Abstract

The opinion that shamanism is the religion of the ancient Turks has long existed in scientific circulation. In fact, shamanism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs that have formed around the personality of a shaman, who is considered a link between people and the world of spirits. However, as a result of misunderstandings and deliberate distortions, shamanism was presented as an ancient religion of the Turks. However, the differences between shamanism begin to become clear when considering the ancient religion of the Turks along with the belief in Tengri. Now we know what shamanism is and how much it eventually mixed with belief in Tengri. Of course, there is still not enough research in this direction. However, at present, even within the framework of religious studies, the opinion is affirmed that the ancient religion of the Turks is not shamanism. Faith in Tengri is also carefully studied, comprehensive knowledge about the religion of the ancient Turks is achieved. In this study, the authors tried to prove that the belief in Tengri formed the basis of the religion of the ancient Turks and that they believed in a single God. And shamanism is defined as a belief formed around practices such as mystical healing, connection with the spirit world, and the use of trance and ecstasy techniques.