The Mongol religion was a complex mixture of shamanism, ancestor worship, and the worship of the eternal blue sky, Tengri. The religion was a central feature of Mongol life, and it was a major factor in the political and military success of the Mongols. The Mongols were famously tolerant of other religions, and they made no attempt to convert the peoples that they conquered. The religious toleration of the Mongols was a major feature of the Mongol state, and it was one of the keys to the success of the Mongol Empire.
The Mongol religion was based on a system of shamans, called bökö, who communicated with the spirits and who interceded with the unseen powers. The shamans were important figures in Mongol life, and they played a major role in the political and military decisions of the khan. The shamans were also important in the religious life of the Mongols, and they performed the rituals that were central to the Mongol religion.
Tengriism: The Sky Father
The central feature of the Mongol religion was the worship of Tengri, the eternal blue sky. Tengri was the supreme deity of the Mongol pantheon, and he was the creator of the world and the source of all power. The Mongols believed that the khan was the chosen of Tengri, and that the khan’s authority came from Tengri. The khan was, in effect, the representative of Tengri on earth, and the khan’s authority was legitimized by the divine right of Tengri.
The worship of Tengri was not exclusive. The Mongols also worshipped a number of other deities, including the earth mother, called Eje, and a variety of local spirits, called “ezen.” The Mongols also believed in a number of supernatural beings, including dragons, serpents, and other mythical creatures. The Mongols also believed in the existence of a spirit world, where the souls of the dead lived on after death.
The worship of Tengri was performed in a variety of rituals, including the offering of sacrifices, the chanting of prayers, and the performance of dances. The most important of the rituals was the annual offering to Tengri, which was performed at the beginning of the year, and which was attended by the khan and the major nobles.
Shamanism
The second central feature of the Mongol religion was shamanism. The shamans, called bökö, were the religious specialists of the Mongol people, and they played a major role in the religious and political life of the community. The shamans were believed to have the power to communicate with the spirits, to predict the future, and to intercede with the unseen powers.
The shamans were typically chosen by the spirits, and the choice was often marked by a period of illness or other unusual experiences. The chosen person was then trained by an experienced shaman, and the training typically lasted for several years. The training included the learning of the rituals, the chants, and the dances that were central to the shamanic tradition.
The shamans were important figures in the political life of the Mongols, and they often played a major role in the decisions of the khan. The most famous of the Mongol shamans was Kökechin, the shaman who predicted the rise of Genghis Khan and who was an important adviser of the great khan. The shamans were also important in the religious life of the Mongols, and they performed the rituals that were central to the Mongol religion.
Ancestor Worship
The third central feature of the Mongol religion was ancestor worship. The Mongols believed that the spirits of the dead continued to exist after death, and that the spirits could influence the lives of the living. The Mongols therefore performed a variety of rituals to honor the dead, including the offering of food and drink, the burning of incense, and the recitation of prayers.
The most important of the ancestor rituals was the annual offering to the ancestors, which was performed at the beginning of the year, and which was attended by the family. The offering was typically led by the senior member of the family, and it included the recitation of the names of the ancestors and the offering of food and drink.
The Mongols also believed that the spirits of the great khans and heroes were particularly powerful, and that the spirits could be invoked for help in times of need. The most famous of the ancestral spirits was the spirit of Genghis Khan, who was widely venerated as a national hero and a divine figure.
Religious Toleration
The Mongols were famously tolerant of other religions, and they made no attempt to convert the peoples that they conquered. The religious toleration of the Mongols was based on a combination of practical and ideological considerations. The practical consideration was that the Mongols needed the cooperation of the religious leaders of the conquered peoples, and they could not afford to antagonize them. The ideological consideration was that the Mongols believed that the gods of all religions were manifestations of the same divine power, and that all religions had a right to exist.
The religious toleration of the Mongols was codified in the Yassa code of law, which established the principle of religious freedom and required the Mongols to tolerate all religions. The Yassa also prohibited the Mongols from favoring one religion over another, and it required the Mongols to allow their subjects to practice their own faiths.
The religious toleration of the Mongols was a major factor in the success of the Mongol Empire. The toleration made it possible for the Mongols to recruit administrators, engineers, and craftsmen from all of the conquered peoples, regardless of their religion. The toleration also made it possible for the Mongols to maintain the loyalty of the subject populations, who were generally allowed to practice their own faiths.
The Mongols and Other Religions
The Mongols came into contact with a wide variety of religions in the course of their conquests, including Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Manichaeism, and Zoroastrianism. The Mongols adopted elements of many of these religions, and the Mongol religion gradually became a complex mixture of Mongol traditions and the traditions of the conquered peoples.
The most important of the foreign religions for the Mongols was Buddhism, which was adopted by the Mongol ruling class in the late thirteenth century. The most important of the Buddhist converts was Kublai Khan, who was a major patron of Tibetan Buddhism and who established a Buddhist monastery in Beijing. The conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism was a major turning point in the history of the Mongol world, and it marked the beginning of a long process of cultural assimilation that eventually led to the integration of the Mongols into the cultures of the conquered peoples.
The Mongols also came into contact with Islam, which was the religion of many of the peoples of Central Asia and the Middle East. The Mongols were generally tolerant of Islam, and the Ilkhanate eventually converted to Islam in the late thirteenth century. The conversion of the Ilkhanate to Islam was a major turning point in the history of the Mongol world, and it marked the beginning of the integration of the western khanate into the Islamic world.
The Mongols also came into contact with Christianity, both the Nestorian Christianity of Central Asia and the Catholic Christianity of Europe. The Mongols were generally tolerant of Christianity, and the Mongol court was visited by a number of Christian missionaries, including John of Plano Carpini and William of Rubruck. The Mongols were not, however, converted to Christianity in any significant numbers, and the Christian influence on the Mongol court was limited.
Sources
- Jack Weatherford, The Secret History of the Mongol Queens (New York: Crown, 2010) — readable account of the role of religion in Mongol life.
- David Morgan, The Mongols (2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), ch. 1 and ch. 6.
- Igor de Rachewiltz, ed. and trans., The Secret History of the Mongols (2 vols., Leiden: Brill, 2004–2013), vol. 1 commentary.
- John Man, Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Legacy (London: HarperCollins, 2004), ch. 3, 9.
- Paul Ratchnevsky, Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991), ch. 4.
- Allan, Sarah, The Way of Water and Sprouts of Virtue (Albany, 1991) — for the broader East Asian context of sky-deity worship.
- Elisabeth Benard, Mongol Shamanism: Negotiating Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Inner Asia (Berkeley, 2000) — the standard modern treatment of Mongol shamanism.