TENGRIANISM

TENGRIANISM (from Turk. tengri – sky, deity, Lord) is a religious belief of the Mongol and Turkic tribes. It appeared, presumably, at the end of the 2nd – beginning of the 1st Millennium BC. T. is based on the belief that the nature has a soul and relative connection with humans (see Animism, Totemism). According to T., the world consists of underground, ground and heaven spaces, each of them a home for different deities: Yer-su (see Earth‑Water), Umay (Goddess of fertility), Erlik (God of death), Fire, Sun, Moon, Stars, Air, Clouds, Wind, Storm, Thunder and Lightning, Rain and Rainbow and host‑spirits, Tengri – the head deity, who  both  lives  and  represents  the  heavens. T. was an element of ancient beliefs transformed under the influence of Christian and Muslim religions, partially reflected in different aspects of ethnic culture. The elements of T. are preserved in Bashkir folklore (epic images of Khumay, etc.), toponyms [Tarynkulovo village (Almenevskiy district Kurganskaya region); Tangriberda (Baymakskiy district of RB) currently does not exist]; names of clan attributes: a call of karagay-kypsak clans of the kypsak tribe was the word “tengri”), etc. The name of a single God, creator was Tura (tengri), according to Chuvash beliefs. Stories of praying and making sacrifi in honor of Tengri were common for legends and lore (“Ashkul” lore, “Idukay and Muradym”, “Kungyr-buga”, “Ural-batyr” epics, etc.) Proverbs and idioms, prayers show Tengri as a protector and defender bringing luck and welfare to people: “Tengri, show your mercy”, “Suddenly got from Tengri”, “Respect your neighbors as you respect Tengri”, etc. T. elements can be noticed at the feasts of sacrifice, traditional holidays, such as raven's porridge, cuckoo's tea, Nardugan, Nauruz, sabantuy, agricultural rituals. T. is connected with the tradition of worshipping the souls of dead ancestors (see Cults): construction of stone tombs, conducting different rituals, etc.

Z.G. Aminev