Ancient origins , crowned by two winged victories. The relief dates to the second century. Tamgas originate in prehistoric times, but their exact usage and development cannot be continuously traced over time. There are, however, symbols represented in rock art that are referred to as tamgas or tamga-like. If they serve to record the presence of individuals at a particular place, they may be functionally equivalent to medieval tamgas. In the later phases of the
Bosporan Kingdom of the
Crimea, the ruling dynasty applied personal tamgas, composed of a fragment representing the family and a fragment representing the individual king, apparently in continuation of steppe traditions and in an attempt to consolidate sedentary and nomadic factions within the kingdom.
Turkic peoples clan of the
First Turkic Khaganate clan
Dulo. , the national symbol of
Crimean Tatars , listing Oghuz tamgas. According to Clauson (1972, p.504f.), Common Turkic
tamga means "originally a `brand' or mark of ownership placed on horses, cattle, and other livestock; it became at a very early date something like a European coat of arms or crest, and as such appears at the head of several Türkü and many O[ld] Kir[giz] funary monuments". In
Turkestan, it has remained what it originally was: a cattle brand and clan identifier. The Turks who remained pastoral nomad kings in eastern Anatolia and Iran, continued to use their clan tamgas and in fact, they became high-strung nationalistic imagery. The
Aq Qoyunlu and
Qara Qoyunlu, like many other royal dynasties in Eurasia, put their tamga on their flags and stamped their coinage with it. When Turkish clans took over more
urban or
rural areas, tamgas dropped out of use as
pastoral ways of life became forgotten. That is most evident in the Turkish clans that took over western and eastern
Anatolia after the
Battle of Manzikert. The Turks who took over western Anatolia founded the
Sultanate of Rûm and became Roman-style aristocrats. Most of them adopted the then-Muslim symbol of the
Seal of Solomon after the Sultanate disintegrated into a mass of feuding
ghazi states (see
Isfendiyarids,
Karamanids). Only the Ottoman ghazi state (later to become the
Ottoman Empire)
kept its tamga, which was so highly stylized that the bow was stylized down eventually to a crescent moon. Tamgas of the 21
Oghuz tribes (as Charuklug had none) according to
Mahmud al-Kashgari in
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk: File:Kinik.svg|
Qiniq File:Kayi.svg|
Kayı File:Bayundur.svg|
Bayandur File:Yiva.svg|
Yiwa File:Salur.svg|
Salur File:Avsar.svg|
Afshar File:Begdili.svg|
Begtili File:Bugduz.svg|
Bugduz File:Bayat.svg|
Bayat File:Yazir.svg|
Yazigir File:Eymur.svg|
Eymur File:Karaevli.svg|
Karaboluk File:Akevli.svg|
Аlkaboluk File:Igdir.svg|
Taşburun (Iğdır) File:Yuregir.svg|
Uregir (
Yüregir) File:Dodurga.svg|
Dodurga File:Alayuntlu.svg|
Ulayundluğ File:Doger.svg|
Döger File:Pecenek.svg|
Pechenek File:Cavuldur.svg|
Chuvaldar File:Cepni.svg|
Chepni === List of Kazakh tamga symbols that were used by
clans ===
Mongolian "Tamga", or "tamag'a", literally means "stamp" or "seal" in
Mongolian and designates emblematic symbols which were historically used by various Mongolic tribes or clans in Central Asia. According to Clauson (1972, p.504), it was originally a Turkic word also "used for a Chinese 'seal' and passed into Mong[olian] in this meaning as
tamaga". In the
Mongol Empire, a tamgha was a seal placed on taxed items and, by extension, a tax on commerce (see Eastern Europe below). Over a hundred different Mongolian tamga are known. Certain tamga were adopted by individual medieval Mongolic and Turkic rulers, and were consequently used on coins and seals issued by these rulers. Tamga are most widely found on Islamic coins issued by the descendants of
Chinggis Khan in the various khanates of Central Asia during the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular the
Chaghatai Khanate. Tamga are of immense interest to numismatists, and are discussed in many academic works relating to the medieval Islamic coins of Central Asia. However, numismatists and historians currently have limited options for representing tamga symbols in text, and cannot reliably interchange text including tamga symbols because they are either represented as images, or are handdrawn, or use an ad hoc font. Doctor Nyamaa identifies nearly a hundred tamga signs used on coins, although only about half of them can be assigned to a specific ruler, and some of them are variant forms or presentation forms of the same tamga. File:Naran Tamga.svg|alt=|Naran Tamga or Ongin Tamga File:Chinggis khan tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Chinggis khan File:Tului khan tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Tului khan File:Ugudei khan tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Ögedei Khan File:Tsagadai khan Tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Tsagadai khan File:Zuchi khan tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Juchi khan File:Guyug khan tamga.svg|alt=|Tamga of
Guyug khan Tamgas are also
stamped using hot irons on domesticated animals such as horses in present-day
Mongolia and others to identify that the livestock belongs to a certain family, since livestock is allowed to roam during the day. Each family has their own tamga markings for easier identification. Tamga marks are not very elaborate, since they are made from curved pieces of iron by the individual families. A ''tamag'a'' is also used as the "state seal" of
Mongolia, which is handed over by the
President of Mongolia as part of the transition to a new president. In the presidential case, the tamag'a is a little more elaborate and is contained in a wooden box.
Caucasus From Turkic, the term "tamga" has also been loaned into Caucasian languages, e.g., ; . Among the
Circassians, almost every family has a tamga to this day. The tamga consists of simple lines and hooks and functions as a family crest, property mark, and lineage symbol. The rules for using a tamga are integrated directly into
Khabze. Families used it primarily to brand livestock, such as horses and sheep. Fathers passed the tamga down to their sons, and customary law strictly forbade anyone from forging or using another family's mark. The tamga had several uses beyond agriculture. A tamga was often used as a seal or signature on documents. Craftsmen stamped it on their products to show origin. Families carved it on tombstones to identify the dead, and commanders drew it on military flags. Losing a flag that carried the family tamga was a source of shame. In the modern era, the
tamga lost its practical use for branding livestock or sealing documents, but is preserved as a "Family Symbol" or family coat of arms. Tamgas are still used in arts and frequently incorporated into the geometric patterns of traditional multi-colored woven mats and prayer rugs. Families still engrave them on weapons and rings, and carve them into gravestones to clearly identify the burial sites of their relatives. ==Secondary usage==