The enigmatic personality of the great Mongol has always piqued the interest of scholarly researchers. In the last century, they wondered about the religion professed by Genghis Khan.
In 1955, an essay by I. Dora Orsi – a missionary and anthropologist – was published in the journal Numen. She had studied the beliefs and cults of various peoples around the world.
She took a particular interest in Genghis Khan as the most prominent follower of Tengrism. Below is an overview of her intriguing essay on this topic.
What Did Genghis Khan Believe In?
The religion of Genghis Khan, the great emperor of the Mongols, about whose conquests much has been written, must largely remain a matter of conjecture.
Yet, this subject is significant in terms of the impact of animism and monotheism. Did monotheism precede animism among the Mongols, or did it exist alongside it, or indeed emerge from it?
Did Genghis Khan hold the same notions of God as when he was the youth Temujin, or did the Christianity of the Nestorian type and Islam subtly influence him throughout his life, even though he did not embrace them?
After all, the Khan himself was a deist, supported by shamanism.
Whatever the religious beliefs of the various nomadic tribes under his command, he himself was undoubtedly a person who unified and developed a certain common view on everything in general. Just as he united the disparate nomadic tribal alliances into an imperial state.
The information for this article was sourced from the book by the Russian scholar V. Ya. Vladimirtsov «The Life of Genghis Khan» (translated into English by Count D. S. Mirsky) and the essay by Harold Lamb «Genghis Khan – Emperor of All Men.»
The Structure of Nomadic Civilization
Researchers of nomadic peoples, studying the Mongolian conquests, understand the socio-community organization of the tribes during the times of Genghis Khan, whose work in unification and conquest led to his imperial status.
Vladimirtsov provides the following explanation: nomadic tribes are divided into clans (omuks), which are in turn divided into sub-clans, or «bones» (yasuns). Sometimes several clans may merge into tribes or small nations. Tribes should be referred to by the word «ulus,» and confederations of tribes – «ul». The relationships among them are the same as between family members, families, members of a clan, and so on.
There are two classes in nomadic society – the steppe herders and the forest hunters. Typically, members of the steppe tribes more often rose to the nomadic aristocracy.
The leaders of the tribes and tribal confederations were called khans, or kagans, meaning emperors. Forest clans were more often led by shamans, that is, wizards communicating with spirits. Tribal leaders from the shaman caste were called beks. After the forest elite came the common people and slaves.
The clans were exogamous. Very often, brides were stolen or marital agreements were made between clans. Clans that had entered into such agreements referred to each other as «kuda».
An Aristocrat from the Herders
Temujin was an aristocrat from a tribe of herders and, in the process of inter-clan and inter-tribal struggle for power, he endured many hardships and adventures. Gradually, he became Genghis Khan – a man who realized his divine mission to become the emperor of all people and nations.
To become a person of divine mission, one must recognize the deity that imposes this mission, the God who governs the destinies of the world and humanity.
If it were possible, it would be fascinating to learn how the mind of a young and wild nomad, with his unequivocal interpretation of the divine as «The Great Sky,» evolved into the personification of the divine in the form of God. This was written about in the first chapter of the legal code «Yassa.»
«…It is hereby commanded to believe that there is only one God—the creator of Heaven and Earth, who alone grants life and death, wealth and poverty, as He wills, and who has absolute power over everything…»
Reading the laws of Genghis Khan, one might be inclined to think that they are the result of the crystallization of what had accumulated through his contacts with Nestorian Christians and Muslims.
In addition to the legal code «Yassa,» Genghis Khan ordered his pronouncements to be documented in writing. This collection is called «Biligs» («Pronouncements»). Unfortunately, only fragments of these laws and pronouncements have survived to us, and those only through Chinese and Muslim interpretations.
It All Began on a Mountain
It seems that the first contacts of the young nomad Temujin with divine intervention in affairs were associated with a mountain. Once, while hiding from enemies in the mountains, he heard that a detachment of his enemies from the Merkit tribe, which had attacked his tribe’s lands, had returned to their own territory.
Temujin’s breath caught with excitement, and he said: «…The Burkhan Mountain has protected my insignificant life. Now I will always bring sacrifices to it. So will my sons, and my grandsons, and my great-grandsons…»
The Dark Secrets of Genghis Khan
He loosened his belt and hung it around his neck, and he also took off his hat. He knelt down, made nine bows, and poured a little kumis onto the ground. In this way, the Mongols acknowledged higher powers – for them, having one’s own belt and a hat on the head was an indicator of the owner’s will and freedom.
The Mongol shamans of those times glorified the spirits of light. Today, some experts believe that the name Genghis means «spirit of light,» and Khan, quite understandably, means «emperor.» The name Genghis can also be translated as «perfect warrior» (Cheng-cze in Chinese). Many Mongols recognized Temujin as a messenger of Heaven. He himself believed in the presence of the will of the Eternal Sky in his life.
Messenger of Heaven
For Temujin, the Eternal Sky (Monke Tengri) was the supreme deity—above all the gods to whom he prayed. In this context, it is more appropriate to refer to these gods as spirits or angels. Shamans, on the other hand, were considered those who could contact and communicate with the spirits. To confirm his own legitimacy as Khan, Genghis Khan introduced a new tool—shamanism.
At the Kurultai of 1206, the supreme shaman of the Mongols, Kokchu, proclaimed that the Great Sky was favorably inclined towards Genghis Khan and had chosen him as its sole plenipotentiary on earth. Genghis Khan accepted this mission and said: «…The Sky has ordered me to rule all people…»
The White Banner (Sulde) was raised, which by the time of the Kurultai had become the official abode of the spirit of Genghis Khan himself and his clan. This banner protected the warriors and was meant to lead them to victory. Genghis Khan would conquer the entire world because the Eternal Sky had decreed it so.
After the death of the great emperor, the Mongols and other nomadic peoples believed for several more centuries that the Sulde banner continued to protect the Genghis Khan clan and remained the abode of his spirit.
Harold Lamb wrote of him: «…He loved to climb to the very tops of mountains, where, as he believed, Tengri himself lives. Where all the whirlwinds of winds twist and thunder is born. He loved to dissolve reverently in the Eternal blue sky. He prayed in all four cardinal directions, from whence the four winds originate. ‘…Boundless sky, I ask you, send me the spirits of the upper air here, and on earth send me people to assist.’ And the prayer worked—people kept coming to the White Banner with nine horsetails to bow down…»
Genghis Khan’s personal and spiritual journey from a tribal warrior to an emperor who perceived himself as the chosen of the Eternal Sky reflects the strong shamanistic beliefs and practices that influenced the religious and political systems of the Mongol Empire. The integration of shamanism with his rule helped Genghis Khan to solidify his power and justify his conquests as divinely ordained.
Prayers of Genghis Khan
Once, while preparing for a military campaign against China, Genghis Khan isolated himself from the outside world in his tent for three days, where he continuously prayed, repeating: «Tengri! Tengri! Sky! Sky!».
On the fourth day, he emerged and announced that the Great Sky was granting the nomads victory this time. And the nomads believed in their mission as an instrument of retribution on behalf of the supreme substance.
Thus, considering the above, it appears that this nomad and khan of all nomads believed in a single Lord, as well as guardian spirits, who are essentially angels. For comparison, some might be interested in what the Supreme Being or substance was for other peoples related to the nomads.
Take, for example, the Orochs and the Eskimos. At least until the 20th century, the Orochs preserved their pagan cult of Anduri. This is the name of the supreme deity, to whom are subordinate Kamchanga — the god of dry land, and Yemu — the god of the sea.
The Catholic missionary F. Bouillard, who lived among the Eskimos, wrote in his book «Inuk» (1953):
«…From the ancient religion, which they definitely once had, I concluded that God for them is a supreme being, which is nonetheless situated too far from the trivial worldly affairs. In Siberia and Mongolia, similar religions are everywhere. All of them have Shamans as a class or caste of intermediaries, communicating with spirits and subordinate to the Supreme Being. The word ‘shaman’ comes from the Mongolian language. There is no doubt that the Eskimos brought the traditions of shamanism with them across the Bering Strait. Sometimes, very vaguely, they refer to some deity Ataneka, or Chief. But most likely, he is a recent invention of this people…»
Attributes of God It is interesting to consider what exactly Genghis Khan regarded as the attributes of divine power. «It is hereby commanded to believe that there is only one God.»
However, Genghis Khan, for which there is a multitude of evidence and factual confirmations, believed in spirits. And in our understanding of the world order, we are likely to consider them as angels. Tengri – the Creator of Heaven and Earth Such a concept of the creative energy of God for a nomadic society certainly became a great advancement forward. Especially against the background of the beliefs of other peoples, including those discussed above. God is omnipotent. A) He is the source of life; he gives and takes life; B) He is a great judge and distributor of blessings. He can give wealth or poverty as he wishes; C) He decides the fates of people and has absolute power in everything. These concepts define the omnipresence and omniscience of God. Based on the language and terminology used by Genghis Khan, as well as considering his opinion that God sometimes might deem it necessary to show some individual attitude towards one of the mortals, especially regarding the fate of Genghis Khan himself. Some might think that Genghis Khan believed that God was a person, a hypostasis. But at the same time, he did not reflect on the moral or ethical aspects of God, simply thinking: «God is God. He answers my prayers.» The very first three-day seclusion of Genghis Khan in the tent for communion with Tengri contributed to the strengthening of this belief.
The Philosophy of Genghis Khan
Once, the Franciscan monk Guillaume de Rubrouck, an emissary of the King of France Louis IX, was fortunate to appear before the grandson of Genghis Khan. He was told: «…We Mongols believe that there is only one God. God gave you some books, and you do not believe in them. He gave us soothsayers, we do what they predict, and we live in peace…» This reflects the Mongols’ attitude towards shamanism. Genghis Khan left this life in the Year of the Rat. Nomads believe that his body rests on Mount Burkhan Khaldun, in the place he himself had chosen for himself during his lifetime. It is said that once he hunted here and decided that it was a good place for the last refuge.
In the footsteps of Genghis Khan: Where is the Shaker of the Universe buried?
Nevertheless, the burial place of the Great Emperor of the nomads has not been found by anyone, just as the mountain itself has not been found. Harold Lamb mentions Mount Deliun-Boldog. Could this be another name for the legendary Mount Burkhan Khaldun? The French scholar F. Quatremère, who translated the works of Jami al-Tawarikh and Rashid al-Din, claims that Genghis Khan is buried on Mount Yeka Kuryk near Urga. But this is doubtful. As for the philosophy of this «savage genius,» as Harold Lamb called him, it can be summarized briefly:
«Heaven has commanded me to rule all the peoples of the world.»
