튀르크족의 기록에 나타난 ‘텡그리(Tengri)’의 의미

The Meaning of Tengri in Recording Materials of Turkic Peoples

  ‘Tengri’ is the great Sky God among the nomad peoples in Eurasia. The faith in Tengri of ancient Turks, Kok-Turks, was continued, and it was preserved by Altai Turkic peoples to the present time. In the Orkhon stone inscriptions were imprinted the belief of the role of Tengri. The words "Tengri" and "Sky" were synonyms for the ancient Turks. The purpose of this article is to present the meaning of Tengri in recording materials of Turkic Peoples. Tengri means the great Sky God, sky, god, the god of Turk, Budda, and saint in the ancient historical recording materials. Specially, in Irk Bitig written by Uygur alphabets Tengri means also the god of road. After Turkic peoples became Muslims, they were confused Allah with Tengri. In their literatures by written Arabic alphabets, Allah is often described as Allah Tengri. Furthermore, "Tengri" is presented among the Turkic folklores, the creation myth in shamanist Turkic peoples, Yakut or Altai Turkic peoples, and shaman"s prayers of Tuva. In the prayers of the Tuva shaman, shaman prays the great Tengri and (S)he describes himself(herself) as the servant of Tengri. Tengri in the creation myths was religious being in ancient Turks, until now has existed among the Turkic peoples in the shape of shamanism in Eurasia. Therefore, the faith in Tengri are deeply related with religions and cultures of Turkic peoples.