and animism . It generally involves the titular sky god Tengri , who is not considered a deity in the usual sense but a personification of the universe. According to some scholars, adherents of Tengrism view the purpose of life to be in harmony with the universe. It was the prevailing religion of the Göktürks , Xianbei , Bulgars , Xiongnu , Yeniseian and Mongolic peoples and Huns , as well as
1155-420: Is considered to be the chief god who created all things. In addition to this celestial god, they also had minor divinities ( Alps ) that served the purposes of Tengri. As Gök Tanrı, he was the father of the sun ( Koyash ) and moon ( Ay Tanrı ) and also Umay , Erlik , and sometimes Ülgen . Tengri was the main god of the Turkic pantheon, controlling the celestial sphere. Tengri is considered to be similar to
1232-632: Is fixed by the Orkhon, or Old Turkic script used by the Göktürks ("celestial Turks") and other early khanates during the 8th to 10th centuries. Tengrism most probably existed in medieval states in Eurasia , such as the Göktürk Khaganate , Western Turkic Khaganate , Old Great Bulgaria , Danube Bulgaria , Volga Bulgaria , and Eastern Tourkia (Khazaria) Turkic beliefs contains the sacral book Irk Bitig from Uyghur Khaganate . Tengrism also played
1309-403: Is legitimate. We say: "We the descendants of Genghis Khan, keeping our own proper Mongol identity, whether some receive silam or some don't, that is only for Eternal Tengri (Heaven) to know (decide)." People who have received silam and who, like you, have a truly honest heart and are pure, do not act against the religion and orders of the Eternal Tengri and of Misiqa (Messiah or Christ). Regarding
1386-510: Is not as pure or as white as Tengri and together they set up the world. Er Kishi becomes a demonic character and strives to mislead people and draw them into its darkness. Tengri assumes the name Tengri Ülgen and withdraws into Heaven from which he tries to provide people with guidance through sacred animals that he sends among them. The Ak Tengris occupy the fifth level of Heaven. Shaman priests who want to reach Tengri Ülgen never get further than this level, where they convey their wishes to
1463-692: Is sometimes poetically called the "Land of Eternal Blue Sky" ( Mönkh Khökh Tengeriin Oron ) by its inhabitants. According to some scholars, the name of the important deity Dangun (also Tangol) (God of the Mountains) of the Korean folk religion is related to the Siberian Tengri ("Heaven"), while the bear is a symbol of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major). The word "Tengrism" is a fairly new term. The spelling Tengrism for
1540-550: Is the all-encompassing God of Heaven in the traditional Turkic , Yeniseian , Mongolic , and various other nomadic religious beliefs. Tengri is not considered a deity in the usual sense, but a personification of the universe. However, some qualities associated with Tengri as the judge and source of life, and being eternal and supreme, led European and Muslim writers to identify Tengri as a deity of Turkic and Mongolic peoples. According to Mongolian belief, Tengri's will ( jayayan ) may break its own usual laws and intervene by sending
1617-532: The Orkhon inscriptions , Secret History of the Mongols , and Altan Tobchi . However, these texts are more historically oriented and are not strictly religious texts like the scriptures and sutras of sedentary civilizations, which have elaborate doctrines and religious stories. On a scale of complexity, Tengrism lies somewhere between the Proto-Indo-European religion (a pre-state form of pastoral shamanism on
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#17328516611381694-821: The state religion of several medieval states such as the First Turkic Khaganate , the Western Turkic Khaganate , the Eastern Turkic Khaganate , Old Great Bulgaria , the First Bulgarian Empire , Volga Bulgaria , Khazaria , and the Mongol Empire . In the Irk Bitig , a ninth century manuscript on divination, Tengri is mentioned as Türük Tängrisi (God of Turks). According to many academics, Tengrism was, and to some extent still is,
1771-612: The 14th century, when the Golden Horde converted to Islam . Since then, Tengrism was mostly submerged by other religious ideas. Traditional Tengrism persists among the Mongols and in some Turkic and Mongolic influenced regions of Russia ( Sakha , Buryatia , and Tuva ) in parallel with other religions. According to the Orkhon inscriptions , Tengri played a big role in choices of the kaghan , and in guiding his actions. Many of these were performed because "Heaven so ordained" ( Old Turkic : Teŋіri yarïlqaduq üčün ). Arghun expressed
1848-462: The 1990s, Russian-language literature uses it in the general sense, as for instance, reported in 1996 ("so-called Tengrianism") in the context of the nationalist rivalry over Bulgar legacy . The spellings Tengriism , Tangrism , Tengrianity are also found from the 1990s. In modern Turkey and, partly, Kyrgyzstan, Tengrism is known as the Tengricilik or Göktanrı dini ("Sky God religion");
1925-520: The 9th generation ancestor of Genghis Khan is called a "son of Tengri". When Temujin was brought to the Qongirat tribe at 9 years old to choose a wife, Dei Setsen of the Qongirat tells Yesugei the father of Temujin (Genghis Khan) that he dreamt of a white falcon, grasping the sun and the moon, come and sit on his hands. He identifies the sun and the moon with Yesugei and Temujin. Temujin then encounters Tengri in
2002-542: The Indo-European sky god, *Dyeus , and the structure of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion is closer to that of the early Turks than to the religion of any people of Near Eastern or Mediterranean antiquity. In Christian Turkish usage Tengri is used for the father of Jesus, who is referred to as "Tengri Oghli" (Son of God) and "Mshikha Tengri" (Messiah God). Tengri is also compared to Allah and Khuda. Apart from foreign religious influences, as far as known today,
2079-649: The International Fund of Tengri Research is also located in Yakutsk . Several Kyrgyz politicians are advocating Tengrism to fill a perceived ideological void. Dastan Sarygulov , secretary of state and former chair of the Kyrgyz state gold-mining company, established in 2005 the Tengir Ordo —a civic group promoting the values and traditions of Tengrism—and an International scientific center of Tengrist studies. He based on
2156-572: The Keraits Genghis Khan says "By the blessing of Eternal Tengri I have brought low the Kerait nation and ascended the high throne" (paragraph 187). Genghis sends Subutai with an iron cart to pursue the sons of Togtoa and tells him "If you act exposed though hidden, near though far and maintain loyalty then Supreme Tengri will bless you and support you" (paragraph 199). Jamukha tells Temujin "I had no trustworthy friends, no talented brothers and my wife
2233-646: The Khorchi. Our writing was written while We were at Khondlon on the sixth khuuchid (6th day of the old moon) of the first month of summer on the year of the cow. Arghun expressed Tengrism's non-dogmatic side. The name Mongke Tengri ("Eternal Tengri") is at the top of the sentence in this letter to Pope Nicholas IV , in accordance with Mongolian Tengriist writing rules. The words "Tngri" (Tengri) and "zrlg" (zarlig, decree/order) are still written with vowel-less archaism: ... Your saying "May [the Ilkhan] receive silam (baptism)"
2310-567: The Taichiud were waiting for him there and promptly captured him. Toghrul later credits the defeat of the Merkits with Jamukha and Temujin to the "mercy of mighty Tengri" (paragraph 113). Khorchi of the Baarin tells Temujin of a vision given by "Zaarin Tengri" where a bull raises dust and asks for one of his horns back after charging the ger cart of Jamukha (Temujin's rival) while another ox harnessed itself to
2387-518: The Tangut insults him again after his return from the Khwarezmian campaign Genghis Khan says "How can we go back (to Mongolia) when he says such proud words? Though I die I won't let these words slip. Eternal Tengri, you decide" (paragraph 265). After Genghis Khan "ascends to Tengri" (paragraph 268) during his successful campaign against the Tangut (Xi Xia) the wheels of the returning funeral cart gets stuck in
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2464-633: The Turkic nations of Central Asia ( Kyrgyzstan with Kazakhstan ) and Russia ( Tatarstan , Bashkortostan ) since the dissolution of the Soviet Union during the 1990s. Still practiced, it is undergoing an organized revival in Buryatia , Sakha (Yakutia) , Khakassia , Tuva and other Turkic nations in Siberia . Altaian Burkhanism and Chuvash Vattisen Yaly are contemporary movements similar to Tengrism. The term tengri (compare with Kami ) can refer to
2541-604: The Turkish gök (sky) and tanrı (God) correspond to the Mongolian khukh (blue) and Tengeri (sky), respectively. Mongolian Тэнгэр шүтлэг is used in a 1999 biography of Genghis Khan . In the 20th century, a number of scientists proposed the existence of a religious imperial khagan cult in the ancient Turkic and Mongolian states. The Turkish historian of religion Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924) wrote in his The History of Turkish Holy Tradition and Turkish Civilization that
2618-642: The Türks! ). The most famous modern ideologues and theorists of Tengrism are Murad Adji [ ru ] (1944–2018), Sabetkazy Akatai [ kk ] (1938–2003), Aron Atabek , Nurmagambet Ayupov [ kk ] (1955–2010), Rafael Bezertinov, Shagdaryn Bira , Firdus Devbash [ ru ] , Yosif Dmitriev (Trer) [ ru ] (1947–2018), Mongush Kenin-Lopsan , Auezkhan Kodar [ kk ] (1958–2016), Choiun Omuraliyev, Dastan Sarygulov , and Olzhas Suleimenov . The poet, literary critic and Turkologist Olzhas Suleimenov,
2695-514: The ancient and modern Turkic and Mongolic are Tengeri , Tangara , Tangri , Tanri , Tangre , Tegri , Tingir , Tenkri , Tangra , Teri , Ter , and Ture . The name Tengri ("the Sky") is derived from Old Turkic : Tenk ("daybreak") or Tan ("dawn"). Meanwhile, Stefan Georg proposed that the Turkic Tengri ultimately originates as a loanword from Proto-Yeniseian *tɨŋgɨr- "high". Mongolia
2772-560: The appointed time and appointment? What would be the use of regretting afterwards? Also, if, adding any additional messages, you let your ambassadors fly (to Us) on wings, sending Us luxuries, falcons, whatever precious articles and beasts there are from the land of the Franks, the Power of Tengri ( Tengri-yin Kuchin ) and the Majesty of the Khan ( Khagan-u Suu ) only knows how We will treat you favorably. With these words We have sent Muskeril (Buscarello)
2849-438: The association of Tengri with imperial legitimacy and military success. The majesty ( suu ) of the khan is a divine stamp granted by Tengri to a chosen individual through which Tengri controls the world order (the presence of Tengri in the khan). In this letter, "Tengri" or "Mongke Tengri" ("Eternal Heaven") is at the top of the sentence. In the middle of the magnified section, the phrase Tengri-yin Kuchin ("Power of Tengri") forms
2926-416: The battle against Toghrul, Genghis Khan strikes his chest in anguish and says "May Eternal Tengri decide" (paragraph 172). Genghis Khan tells Altan and Khuchar "All of you refused to become Khan, that is why I led you as Khan. If you would have become Khan I would have charged first in battle and brought you the best women and horses if high Khukh Tengri showed us favor and defeated our enemies". After defeating
3003-401: The belief that they attained kut , some sort of heavenly and spiritual force granted to these rulers by Tengri. Prior to foreign influences, the Turkic conception of tengri was regarded as the heaven or the will controlling heaven, probably some sort of force. Out of this, the concept of a personal being developed. First, when Turkic people took over other religions, the term tengri became
3080-452: The belly strap can come loose, but how can the breast strap also come loose? Is Tengri persuading me?" He waited three more nights and decided to go out again but a tent-sized rock had blocked the way out. Again he said "Is Tengri persuading me?", returned and waited three more nights. Finally he lost patience after 9 days of hunger and went around the rock, cutting down the wood on the other side with his arrow-whittling knife, but as he came out
3157-755: The blessing of heaven and earth I have greatly increased in power, united all the great nation and brought them under my reins" (paragraph 224). Genghis orders Dorbei the Fierce of the Dorbet tribe to "strictly govern your soldiers, pray to Eternal Tengri and try to conquer the Khori Tumed people" (paragraph 240). After being insulted by Asha Khambu of the Tanguts of being a weak Khan Genghis Khan says "If Eternal Tengri blesses me and I firmly pull my golden reins, then things will become clear at that time" (paragraph 256). When Asha Khambu of
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3234-678: The derived word " Tanrı " is used as the generic word for "god", or for the Abrahamic God , and is used today by Turkish people to refer to any god. The supreme deity of the traditional religion of the Chuvash is Tură . Other reflexes of the name in modern languages include Mongolian : Тэнгэр ("sky"), Bulgarian : Тангра , Azerbaijani : Tanrı . Earlier, the Chinese word for "sky" 天 ( Mandarin : tiān < Old Chinese * thīn or * thîn ) had been suggested to be related to Tengri , possibly
3311-585: The divine guides. Returns to earth or to the human level take place in a goose-shaped vessel. Güngör, Harun (Winter 2013). "Tengrism as a religious and political phenomenon in Turkish World: Tengriyanstvo" (PDF) . KARADENİZ – BLACK SEA – ЧЕРНОЕ МОРЕ . 19 (Winter 2013). Erdoğan Altinkaynak: 189–195. ISSN 1308-6200 . Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2016 . Retrieved 19 June 2016 . Tengrism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism , Tengerism , or Tengrianism )
3388-582: The ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa, Australasia and even completely unrelated parts of the Americas, as they believed these practices to be similar to one another. Terms for 'shaman' and 'shamaness' in Siberian languages: Buryat scholar Irina S. Urbanaeva developed a theory of Tengrist esoteric traditions in Central Asia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the revival of national sentiment in
3465-538: The eulogist of the Kazakh national identity, in his book AZ-and-IA that was banned after publication in 1975 in Soviet Kazakhstan, USSR, presented Tengrism ("Tengrianstvo") as one of the most ancient religions in the world. Tengrism's revival of an ethnic religion reached a larger audience in intellectual circles. Former Presidents of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev have called Tengrism
3542-650: The former Soviet republics of Central Asia. The first time the name Tengri was recorded in Chinese chronicles was from the 4th century BC as the sky god of the Xiongnu , using the Chinese form 撐犁 ( chēnglí , Old Chinese /*rtʰaːŋ.riːl/ ). Tengrism formed from the various Turkic and Mongolic folk religions, which had a diverse number of deities, spirits and gods. Turkic folk religion was based on Animism and similar to various other religious traditions of Siberia, Central Asia and Northeast Asia. Ancestor worship played an important part in Tengrism. The cult of Heaven-Tengri
3619-481: The god's divinity rather than his domain over the sky. It is generally assumed the term tengri originally meant "sky". Andrey Kononov suggested that the term is formed by the words tän (morning) and injir (evening) into tänri , referring to the sky as whole. The Turkic form, Tengri , is attested in the 8th century Orkhon inscriptions as the Old Turkic form 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 Teŋri . In modern Turkish ,
3696-556: The great deity/spirit Munkh Tenger . Tengrism was probably similar with the folk traditions of the Tungusic peoples , such as the Manchu folk religion . Similarities with Korean shamanism and Wuism as well as Japanese Shinto are also evident. According to Hungarian archaeological research, the religion of the Magyars ( Hungarians ) until the end of the 10th century (before Christianity)
3773-689: The ground and Gilugdei Baatar of the Sunud says "My horse-mounted divine lord born with destiny from Khukh Tengri, have you abandoned your great nation?" Batu Khan sends a secret letter to Ogedei Khan saying "Under the power of the Eternal Tengri, under the Majesty of my uncle the Khan, we set up a great tent to feast after we had broken the city of Meged, conquered the Orosuud (Russians), brought in eleven nations from all directions and pulled on our golden reins to hold one last meeting before going our separate directions" (paragraph 275). A revival of Tengrism has played
3850-551: The historian of religion and ideologist of the Kemalist regime Ziya Gökalp ( Gökalp — "sky hero"). The prominent Turkish writer and historian Nihal Atsız was Tengrist and the ideologue of Turanism. The followers of Tengrism in the paramilitary organisation Grey Wolves , mainly inspired by his work, replace the Arabic designation of the god "Allah" with the Turkish "Tanri" in the oath and pronounce: " Tanrı Türkü Korusun " ( Tengri, bless
3927-426: The ideas of one of the first ideologists of pre-Islamic religion in the post-Soviet space, the Kyrgyz writer Choiun Omuraliyev alias Choiun uulu Omuraly, described in his book Tengrism (1994). Another Kyrgyz proponent of Tengrism, Kubanychbek Tezekbaev, was prosecuted for inciting religious and ethnic hatred in 2011 with statements in an interview describing Kyrgyz mullahs as "former alcoholics and murderers". At
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#17328516611384004-399: The last month of winter on the year of the tiger and descend on Dimisq (Damascus) on the 15th of the first month of spring." Now, if, being true to your words, you send your soldiers at the appointed time and, worshipping Tengri, we conquer those citizens (of Damascus together), We will give you Orislim (Jerusalem). How can it be appropriate if you were to start amassing your soldiers later than
4081-853: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tangra&oldid=1259842067 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Tengri Tengri ( Old Turkic : 𐰚𐰇𐰚:𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 , romanized: Kök Teŋri/Teŋiri , lit. 'Blue Heaven'; Old Uyghur : [REDACTED] tängri ; Middle Turkic : تآنغرِ ; Ottoman Turkish : تڭری ; Kyrgyz : Теңир ; Kazakh : Тәңір ; Turkish : Tanrı ; Azerbaijani : Tanrı ; Bulgarian : Тангра ; Proto-Turkic : * teŋri / * taŋrɨ ; Mongolian script : ᠲᠩᠷᠢ , T'ngri ; Mongolian : Тэнгэр , Tenger ; Uyghur : تەڭرى , tengri )
4158-525: The love of my father mighty Tengri". When Nilqa Sengum the son of Toghrul Khan tries to convince him to attack Temujin, Toghrul says "How can I think evil of my son Temujin? If we think evil of him when he is such a critical support to us, Tengri will not be pleased with us". After Nilqa Sengum throws a number of tantrums Toghrul finally relents and says "I was afraid of Tengri and said how can I harm my son. If you are really capable, then you decide what you need to do". When Boorchi and Ogedei return wounded from
4235-712: The modern Turks and Mongols. Their names are 90% Arabic, Persian, Greek, Jewish, etc; religion is Semitic (Arabic, Christian, Jewish) and Indian; many do not know their philosophy and traditions; live by the laws and lifestyle of the West; clothes and their food is western; the alphabet is western; forgotten your kind and ancestors; they do not know the history of their folk; many city residents do not speak their native language. Who are they really and what do they have own for today? Only hereditary genes ... The Yakut philologist Lazar Afanasyev-Teris, PhD founded Tengrist organisation "Kut-Siur" (now Aiyy Faith ) in 1990–1993. The headquarters of
4312-568: The monotheistic concept evolved later out of a polytheistic system and was not the original form of Tengrism. The monotheistic concept helped to legitimate the rule of the dynasty: "As there is only one God in Heaven, there can only be one ruler on the earth ...". Others point out that Tengri itself was never an Absolute, but only one of many gods of the upper world, the sky deity , of polytheistic shamanism, later known as Tengrism. Tengrism differs from contemporary Siberian shamanism in that it
4389-401: The mountains at the age of 12. The Taichiud had come for him when he was living with his siblings and mother in the wilderness, subsisting on roots, wild fruits, sparrows and fish. He was hiding in the thick forest of Terguun Heights. After three days hiding he decided to leave and was leading his horse on foot when he looked back and noticed his saddle had fallen. Temujin says "I can understand
4466-872: The mythological origins of the Turks. The inscription dedicated to Kul Tigin includes the passages (in the translation provided by the Language Committee of Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan ): "When the blue sky [Tengri] above and the brown earth below were created, between them a human being was created. Over the human beings, my ancestors Bumin Kagan and Istemi Kagan ruled. They ruled people by Turkish laws, they led them and succeeded" (face 1, line 1); "Tengri creates death. Human beings have all been created in order to die" ( Old Turkic : Öd Teŋri yasar kisi oγlu qop ölgeli törürmis ), (face 2, line 9); "You passed away (lit.: 'went flying') until Tengri gives you life again" (face 2, line 14). Khagans ruled by
4543-417: The name is recorded in Chinese annals from the 4th century BC, describing the beliefs of the Xiongnu . It takes the form 撑犁/ Cheng-li , which is hypothesized to be a Chinese transcription of Tängri . (The Proto-Turkic form of the word has been reconstructed as *Teŋri or, the back-ablauted variant *Taŋrï .) Alternatively, a reconstructed Altaic etymology from *T`aŋgiri ("oath" or "god") would emphasize
4620-583: The name of a (personal) god or "higher being". Tengri was the chief deity worshipped by the ruling class of the Central Asian steppe peoples in 6th to 9th centuries ( Turkic peoples , Mongols and Hungarians ). It lost its importance when the Uighuric kagans proclaimed Manichaeism the state religion in the 8th century. The worship of Tengri was brought into Eastern Europe by the Huns and early Bulgars . Tengri
4697-418: The national, "natural" religion of the Turkic peoples. So, during the 2002 trip to Khakassia , Russia, Akayev spoke out that a visit to the Yenisei River and the runic steles constituted "a pilgrimage to a holy place for the Kyrgyz" just as the pilgrimage to Mecca. Presenting Islam as foreign to the Turkic peoples, as Semitic religion together with Christianity and Judaism, adherents are found primarily among
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#17328516611384774-428: The nationalistic parties of Central Asia. Tengrism may be interpreted as a Turkic version of Russian neopaganism , which is already well-established. It is partly similar to the new religious movements , such as New Age . In Tatarstan, the only Tengrist periodical Beznen-Yul (Our Path) appeared in 1997, and also works a theorist of Tengrist movement Rafael Bezertinov. He writes: Today it's hard to even say who
4851-419: The new moon of the first summer month (May 14th, 1290), when we were in Urumi. Tengri is mentioned many times in the Secret History of the Mongols , written in 1240. The book starts by listing the ancestors of Genghis Khan starting from Borte Chino (Blue Wolf) born with "destiny from Tengri". Borte Chino was either a heavenly wolf, a real man with the totemic name of a wolf or Modu Chanyu . Bodonchar Munkhag
4928-425: The northern Caucasus reportedly believed in two gods: Tangri Han (or Tengri Khan), considered identical to the Persian Esfandiyār and for whom horses were sacrificed, and Kuar (whose victims are struck by lightning). Traditional Tengrism was more embraced by the nomadic Turks than by those residing in the lower mountains or forests. This belief influenced Turkic and Mongol religious history since ancient times until
5005-420: The original Turkish concept of Tengri was that of "heaven" or a spirit ruling in heaven. This spirit was probably imagined as some sort of force, corresponding to "mana" in modern ethnology. The most important contemporary testimony of Tengri worship is found in the Old Turkic Orkhon inscriptions , dated to the early 8th century. Written in the so-called Orkhon script , these inscriptions record an account of
5082-407: The other peoples, those who, forgetting the Eternal Tengri and disobeying him, are lying and stealing, are there not many of them? Now, you say that we have not received silam, you are offended and harbor thoughts of discontent. [But] if one prays to Eternal Tengri and carries righteous thoughts, it is as much as if he had received silam. We have written our letter in the year of the tiger, the fifth of
5159-414: The religion of the ancient Turkic states could not be primitive shamanism, which was only a magical part of the religion of the ancient Türks (see a historiography of the problem: Alici 2011 , pp. 137–139). The nature of this religion remains debatable. According to many scholars, it was originally polytheistic , but a monotheistic branch with the sky god Kök-Tengri as the supreme being evolved as
5236-472: The religion of the ancient Turks is found in the works of the 19th century Kazakh ethnographer Shoqan Walikhanov . The term was introduced into a wide scientific circulation in 1956 by Jean-Paul Roux and later in the 1960s as a general term of English-language papers. Tengrianism is a reflection of the Russian term, Тенгрианство ("Tengriánstvo"). It is introduced by Kazakh poet and turkologist Olzhas Suleymenov in his 1975 book AZ-and-IA . Since
5313-439: The sky deity Tenger Etseg – also Gök Tengri ; Sky father , Blue sky – or to other deities. While Tengrism includes the worship of personified gods ( tngri ) such as Ülgen and Kayra , Tengri is considered an "abstract phenomenon". In Mongolian folk religion, Genghis Khan is considered one of the embodiments, if not the main embodiment, of Tengri's will. The forms of the name Tengri ( Old Turkic : Täŋri ) among
5390-433: The use of 天 as a phonetic component in phono-semantic compound Chinese characters , and the choice of 天 to transcribe foreign syllables, all of which prompted them to conclude that, around 200 CE, 天's onset had two pronunciations: coronal * tʰ & dorsal * x , both of which likely originated from an earlier voiceless lateral * l̥ˤ . Linguist Stefan Georg has proposed that the Turkic word ultimately originates as
5467-448: The western steppe) and its later form the Vedic religion . The chief god Tengri ("Heaven") is considered strikingly similar to the Indo-European sky god *Dyḗus and the East Asian Tian (Chinese: "Sky; Heaven"). The structure of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion is actually closer to that of the early Turks than to the religion of any people of neolithic European, Near Eastern or Mediterranean antiquity. The term "shamanism"
5544-587: The will of Tengri thought the ancient Turkic people and preserved these thoughts in the texts of the Orkhon inscriptions in the following way: "I, Tengri-like and Tengri-born Turk Bilge Kaghan , succeeded to the throne at this time" ( Old Turkic : Teŋiriteg Teŋiride bolmuš Türük Bilge Qaγan bü ödüke olurtum ). In one Turkic myth , Tengri is a pure, white goose that flies constantly over an endless expanse of water, which represents time. Beneath this water, Ak Ana ("White Mother") calls out to him saying "Create". To overcome his loneliness, Tengri creates Er Kishi , who
5621-463: Was a form of Tengrism and Shamanism. Tengrists view their existence as sustained by the eternal blue sky (Tengri), the fertile mother-earth spirit ( Eje ) and a ruler regarded as the chosen one by the holy spirit of the sky. Heaven, earth, spirits of nature and ancestors provide for every need and protect all humans. By living an upright, respectful life, a human will keep his world in balance and perfect his personal Wind Horse , or spirit. The Huns of
5698-737: Was a more organized religion. Additionally the polities practicing it were not small bands of hunter-gatherers like the Paleosiberians , but a continuous succession of pastoral, semi-sedentarized khanates and empires from the Xiongnu Empire (founded 209 BC) to the Mongol Empire (13th century). In Mongolia it survives as a synthesis with Tibetan Buddhism while surviving in purer forms around Lake Khovsgol and Lake Baikal . Unlike Siberian shamanism, which has no written tradition, Tengrism can be identified from Turkic and Mongolic historical texts like
5775-459: Was a talker with great words. That is why I have lost to you Temujin, blessed and destined by Father Tengri." Genghis Khan appoints Shikhikhutug chief judge of the Empire in 1206 and tells him "Be my eyes to see and ears to hear when I am ordering the empire through the blessing of Eternal Tengri" (paragraph 203). Genghis Khan appoints Muqali "Gui Wang" because he "transmitted the word of Tengri when I
5852-421: Was first applied by Western anthropologists as outside observers of the ancient religion of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples, as well as those of the neighbouring Tungusic and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Upon observing more religious traditions across the world, some Western anthropologists began to also use the term in a very broad sense. The term was used to describe unrelated magico-religious practices found within
5929-425: Was sitting under the spreading tree in the valley of Khorkhunag Jubur where Hotula Khan used to dance" (paragraph 206). He gives Khorchi of the Baarin 30 wives because he promised Khorchi he would fulfill his request for 30 wives "if what you say comes true through the mercy and power of Tengri" (paragraph 207). Genghis mentions both Eternal Tengri and "heaven and earth" when he says "By the mercy of Eternal Tengri and
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