The overwhelming majority of the descendants of the Turkic peoples now practice Islam. But how was it before? In whom did the ancestors of the Turks, Tatars, Kirghiz, Kazakhs, Azerbaijanis and Uzbeks believe and fear?
Between heaven and earth
In order to understand the faith of the ancient Turks, it is worth taking a closer look at the area of their settlement. The first archaeological finds of the remains of this ethnos were found in Central Asia - the land of endless steppes and clear, sparkling blue sky. The life of a nomadic tribe depended on the "mood" of heaven. The sun warmed, the rains gave moisture, and lightning often caused fires. Therefore, it was the sky that became the main deity - Tengri, the patron father, the masculine principle, the creator of all that exists. It was believed that the deity lives on one of the peaks of the Tien Shan, the highest point of modern Kazakhstan. This pyramidal peak is called Khan Tengri, Lord of the sky.
The timing of the emergence of this religion is still debated. Many scientists believe that the mythology of the ancient Turks was partially borrowed by them from neighboring ethnic groups and existed already in the III millennium BC. As the main argument in favor of this version, the names of the gods appearing in the religions of neighboring peoples are given: if the Turks had Tengri, then, for example, the Huns had Tangrihan, the Lydian Greeks - Targienos (as Zeus was sometimes called), the Scythians and Slavs - Targitai. The ancient Bulgars also had an analogue of the Tengri deity - Tangra, but his name had a slightly different meaning - not the sky, but thunder as the embodiment of divine punishment for sins.
However, there is another point of view that Tengrism was created by the Turks independently. Scientists make such a conclusion on the basis of written sources (Issyk letter), who first described this religious movement in the 4th century AD.
Tengri among the Turkic tribes did not have a human appearance. He was everything - the sky, the air, the stars, he was an all-embracing spirit that had always existed. For example, Tenir is a Kyrgyz word semantically close to the name of the supreme god, translated as “infinity”.
Despite the presence of other, lower deities, Tengrianism is considered the first and most ancient monotheistic religion.
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In principle, the Turkic gods are characterized by a kind attitude towards man, they are called upon to protect people, only occasionally punishing them for their sins.
Umai - mother nature
If Tengri personified the sky, space, air, then Umai was an earthly goddess. taking care that the grass grows thick, animals do not die from diseases, and people have healthy and strong children. It was Umai who became the embodiment of the feminine principle, was responsible for fertility in all its senses.
In her honor, a beautiful doll made of blue cloth was hung in the houses (yurts) of the Turks. The totem was supposed to protect children from the attacks of evil spirits. The word “umai” was also used to describe the soul of a small child who has not yet begun to walk.
Unlike Tengri, Umai had a human image - in the imagination of people she appeared in the form of a woman with golden or silver hair. Some researchers call her Tengri's wife, but this is fundamentally wrong. She is just one of his incarnations, part of many images, ways to make a person happy and help him find his place in life.
Afterworld
According to the Turks, the afterlife is multifaceted. It is mirrored to the real, has visible and invisible parts, and one of its features is other smells. Erlik, the spirit of the dead, rules the underworld. After death, those who have done a lot of bad things enter his kingdom, since the lord of the dead is the personification of all negative human qualities. Sometimes he himself forges evil spirits in his forge, which incite a person to commit crimes. When the funeral ceremony is carried out according to the rules, i.e. a person's body is burned at the stake, his soul, together with the smoke of the fire, soars into the sky and reunites with Tengri.
Tradition and ritual
In Tengrianism, they do not pay as much attention to attributes as in Christianity or Islam. The temple is served by a decorated yurt with an altar, around which there are 9 protuberances (usually large stones). But only a clergyman can pray in this yurt. All others praise the deities in the open air, mainly at dawn and dusk.
Tengrianism, like Islam, permits polygamy, but allows a woman to leave her husband if he treats her badly, and not to return the kalym paid to her parents. The wife, as the keeper of the family hearth, is ordered to raise children. Girls are free to choose a husband, they could refuse a disliked man.
A significant place in the philosophy of Tengrianism is given to fostering respect for parents, as well as for ancestors who are no longer among the living.
This is practically the only religion that, even at the dawn of its emergence, was not opposed to science. On the contrary, the deity Tengri encouraged man's striving for knowledge, development, and the discovery of new lands.
