DEITIES NAMED TENGRI. At the same time that Tengri the
sky god emerges (second half of the first millennium CE),
Old Turkic inscriptions mention various deities named Ten-
gri, but little information is available on these. Yol Tengri
is the “god of roads or paths” or “god of luck” (yol has these
two meanings), Öd Tengri is the “god of weather”; there is
a Tengri who lies among the reeds as well. No evidence indi-
cates the nature of the relationship between these characters
and the sky god. Any attempt to make such a determination
is complicated by the fact that the same inscriptions more
often refer to much greater divine powers that were never
called tengri. “Venerated” or “worshiped” celestial bodies also
were never called tengri.
From toponymy and foreign sources, we know that in
certain cases mountains are called tengri (for example, Tengri
Tag, “celestial mountain”; Chin., Tianshan), as are some
lakes (for example, Tengri Nor, “celestial lake,” in Mongo-
lia). To add to the confusion, an eleventh-century observer,
Mah:mu ̄ d al-Ka ̄shghar ̄ı, remarked that the word tengri ap-
plies to everything that appears enormous—a huge tree, for
instance. Knowing this, it is no surprise today to see the sky
god, who has a greatly attenuated reality, gradually replaced
by great deities who are often called Tengri. Even if one has
every reason to believe that the word is an adjective, does this
usage not make a god out of a divine being or object? Such
is the case with certain shamans, like the one who enthroned
Chinggis Khan, Teb Tenggeri (“very celestial”); certain sor-
cerers (“a holy old woman”); the nation (“my sacred na-
tion”); and most of the khans (“my holy khan”). In fact,
there was a Türk sovereign who had no name but Tengri
Khan (r. 734–741). Finally, scholars are unsure to what ex-
tent something called “blue” (in Turkic languages, kök;
Mong., köke), in the sense of an attribute of the sky, is to be
identified with God. Examples of this usage are found
among the Turkic peoples and among the Mongols; as, for
instance, in the case of the Mongol emperor Möngke: Köke
Möngke (“blue eternal”).
THE SKY GOD. The modern Turco-Mongol peoples who
have preserved their ancient religion have less of an interest
in the sky god than previously. Most often, the sky is the
abode of a celestial god, sometimes anthropomorphized, who
has numerous assistants—his sons and daughters, his wife,
and many others. The sky is divided into levels, generally
seven according to the supposed number of planets. Even in
areas where Russian Orthodoxy or Buddhism has had little
influence, there are many unstable tengris, a fact that corre-
sponds perfectly to the traditional ideology. All attempts to
classify them are wholly imposed from without and lack
foundation in the tradition. As for the sky god, in areas
where belief in him persists, he is nonetheless considered to
be very distant. The Altaic tribes call him Tengere Kaira
Khan (“merciful lord sky”), but his sons and assistants hold
the real power, notably the power of creation: they are Bai
Ülgen alone or together with Kysogan Tengere and Mergen
Tengere. The great god of the Yakuts is Iuriung A ̆ıyy To ̆ıon
(“white lord creator”) or A ̆ıyy To ̆ıon. It is believed that he
gradually became a deus otiosus. In fact, it appears that he has
always been such for the masses. As early as the tenth centu-
ry, Balik Bayat, “supreme old one” or “supreme wealthy
one,” is regarded as the creator. I must point out, however,
that the ancient cosmogonies are inconsistent and that the
problem of origins has only recently been addressed. When
creation was later attributed to the sky god, it seems likely
that it was in response to questions posed by Muslims or
Christians.
The active sky god is an imperial creation that concerns
only the imperial religion: the people devoted attention to
him only in times when imperial power was sufficient to
command widespread obedience to the deity. Occasionally,
sincere devotees of the sky god would appear. Such mystics
were claimed to be “slaves of Tengri,” but no Islamic influ-
ence can be discerned in this appellation. The sky god ap-
pears already before the common era among the Xiongnu,
then later, continually, in all the great political formations
up to the fourteenth century. Under the Türk (sixth to
eighth century) and under the Mongols (thirteenth to four-
teenth century), he is particularly visible. The former call
him “blue,” “elevated” or “above,” and “endowed with
power”; the latter add to these qualities that he is “eternal,”
a characteristic supposedly long implied.
It is not an exaggeration to say that no other deity has
responded so much to the needs of his loyal followers. The
Turco-Mongol emperor first wanted to gather all those of his
race, then the entire world. His god was national (the Tengri
of the Türks and Mongols), then universal and unique.
There is but one god in the sky and one sole sovereign on
earth: such is the ideology. It represents a desperate but un-
successful effort to promote monotheism; the other deities
remained alive in the minds of the people and were more or
less associated with the sky god. Even so, the sky god is as
predominant as the emperor himself, who “comes from
him,” “resembles him” (and is sometimes his son), conducts
privileged conversations with him, receives and transmits his
orders, conquers in his name, names dignitaries in his name,
rewards and punishes with death (the only punishment of
Tengri, used often against those who revolt), distributes to
everyone, man or beast, kut, a vitality that brings happiness,
and ülüg, luck. Nevertheless, the sky god can do without the
emperor when he is weakening or has lost his divine man-
date. In such a case he “applies pressure,” or sends his mes-
sengers: an eagle, an enigmatic angel, some rays of light often
accompanied by “dazzling daughters,” or the animal guides,
particularly the wolf, who are none other than the imperial
ancestors. Anyone can talk to the sky god, but shamans are
forbidden to have closer relationships with him than the
prince does: any pretension of having such a relationship will
lead to the shaman’s destruction. In contrast, great respect
is shown to all those who are specialists in spirituality, nota-
bly to foreign priests who are protected and exempted from
taxes on the condition that they pray for the emperor’s
longevity.TENGRI 9081