BUDDHISM EFFECTS IN URIANKHAI TEXTS OF KATANOV

Abstract

Buddhism is the name of the religious and philosophical system that is put forward by Siddhārta Guatama who lived in the northeast of India between BC 563-483. Although the date of the Turks’ first encounter with Buddhism is not known clearly, the meeting of the Turkish ruling class with Buddhism is dated to the 6th century in Mongolia. In this way, Tatar Khan was tergiversated his religion by a captive Chinese monk. After that, he built a Buddhist temple and thought that Buddhism had a magical power to expand the borders of the empire. The entry of Buddhism into Tuva lands was in the 18th century through Mongolia and Tibetan Buddhism was accepted. Tuva tribes were involved in the traditions of monastic life, Buddhist ideas, rituals, and the process of spreading rituals. Buddhism has been practiced by all layers of society in Tuva. The number of Buddhist temples increased from the end of the 18th to the second half of the 19th century. The spread of Buddhism in all areas of life has also been reflected in literature and folk compilations. The language examples which were collected by Wilhelm Radlov from Altai and West Siberia since 1860 were published in 10 volumes under the name of Proben der Volkslitterature. The texts of Uriankhai (Tuva), Abaqan, Qaragas are included in the 9th volume of this work. This volume was prepared by N. Katanov with Radlov’s notes. (St. Petersburg, 1907) Reflections of Buddhism in Tuvan texts compiled by Katanov in this study; Katanov's diary has also been taken into account.