Khan’s Den Podcast

From Tengri to Allah: The Turks and Their Many Religions

 The Turkic people are known to have been followers of Tengri, the supreme sky god, in the past. But after the fall of the mighty Göktürk Empire, more and more Turks joined other religions. From the Uyghurs who converted to Manicheism and the Khazars who became Jewish to the Karakhanids who were the first Turkic people to become Muslim, it seems that the Turkic world tried out many religions before finally settling on Islam by the 15th century. In this episode, we are going to explain this conversion process and analyze the factors and motivations for seemingly leaving Tengrism behind. Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

Tengri, Umay and Turkic Religion

You are perhaps already familiar with the Turks and their religions. Over the millennia, they converted to various beliefs, including Judaism, Christianity, Manicheism, Buddhism and finally Islam. But contrary to popular belief, the original Turkish religion was Tengrism. Its pantheon included Tengri, the prime deity and supreme ruler of the sky, as well as Umay, mother earth, and Erlik, guardian of the underworld. The Turks further believed in the Tree of Life, the Yer-Su Earth-Water spirits as well as the afterlife – but in a way that differentiates their belief from monotheistic religions. But is Tengrism then a monotheistic religion at all? Should we rather compare it to polytheistic religions like those of the Greeks, Vikings, Egyptians and Sumerians?In the second episode of our new podcast, we are going to outline this belief system with all of its most important aspects, as well as explore its history and philosophy. Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.

What is ”Turkic”, what is ”Turkish”?

This is the first episode of our new podcast where we explain the history, culture and politics of the Turkic peoples. But who exactly are those "Turkic" peoples exactly? What does this term imply, and are Turkic and Turkish the same? Support our cause by becoming a member on Patreon! Check out our page on patreon.com/thekhansdenThere, you can join one of the four Patron tiers. Each tier grants individual benefits, including name mentions and the end of our videos on YouTube as well as behind-the-scenes footage, voting power and more.