Tengri

Supreme Sky-Father of the Turkic-Mongol steppe; bestows sovereignty.

Domains

• sky
• fate
• war and victory

Powers

• Grant and withdraw the mandate of khagans
• Decree the destiny of peoples and rulers
• Create and order the heavens and the earth

Epithets

• 𐰜𐰇𐰚:𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 Kök Teŋri old-turkic · Kök TengriThe Blue/Eternal Sky (the supreme heaven)Orkhon inscriptions (Kül Tigin, Bilge Qaghan, 8th c.); ed. Tekin, Talat, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic, Indiana University, 1968. (inscription)
• üze Teŋri old-turkic · üze TengriHeaven above (Tengri 'above', who ordained the Turkic qaghans)Kül Tigin inscription, opening formula 'üze kök tengri'; ed. Tekin 1968. (inscription)
• 𐰚𐰇𐰚 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃 Old Turkic · Kök Teŋri · cultBlue/Eternal SkyOrkhon inscriptions, Kül Tigin and Bilge Khagan steles (primary)
• Teŋri teg Teŋride bolmuš Old Turkic · Teŋri teg Teŋride bolmuš · titleHeaven-like, born of Heaven (royal style of the khagan)Bilge Khagan inscription (opening titulature) (primary)

Relations

• equated with: Köke Möngke TengriOne sky-god across the steppe: same name, same mandate-giving function (qut/suu bestowed on khans). The Mongol 'Eternal Blue Sky' is more impersonal fate-heaven; the Orkhon Teŋri acts in dynastic history.Orkhon inscriptions (Kül Tegin, 8th c.): Kök Teŋri; Secret History of the Mongols §1: Möngke Tenggeri (primary); Jean-Paul Roux, 'Tängri. Essai sur le ciel-dieu des peuples altaïques', RHR (1956) (secondary)
• companion: UmayReciprocal of turkic_umay.companion — Mother-goddess of birth invoked alongside the sky-father Tengri as the paired tutelary deities of the ruler in the Orkhon inscriptions.Orkhon inscriptions, Kül Tegin stele (Tengri and Umay invoked together as the protective sky-father and birth-mother of the qaghan) (primary)

Sources

• existence: Orkhon inscriptions (Kül Tegin), 8th c. (primary)