Etymology

The term "shaman" is a loan from the Turkic^[5][6][7][8] word šamán, the term for such a practitioner, which also gained currency in the wider Turko-Mongol and Tungusic cultures in ancient Siberia. Shamanism played an important role in Altaic mythology. Tengriism, which was the major belief of Xiongnu, Turkic, Hungarian and Bulgar peoples in ancient times, incorporates elements of shamanism.