Tengrism

The ancient Turks held Tengri, the Sky God, to be the highest power. The Orkhon inscriptions describe the khagans' rule as "granted by Tengri". Belief in the spirits of Earth and Water and in deities such as Umay, protector of fertility and children, was part of the same worldview.

Most Turkic peoples later adopted Islam, and some Buddhism or Christianity, but traces of Tengrism live on in language (the word "Tanrı", God), in customs, in Nowruz and hearth-fire traditions and in practices such as tying cloth to sacred trees. Among peoples such as the Altai and Sakha the old faith continues today.