Monotheism

====Tengrism====
{{See also|Tengrism}}
Tengrism or Tangrism (sometimes stylized as Tengriism), occasionally referred to as Tengrianism<!-- Do not put non-English translations on the English Wikipedia page -->, is a modern term<ref>The spelling ''Tengrism'' is found in the 1960s, e.g. Bergounioux (ed.), ''Primitive and prehistoric religions'', Volume 140, Hawthorn Books, 1966, p. 80.
''Tengrianism'' is a reflection of the Russian term, {{lang|ru|Тенгрианство}}. It is reported in 1996 ("so-called Tengrianism") in Shnirelʹman (ed.), ''Who gets the past?: competition for ancestors among non-Russian intellectuals in Russia'', Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1996, {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5221-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4iwHp8asmsdEC&pg=PA31 p. 31] in the context of the nationalist rivalry over [[Bulgars#Legacy|Bulgar legacy]]. The spellings ''Tengriism'' and ''Tengrianity'' are later, reported (deprecatingly, in scare quotes) in 2004 in ''Central Asiatic journal'', vol. 48-49 (2004), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GeRVAAAAYAAJ&q=Tengriism p. 238] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164813/https://books.google.com/books?id=GeRVAAAAYAAJ&q=Tengriism |date=2023-03-26 }}. The Turkish term {{lang|tr|Tengricilik}} is also found from the 1990s. Mongolian {{lang|mn|Тэнгэр шүтлэг}} is used in a 1999 biography of [[Genghis Khan]] (Boldbaatar et al., {{lang|mn|Чингис хаан, 1162-1227}}, {{lang|mn| Хаадын сан}}, 1999, [https://books.google.com/books?id=OMIMAQAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%A2%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%8D%D1%80+%D1%88%D2%AF%D1%82%D0%BB%D1%8D%D0%B3%22 p. 18] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420034412/https://books.google.com/books?id=OMIMAQAAMAAJ&q=%22%D0%A2%D1%8D%D0%BD%D0%B3%D1%8D%D1%80+%D1%88%D2%AF%D1%82%D0%BB%D1%8D%D0%B3%22 |date=2023-04-20 }}).</ref> for a [[Central Asia]]n [[Central Asia#Religions|religion]] characterized by features of [[shamanism]], [[animism]], [[totemism]], both [[polytheism]] and monotheism,<ref>R. Meserve, Religions in the central Asian environment. In: [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001204/120455e.pdf History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume IV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221846/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001204/120455e.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }}, The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century, Part Two: The achievements, p. 68:
* "''[...] The 'imperial' religion was more monotheistic, centred around the all-powerful god Tengri, the sky god.''"</ref><ref name="PolyMono">Michael Fergus, Janar Jandosova, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jAu9ttUqiJoC Kazakhstan: Coming of Age], Stacey International, 2003, p.91:
* "''[...] a profound combination of monotheism and polytheism that has come to be known as Tengrism.''"</ref><ref>H. B. Paksoy, [http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=783 Tengri in Eurasia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911134633/http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=783 |date=2017-09-11 }}, 2008</ref><ref>Napil Bazylkhan, Kenje Torlanbaeva in: [https://books.google.com/books?id=FcQuAQAAIAAJ Central Eurasian Studies Society], Central Eurasian Studies Society, 2004, p.40</ref> and [[ancestor worship]]. Historically, it was the prevailing religion of the [[Bulgars]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], [[Mongols]], and [[Hungarians]], as well as the [[Xiongnu]] and the [[Huns]].<ref>"There is no doubt that between the 6th and 9th centuries Tengrism was the religion among the nomads of the steppes" Yazar András Róna-Tas, ''Hungarians and Europe in the early Middle Ages: an introduction to early Hungarian history'', Yayıncı Central European University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|978-963-9116-48-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I-RTt0Q6AcYC&dq=hungarians+tengrism&pg=PA151 p. 151] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406145756/https://books.google.com/books?id=I-RTt0Q6AcYC&dq=hungarians+tengrism&pg=PA151 |date=2023-04-06 }}.</ref><ref name="Books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-RTt0Q6AcYC&q=huns+tengrism&pg=PA151 |title=Hungarians & Europe in the Early Middle Ages: An Introduction to Early ... - András Róna-Tas - Google Kitaplar |access-date=2013-02-19|isbn=9789639116481 |last1=Rona-Tas |first1=Andras |last2=András |first2=Róna-Tas |date=March 1999 |publisher=Central European University Press }}</ref> It was the state religion of the six ancient Turkic states: [[Avar Khaganate]], [[Great Bulgaria|Old Great Bulgaria]], [[First Bulgarian Empire]], [[Göktürks|Göktürks Khaganate]], [[Khazaria|Eastern Tourkia]] and [[Western Turkic Khaganate]]. In ''[[Irk Bitig]]'', Tengri is mentioned as ''Türük Tängrisi'' (God of Turks).<ref>Jean-Paul Roux, Die alttürkische Mythologie, p. 255</ref> The term is perceived among [[Turkic peoples]] as a ''national'' religion.

In [[Chinese folk religion|Chinese]] and [[Tengriism|Turco-Mongol]] traditions, the Supreme God is commonly referred to as the ruler of Heaven, or the Sky Lord granted with omnipotent powers, but it has largely diminished in those regions due to [[ancestor worship]], [[Taoism]]'s [[pantheistic]] views and Buddhism's [[Creator in Buddhism|rejection of a creator God]]. On some occasions in the mythology, the Sky Lord as identified as a male has been associated to mate with an Earth Mother, while some traditions kept the omnipotence of the Sky Lord unshared.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}