#tengrism

This statue is nearly 800 years old, and it still decorates the site where the city of Karakorum once stood. It originally formed the base of an inscribed stele, but the pillar was lost or destroyed long ago, leaving only the turtle-shaped figure behind.

The turtle's neck is wrapped in khadags (also known as khatas) which are ceremonial scarves that are primarily used by Buddhist communities in Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. The scarves are often placed atop shrines and other sacred sites as an expression of reverence and respect.

Above: the turtle statue adorned with blue khadags

In Mongolia, this custom is also infused with elements of Tengrism, which is a shamanic religion that originated in the Eurasian steppes. Mongolian khadags often have a bright blue appearance that symbolizes the divine and eternal nature of the sky god, Tengeri, but they can also be produced in shades of green, gold, red, and white.

Above: the same statue with several blue and white scarves tied around its neck

The city of Karakorum was founded by Genghis Khan in 1220 CE. It was initially established as a base for the Mongol invasion of China, but the city was transformed into the first capital of the Mongol Empire in 1235 CE. Strategically located along the Silk Road, it quickly became a thriving center for trade and cultural exchange, attracting merchants of many different faiths and nationalities.

Medieval sources note that the city displayed an unusual degree of diversity and religious tolerance (at least by Medieval standards). It contained 12 different temples that were devoted to pagan and shamanic traditions, along with two mosques, a church, and at least one Buddhist temple.

Above: these photos show a scale model of Medieval Karakorum, with the central palace depicted at the top and part of the surrounding city depicted on the bottom

As this article describes:

The city might have been compact, but it was cosmopolitan, with residents including Mongols, Steppe tribes, Han Chinese, Persians, Armenians, and captives from Europe, including a master goldsmith from Paris named William Buchier, a woman from Metz, one Paquette, and an Englishman known only as Basil. Scribes and translators from diverse Asian nations also worked in the bureaucracy, and there were official representatives from various foreign courts, such as the Sultanates of Rum and India.

This diversity was reflected in the various religions that were practised there and, in time, the construction of many fine stone buildings by followers of Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

Above: a Mongolian shaman sitting next to the turtle-shaped statue, with an assortment of ceremonial objects depicted on top of the turtle's back

The city's prosperous days were short-lived, however. The Mongol capital was moved to Xanadu in 1263, and then to Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing) in 1267, under the leadership of Kublai Khan. Karakorum lost most of its power, authority, and leadership in the process. Without the resources and support that it had previously received from the leaders of the Mongol Empire, the city was left in a very vulnerable position, and the population rapidly dwindled. Within just a few decades, Karakorum was almost entirely abandoned.

There were several attempts to revive the city in the years that followed, but any hope of restoring Karakorum to its former glory finally vanished in 1380, when the entire city was razed to the ground by Ming Dynasty troops.

In 1586, the Erdene Zuu Buddhist monastery was built at the site where Karakorum once stood, and ruins from the Medieval city were used as building materials during the construction of the monastery. Almost all of the original structures from Karakorum were dismantled, destroyed, or repurposed in the process.

Above: the Erdene Zuu monastery, which is now the oldest surviving monastery in Mongolia

Four turtle-shaped statues are still visible at Karakorum. These statues mark the boundaries of the Medieval city, and they likely represent the mythological "dragon-turtle" known as Bixi, whose image is often associated with strength, longevity, and good fortune. An inscribed stele was mounted onto the back of each turtle, but most of those pillars are now damaged or missing.

Above: two of the other stone turtles from Karakorum

These turtle-shaped statues are some of the only visible features from the city of Karakorum, and they often remind me of the poem Ozymandias by Horace Smith (not the version by Percy Bysshe Shelley):

Sources & More Info:

The University of Washington: Karakorum: Capital of the Mongol Empire

World History: Karakorum

Cambridge University Press: The Cosmopolitanism of Karakorum

Thought Co: Genghis Khan's Capital City

Cambridge University Press: Mapping Karakorum, Capital of the Mongol Empire

Culture Mongolia: Karakorum

Dark Atlas: The Vanished Capital of the Largest Land Empire in History

Tian Shan 天山 (also known as Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too) is a large system of mountain ranges in Western China and Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan)

Tian Shan is considered sacred in Tengrism, a religion originating in the Eurasian steppes. It was the prevailing religion of ancient nomadic groups like the Göktürks, Xianbei, Xiongnu, Mongolic peoples, and the Huns. As well as the state religion of several medieval states, such as the Turkic Khaganates and the Mongol Empire.

Bashkir Girl with Fox. Ufa, European Russia.

In Bashkir culture, the fox occupied an important place within traditional mythological paradigm. Traces of a fox cult, once widespread among Bashkirs, reveal a complex system of beliefs where the fox was not only revered but also perceived as a sacred, almost divine, creature. This veneration is rooted in ancient totemic traditions, where specific clans believed themselves to be descended from foxes. Because of this, the fox functioned as more than just an animal, but also as a totemic ancestor, a spiritual guardian, and a guiding force. The fox was believed to bestow prosperity, fertility, health, and protection, and was, at times, invoked during rituals tied to these themes.

The image of the fox also appears as a zoomorphic deity in Bashkir culture; an embodiment of natural forces and a symbolic representation of the sun. An aspect shared with other Turkic and Finno-Ugric traditions, where animals often served as intermediaries between the human and spiritual realms. The fox’s cleverness and adaptability may have further elevated its status as a mythic advisor and/or trickster figure. Its presence in folk dances and customs also suggests that rituals were once performed in its honor.

Photo of a Yakut Turk (Sakha) woman, 1883.

Alevism Turkish: Alevilik; is a syncretic Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from Tengrism.

I often see the idea being spread that according to nature-focused religious traditions everything everything exists for an essential role, be it ecological, spiritual or otherwise. And that this causes nature to be harmonic and good because everything lives according to that role. This idea assumes a top-down teleological plan imposed by a creator on the world to create a greater system for some purpose. This idea may be present in some such worldviews, but it's often generalized to all indigenous cosmologies.

These ideas are often ascribed to an indigenous tradition in ethnographies written by predominantly Cristian scholars or scholars from a Christian cultural background during the last few centuries. This is ascribed to those worldviews based on assumptions; an inability to imagine a worldview that is too different from what they know; or from an (imperialistic) idea in which they believe that the people whose culture they describe are actually mistaken about their own worldview, and that the scholars know better. So, they 'correct' or punctuate their ethnographies with their own ideas .

The ideas of essential roles is often given more prominence in modern reinterpretations under influence of said ethnographies and people returning or coming to an indigenous tradition from a Christian background, taking teleological ideas with them.

In Tengerism, and other North and Inner Asian traditions, many people will say that they belong to the place they live and play a role in nature. They cut wood, hunt, herd reindeer, etc. in turn in the clearings new plants will grow, their reindeer graze. Their actions ripple across the ecosystem.

When the local humans leave the local nature will change, different plants grow, other animals increase in numbers, and this too ripples across the ecosystem. This change is often catastrophic and causes strife for many beings.

The balance is called tegsh. All actions even out, so that they don't take more than they return; sometimes directly, often through cycles and a web of connections. Trees grow with nutrients from the soil; fungi break down trees and return the nutrients to the soil. Grouse is hunted by humans; humans herd reindeer; reindeer clear brush and grass; young plants can grow; plants feed Grouse.

So that there is a cycle and the system can exist in perpetuity.

Tegsh is not because every being lives according to a essential role or purpose, but because that's the equilibrium the world has settled in. A disruption of tegsh leads to strife and turbulence, but in that turbulence eventually a new equilibrium will be settled. But there is no guarantee that this equilibrium is found while preserving all beings that were there before. A slower change will allow the location's tegsh to adjust gradually.