Tengrism

The forms of the name Tengri () among the ancient and modern Turkic and Mongolic languages are Tengeri, Tangara, Tangri, Tanri, Tangre, Tegri, Tingir, Tenkri, Tangra, Teri, Ter, and Ture. The name Tengri ("the sky") is derived from ("daybreak") or Tan ("dawn"). Meanwhile, Stefan Georg has proposed that the Turkic Tengri ultimately originates as a loanword from Proto-Yeniseian *tɨŋgɨr- – "high". Mongolia is sometimes poetically called the "Land of Eternal Blue Sky" () by its inhabitants. According to some scholars, the name of the important deity Dangun (also Tangol) ("god of the mountains") of 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 current spelling is found in the works of the 19th-century Kazakh ethnographer Shoqan Walikhanov. The term was introduced into scientific circulation in 1956 by French scholar Jean-Paul Roux and later in the 1960s as a general term in English-language papers. Tengrianism is a reflection of the Russian term '' ("Tengriánstvo"). It was introduced by Kazakh poet and turkologist Olzhas Suleymenov in his 1975 book AZ-and-IA''. Since 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, and Tengrianity can also be found since the 1990s. In modern Turkey and, partly in Kyrgyzstan, Tengrism is known as ' or ("sky god religion"); the Turkish ("sky") and ("god") correspond to the Mongolian ("blue") and ("sky"), respectively. The Mongolian ' 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 History of Turkish Holy Tradition and Turkish Civilization that 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: ). 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 a dynastical legitimation. It is at least agreed that Tengrism formed from the various folk religions of the local people and may have had diverse branches. Some scholars have 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, 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 have pointed 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. , who wrote an account of his travels among Samoyedic- and Tungusic-speaking peoples in 1692. Witsen labeled the illustration as a "Priest of the Devil", giving this figure clawed feet to express what he thought were demonic qualities. Tengrism differs from contemporary Siberian shamanism in that it 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-sedentary 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 existing 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 the Orkhon inscriptions, the 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 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 closer to that of the early Turks than to the religion of any people of neolithic European, Near Eastern, or Mediterranean antiquity. ethnicity. Terms for "shaman" and "shamaness" in Siberian languages: • 'shaman': saman (Nedigal, Nanay, Ulcha, Orok), sama (Manchu). The variant /šaman/ (i.e., pronounced "shaman") is Evenk (whence it was borrowed into Russian). • 'shaman': alman, olman, wolmen (Yukagir) • 'shaman': (Tatar, Shor, Oyrat), (Tuva, Tofalar) • The Buryat word for shaman is бөө (böö) , from early Mongolian böge. • 'shaman': ńajt (Khanty, Mansi), from Proto-Uralic *nojta (cf. Sámi noaidi) • 'shamaness': (Mongol), (Yakut), udagan (Buryat), udugan (Evenki, Lamut), odogan (Nedigal). Related forms found in various Siberian languages include utagan, ubakan, utygan, utügun, iduan, or duana. All these are related to the Mongolian name of Etügen, the hearth goddess, and Etügen Eke "mother Earth". Maria Czaplicka points out that Siberian languages use words for male shamans from diverse roots, but the words for female shaman are almost all from the same root. She connects this with the theory that women's practice of shamanism was established earlier than men's and that "shamans were originally female". 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 the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. ==Historical Tengrism==

(written from right to left as Тeŋiri) monument, 8th century The first time the name Tengri was recorded in Chinese chronicles was in the 4th century BC as the sky god of the Xiongnu, using the Chinese form (chēnglí, Old Chinese ). 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 was 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 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. 's letter to Pope Innocent IV, 1246. The first four words, from top to bottom, left to right, read möngke ṭngri-yin küčündür – "under the power of the eternal heaven". The words "Tngri" (Tengri) and "zrlg" (zarlig) exhibit vowel-less archaism. 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 contain the sacral book Irk Bitig from the Uyghur Khaganate. Tengrism also played a large role in the religion of the Mongol Empire as the primary state spirituality. Genghis Khan and several generations of his followers were Tengrian believers and "shaman-kings" until his fifth-generation descendant, Özbeg 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 the great deity/spirit Munkh Tenger. Oblast. Note the lack of a compression ring at the top. Tengrism was probably similar to 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) 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 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 the 14th century, when the Golden Horde converted to Islam. From then on, 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. Orkhon inscriptions 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" (). Arghun's letters , in classical Mongolian script. The letter was given to the French king by Buscarel of Gisolfe. The Mongol ruler Arghun expressed 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 a pause before being followed by the phrase Khagan-u Suu ("majesty of the khan"): 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 Tengrist writing rules. The words "Tngri" (Tengri) and "zrlg" (zarlig, decree/order) are still written with vowel-less archaism: Tengrism in the Secret History of the Mongols is a place where Genghis Khan regularly prayed to Tengri. 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". Bodonchar Munkhag, the 9th-generation ancestor of Genghis Khan, is called a "son of Tengri". Genghis Khan is said to have encountered Tengri in the mountains at the age of 12, and the narrative subsequently mentions Tengri or alludes to Genghis Khan invoking the deity on numerous occasions. ==Contemporary Tengrism==

temple in the town of Uxin Banner in Inner Mongolia, China A revival of Tengrism has played a role in the search for native spiritual roots and a Pan-Turkish ideology since the 1990s, especially in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, some autonomous republics of the Russian Federation (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Yakutia, and others), as well as among the Crimean Karaites and Crimean Tatars. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, and especially after the proclamation of the Turkish republic in 1923, a nationalist ideology of Turanism and Kemalism contributed to the revival of Tengrism. Islamic censorship was abolished, which permitted objective study of the pre-Islamic religion of the Turks. A number of figures, while they did not officially abandon Islam, adopted Turkic names, such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Atatürk – "father of Turks") and the historian of religion and ideologist of the Kemalist regime Ziya Gökalp (Gökalp – "sky hero"). (1905–1975), one of the first ideologists of modern Tengrism The Turkish writer and historian Nihal Atsız was Tengrist and an 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 the Türks!). Prominent modern ideologues and theorists of Tengrism include (1944–2018), (1938–2003), Aron Atabek, (1955–2010), Rafael Bezertinov, Shagdaryn Bira, , (1947–2018), Mongush Kenin-Lopsan, (1958–2016), Choiun Omuraliyev, Dastan Sarygulov, and Olzhas Suleimenov. The poet, literary critic, and Turkologist Olzhas Suleimenov, eulogist of the Kazakh national identity, in his book AZ-and-IA, which was banned after publication in 1975 in Soviet Kazakhstan, presented Tengrism ("Tengrianstvo") as one of the most ancient religions in the world. Tengrism's revival of an ethnic religion has reached a larger audience in intellectual circles. Former presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan have called Tengrism the "natural" religion of the Turkic peoples. During his 2002 trip to Khakassia, Russia, Akayev stated that a visit to the Yenisei Inscriptions constituted "a pilgrimage to a holy place for the Kyrgyz" akin to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Between 1990 and 1993, the Yakut philologist Lazar Afanasyev-Teris founded the Tengrist organisation Kut-Siur, which later became Aiyy Faith. The headquarters of the International Fund of Tengri Research is also located in Yakutsk. In Tatarstan, a Tengrist periodical, Beznen-Yul, appeared in 1997. Several Kyrgyz politicians have advocated for Tengrism as a way to fill a perceived ideological void. Dastan Sarygulov, secretary of state and former chair of the Kyrgyz state gold-mining company, in 2005 established Tengir Ordo—a civic group promoting the values and traditions of Tengrism. The Soviet and Ukrainian artist and public figure (1922–2019) was a proponent of Tengrist revival among Crimean Karaites and Krymchaks. A related movement known as Burkhanism arose in 1904 in the Altai Republic, whose proponents include the painter Grigory Gurkin and the poet ) Among the Chuvash people of Russia exists the revivalist religion known as Vattisen Yaly, which is considered a form of Tengrism. Some Bulgarians identify as descendants of the Turkic Bulgars and practice a modern version of Tengrism. They are part of the Tangra Warriors Movement (Bulgarian: Движение "Воини на Тангра"). In 2003 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tengir Ordo held the first international scientific symposium on Tengrism. In 2005, the French Institute for Central Asia Studies organized a conference on Tengrism in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Since 2007, biennial scientific conferences on Tengrism have been held in Russia, Mongolia, and other countries. ==Symbols and holy places==

—symbol of Tengrism Tengrist designs and symbols can be seen on a number of flags and seals, including the flags of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In Tengrism, the tallest mountain peaks, such as Otgontenger and Burkhan Khaldun (Mongolia), Belukha (Russia), or Jengish Chokusu (Kyrgyzstan), are usually sacred places. ==Beliefs==

Tengrism is an animistic, all-encompassing system of belief that includes medicine, religion, a reverence of nature, and ancestor worship. Tengrism as a monotheistic religion developed only at the imperial level in aristocratic circles. Gods Tengrism is centered on the worship of Tengri gods and in particular, the sky deity Gök Tengri (Heaven, God of Heaven). It is known as Tangara to the Yakut. While Gök Tengri always remains abstract, never depicted in anthropomorphic or zoomorphic forms, other deities are often personified. The total number of deities believed to exist within Tengrism varies from population to population. Deities may be related to natural aspects of the world, such as earth, water, fire, the Sun, the Moon, stars, air, clouds, wind, storms, thunder and lightning, and rain and rainbows. Animals were thought to be totemistic symbols for specific gods, like sheep being associated with fire, cows with water, horses with wind, and camels with earth. Other deities include: • Umay ("placenta, afterbirth") is the goddess of children and babies' souls. She is the daughter of Tengri. • Kayra is the primordial god of highest sky, upper air, space, atmosphere, light, and life, and is a son of Gök Tengri. • Ülgen is the son of Kayra and Umay and is the god of goodness. • Mergen is the son of Kayra and the brother of Ülgen. He represents mind and intelligence and sits on the seventh level of the sky. • Erlik is the god of death and the underworld, known as Tamag. • Ay Dede is the moon god. • Natigai is the god of pregnancy, children, livestock, wives, and health. there is the "celestial world", the ground to which "earth-water" (yer-su) belongs, and the "underworld", ruled by spirits beneath the earth. They are connected through the world tree in the center of the worlds. The celestial and subterranean worlds are divided into seven layers, although there are variations (the underworld sometimes has nine layers and the celestial world 17). Shamans are able to find entries to travel into these realms. In the multiples of these realms, there are beings, living just like humans on Earth. They also have their own respected souls and shamans and nature spirits. Sometimes, these beings visit the Earth but are invisible to people. They manifest themselves only in a strange sizzling fire or a bark to the shaman. Heavenly world The heavens are inhabited by righteous souls, the Creator, and protector deities. The celestial world has many similarities with the Earth, but it is undefiled by humans. It contains a pristine, untouched nature, and the natives have never deviated from the traditions of their ancestors. This realm is much brighter than the Earth and is under the auspices of Ulgen, a son of Tengri. Shamans can also visit this world. On some days, the doors of this heavenly world are opened, and the light shines through the clouds. During this moment, the prayers of the shamans are most influential. A shaman performs his imaginary journey, which takes him to the heavens, by riding a black bird, a deer, or a horse, or by changing into the shape of these animals. Otherwise, he may scale the world tree or cross a rainbow. Subterranean world The underworld is the abode of wicked souls, devils, and evil deities. Julie Stewart, who devoted her life to doing research in Mongolia, described the belief in souls in one of her articles: • Amin: Provides breathing and body temperature. It is the soul that invigorates. • Sünesün: Outside of the body, this soul moves through water. It is the soul that reincarnates. After a human died, this soul moves to the world tree, before entering a newborn child. • Sülde: The soul that provides personality. If the other souls leave the body, the person loses consciousness, but if this soul leaves, the human dies. This soul resides in nature after death and is not reborn. Anthropology Humans are the product of (father) Heaven and (mother) Earth. Records of Old Turkic inscriptions tell about the beginning of humans as follows: By that, Tengrism favors an ecocentric theological system over an anthropocentric one. Tengrism sanctifies human relationship with nature (which might be personified or not) and their relationship with the sky. Contrary to the Abrahamic account on anthropogeny, Tengrism does not place humans above nature, rather considering mankind as part of nature, without any special rank assigned by God. Creation story There is no unified creation myth within Tengrist beliefs. However, it is possible to reconstruct beliefs by narratives handed down orally. According to the "Fire Prayer", it is implied that Heaven and Earth were once one but separated later, giving birth to fire (Od). After this separation, life on Earth came into being: rain fell from the heavens, and from the Earth sprouted various lifeforms. ==Tengrism and Buddhism==

Tengrism was assimilated into Mongolian Buddhism while surviving in purer forms only in far-northern Mongolia. Tengrist formulas and ceremonies were subsumed into the state religion. The 17th-century Mongolian chronicle Altan Tobchi contains the following prayer at the very end: The figure of the god of war (Daichin Tengri) was iconographically depicted in Buddhist-influenced form and carried into battle by certain armies. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kalmyk prince Serebzhab Tyumen (1774–1858) and 500 Kalmyks from his second cavalry regiment, as well as 500 Kalmyks of the first regiment of Prince Jamba-Taishi Tundutov, carried the yellow banner of Daichin Tengri through the battles of Borodino, Warsaw, Leipzig, Fère-Champenoise (1814) as well as the capture of Paris. In early 1921, the Buddhist baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg (1886–1921) was reportedly recognized as Daichin Tengri by the Bogd Khan of Mongolia. James Palmer, in his book The Bloody White Baron quotes Ferdynand Ossendowski, who claims that Ungern-Sternberg's imminent death was foretold on three separate occasions: Иллюстрация к статье «Калмыцкое войско». Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg|Banner of Daichin Tengri, carried into battle during the Napoleonic Wars Kalmyk princes Tyumenevy (by K. Hampeln).jpg|Serebzhab Tyumen (seated) carried the banner of Daichin Tengri into the Battle of Fère-Champenoise (1814). Ungern-Sternberg-1920.jpg|Baron Ungern was called the God of War (Daichin Tengri) by certain Mongols. ==Tengrism and Islam==

Conversion The most likely route of conversion to Islam for the Turks has been via Sufism, identifying Dervishes as something akin to shamans. In the writings of Ahmad Yasawi, both Tengrist elements as well as Islamic themes can be found. For example, Muhammad features as the prototype of humanity's way to unite with God, and the Turks simultaneously refer to God as both kok tangir (Gök Tengri) or Allah. Turkic and Mongolic peoples in Central Asia largely converted to Islam during the fourteenth century, with a strong focus on inwardly and personal experience. Thus, many scholars have argued for a syncretism between Orthodox Islam, Sufism, and pre-Islamic Turkic religion. The sociologist Rakhat Achylova studied how aspects of Tengrism were adopted into a Kyrgyz form of Islam. The Muslim Turkic scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, around the year 1075, described the non-Islamic Turks as infidels: "The infidels – may God destroy them! – call the sky Tengri, also anything that is imposing in their eyes call Tengri, such as a great mountain or tree, and they bow down to such things." The Medieval Syriac historian Michael the Syrian (1166–1199) describes the Turk conversion from Tengrism to Islam in one of his surviving text fragments. He mentions three reasons for Turkic conversion: First: as we said above, the Turks have always proclaimed one God, already in their land of origin, even though they considered the invisible firmament as God. [...] They think in fact that the sky is the unique God. So when they heard the Arabs speak about one God, they adhered to their religion. The second way: the Turks who came first and went to the land of Margiana [the region of Merv in today's Turkmenistan] and settled there arrived at the time of the Persians. After a while Muhammad appeared and was accepted by the Arabs, and then by the Persians too. [...] So the Turks who had migrated to the land of Margiana joined Islam, just like the Persian people and the race of the Kurds. And when the new Turks who arrived afterwards met their people and those who spoke their language, they also turned to the customs they found the others had taken up, following their lead. The third way of the Turks' union with the Tayyaye [Arabs] was the following: since the Arabs used to take the Turks with them as mercenaries in the war against the Greeks, and they would enter these prosperous regions and feed on the booty, they would listen to the Arabs and accept the word of Muhammad who said that by giving up the worship of idols and other created things [...]." First contact between shamanistic Turks and Islam took place during the Battle of Talas against the Chinese Tang dynasty. Many shamanistic beliefs were considered genuinely Islamic by many average Muslims and are still prevalent today. Turkic Tengrism further influenced parts of Sufism and folk Islam, especially Bektashism, Others, on the other hand, assert that Tengri is indeed synonymous with Allah and that Turkic ancestors did not leave their former belief behind but simply accepted "Allah" as a new expression for "Tengri". Shoqan Walikhanov wrote that only the names but not the thoughts became Islamic. Thus, Gök Tengri was called Allah, and Tengrist demons became div, peri, or jinn, but the idea behind them remained shamanic. ==Tengrism and Christianity==

Hulegu Khan sent a letter in Latin to King Louis IX of France on 10 April 1262, from his capital of Maragheh, in Iran. Kept in the Vienna National Library as MS 339, it is both an invitation for joint operations against the Mamluks as well as an imperious command to submit. The letter provides key insights into the Mongols' understanding of Tengrism's relationship to Christianity as well as furnishing one of the first Latin transcriptions of Tengri. Only a few sentences from the lengthy letter are shown below (those with relevance to Tengrism): The letter largely propounds the usual Mongol ideology and understanding of Tengrism, with mentions of the supreme shaman Kokochu Teb Tengri. All meanings of Tengri including the sky, the most high God, and "a god", are implied in the letter. Jesus Christ is called Misicatengrin or Messiah-Tengri in the letter. The Misica is from Syriac mshiha (Messiah, Christ) as opposed to Arabic masih. Another Syriac word in the letter is barachmar (greetings). This points to the Nestorian heritage within the Mongol Empire, which used Syriac as its liturgical language. The Mongolian letter of Arghun Khan to Pope Nicholas IV (1290) also uses the word Misica for Christ. William of Rubruck reported that Ariq Böke, brother of Hulegu Khan, used the word Messiah near Karakorum in 1254 (Then they began to blaspheme against Christ, but Arabuccha stopped them saying: "You must not speak so, for we know that the Messiah is God"). There are elements of syncretism between Tengrism and Nestorian Christianity, with overlapping notions of monotheism and a traditional view of Christ as Misicatengrin probably dating back to the Keraite conversion in 1007. In Hulegu's letter, Tengrism takes the overarching, non-dogmatic role and contains Nestorianism as a compatible subset, in line with the religious pluralism practiced by the Mongols. Hulegu himself was not strictly a Christian, although his wife, his general Kitbuqa, and his mother were Nestorians. He was a Tengrist whose Nestorian interests were of the Mongol, syncretic type. His successor, Abaqa Khan, would take part in the Ninth Crusade with the future King Edward of England in 1271 and also storm the Krak des Chevaliers in February 1281, with the Hospitallers of Margat. Due to the claim that there is only one eternal Tengri in heaven, many Christians believed Tengri refers to the Christian God. However, it is clear from a letter by Güyük Khan, sent to the Pope, that the Mongols would not convert to Christianity, because they would not obey the word of Möngke Tengri (Eternal God). ==Contemporary era==

Mongolia In Mongolia, Tengrism continues to be practised by a small percentage of the population. Modern revival Tengrism, as a form of Central Asian shamanism, has experienced a revival following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In Kyrgyzstan, Tengrism was suggested as a pan-Turkic national ideology following the 2005 presidential elections by an ideological committee chaired by state secretary Dastan Sarygulov. In 2014, an attempt was made by Tengrist followers to get recognition of the religion by collecting 5,000 signatures and submitting them to the government, though the motion was ultimately not recognized. Murat Auezov, former head of the National Public Library of Kazakhstan, regards Tengrism as a manifestation of a worldview in which humankind is identified with nature, in contrast to anthropocentric religions. According to Kazakh writer Ulyana Fatyanova, Tengrism does not have a specific set of laws—Tengri's laws are the laws of the universe (which might include physics, karma, spirits, gods, and so on). In 2022, the lawyer Burhanettin Mumcuoğlu became the first person in Turkey to officially change his religion from Islam to Tengrism. ==Demographics==

In 2024, there were over one million people following Tengrism in Kazakhstan. However, it has not been recognized as one of the official religions there. In Kyrgyzstan, there were about 50,000 people following Tengrism in 2014. It has also not been recognized as a religion there. ==See also==