Tengrism, Shamanism & Animism: Key Differences in Turkic History
What is the difference between Tengrism, shamanism and animism? Explore three often-confused concepts through the beliefs, rituals and historical sources of the Turkic peoples and the Eurasian steppe.
Shortly before the year 600, readers in Constantinople learned that the Turks honoured fire, air, water and earth, worshipped the maker of heaven and earth, and had priests who foretold the future. Rather than a contradiction, this account offers a starting point for understanding three overlapping layers of faith.
This documentary examines Ibn Fadlan's encounters with the Bashkirs and Oghuz, the shaman Diwan's rise and fall among the Rouran, the execution of Lars Nilsson in Lapland in 1693, the Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks, and the words of the Great Khan Möngke.
Key themes
- Animism: A world full of spiritual lords, from the twelve lords of the Bashkirs to the sacred rocks of Futami.
- Shamanism: The mediator between worlds, from the Evenk origins of the word to Uyghur weather magic in 765.
- Faith and persecution: Lars Nilsson, as far as is known the only Sámi in Sweden executed for his faith.
- Spiritual and political power: Diwan among the Rouran and Teb Tenggeri alongside Genghis Khan.
- Tengrism: Heaven's role in enthroning the khan, with no mediator standing between them.
- Overlapping beliefs: Why these concepts can be understood as three layers of one faith rather than three separate religions.
Sources: Theophylact Simocatta, Historiae VII 8; Ibn Fadlan, Risala (ed. Dahhan 1959); Xin Tang Shu 217下; Jiu Tang Shu 194上 and 195; Wei Shu 103; Zhou Shu 50; Sui Shu 84; Secret History of the Mongols §§ 244–246; William of Rubruck, Itinerarium XXXIII–XXXIV (ed. Wyngaert 1929); Kül Tegin and Tonyukuk inscriptions; Kutadgu Bilig; Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture (1871); Mircea Eliade, Le chamanisme (1951); and, for Lars Nilsson, the Arjeplog court records of 1691–1693 and the judgment of the Svea hovrätt (1692).
On-screen quotations follow the wording of the sources. Historical photographs and engravings are documented in the image credits. All other images and scenes were created with AI.
Maps © Emre-E Yavuz 2026.
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Timeline
00:00:Introduction
01:24:Animism: A World Full of Lords
04:56:Shamanism: The Mediator
07:51:The Drum in the Fire
09:49:When the Mediator Rules
13:07:Tengrism: Between Heaven and the Khan Stood No One
17:03:All at Once
18:25:The Fingers of One Hand