A tamga or tamgha (from otk, 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga, lit=stamp, seal; tr, damga; mn, tamga; ; ); an abstract
seal or
stamp
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
used by
Eurasian nomads and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was normally the emblem of a particular tribe, clan or family. They were common among the Eurasian nomads throughout Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Similar tamga-like symbols were sometimes adopted by sedentary peoples adjacent to the
Pontic–Caspian steppe both in
Eastern Europe and
Central Asia.
Tamgas in the steppe tradition
Ancient origins
Tamgas originate in pre-historic times, but their exact usage and development cannot be continuously traced over time. There are, however, symbols represented in rock art that are referred to as tamgas and that are most likely functionally equivalent with medieval tamgas.
In the later phases of the
Bosporan Kingdom, the ruling dynasty applied personal tamgas, composed of a fragment representing the family and a fragment representing the individual king, apparently in continuation of steppe traditions and in an attempt to consolidate seditary and nomadic factions within the kingdom.
Mongol Empire
"Tamga," or "tamag'a," literally means "stamp" or "seal" in
Mongolian. In the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
, a tamgha was a seal placed on taxed items and, by extension, a tax on commerce (see Eastern Europe below).
Tamga or tamag'a are emblematic symbols which were historically used by various Mongolic tribes or clans in Central Asia. The term is sometimes also applied to emblematic symbols used in other Asian cultures, but this document is only concerned with the specific use of clan symbols on coins issued by
Mongolian and Central Asian rulers.
Over a hundred different Mongolian tamga are known. Certain tamga were adopted by individual medieval Mongolic and Turkic rulers, and were consequently used on coins and seals issued by these rulers. Tamga are most widely found on Islamic coins issued by the descendants of
Chinggis Khan in the various khanates of Central Asia during the 13th and 14th centuries, in particular the
Chaghatai Khanate. Tamga are of immense interest to numismatists, and are discussed in many academic works relating to the medieval Islamic coins of Central Asia. However, numismatists and historians currently have limited options for representing tamga symbols in text, and cannot reliably interchange text including tamga symbols because they are either represented as images, or are handdrawn, or use an ad hoc font. Doctor Nyamaa identifies nearly a hundred tamga signs used on coins, although only about half of them can be assigned to a specific ruler, and some of them are variant forms or presentation forms of the same tamga.
File:Naran Tamga.svg, alt=, Naran Tamga or Ongin Tamga
File:Chinggis khan tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Chinggis khan
File:Tului khan tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Tului khan
File:Ugudei khan tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Ögedei Khan
File:Tsagadai khan Tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Tsagadai khan
File:Zuchi khan tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Juchi khan
Jochi Khan ( Mongolian: mn, Зүчи, ; kk, Жошы, Joşy جوشى; ; crh, Cuçi, Джучи, جوچى; also spelled Juchi; Djochi, and Jöchi c. 1182– February 1227) was a Mongol army commander who was the eldest son of Temüjin (aka G ...
File:Guyug khan tamga.svg, alt=, Tamga of Guyug khan
Tamgas are also
stamped using hot irons on domesticated animals such as horses in present-day
Mongolia and others to identify that the livestock belongs to a certain family, since livestock is allowed to roam during the day. Each family has their own tamga markings for easier identification. Tamga marks are not very elaborate, since they are made from curved pieces of iron by the individual families.
A ''tamag'a'' is also used as the "state seal" of
Mongolia, which is handed over by the
President of Mongolia as part of the transition to a new president. In the presidential case, the tamag'a is a little more elaborate and is contained in a wooden box.
Turkic peoples
The Turks who remained pastoral nomad kings in eastern Anatolia and Iran, however, continued to use their clan tamgas and in fact, they became high-strung nationalistic imagery. The
Aq Qoyunlu
The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
and
Qara Qoyunlu
The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, Eng ...
, like many other royal dynasties in Eurasia, put their tamga on their flags and stamped their coinage with it.
For the Turks who never left their homeland of
Turkestan in the first place, it has remained what it originally was: a cattle brand and clan identifier.
Among modern
Turkic peoples, the tamga is a design identifying
property or
cattle belonging to a specific Turkic clan, usually as a
cattle brand
Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to hot branding large stock with a branding iron, though the term now includes alternative techniques. Other fo ...
or
stamp
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
.
When Turkish clans took over more
urban or
rural areas, tamgas dropped out of use as
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
ways of life became forgotten. That is most evident in the Turkish clans that took over western and eastern
Anatolia after the
Battle of Manzikert
The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and th ...
. The Turks who took over western Anatolia founded the
Sultanate of Rûm
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchy Triarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = ...
and became Roman-style aristocrats. Most of them adopted the then-Muslim symbol of the
Seal of Solomon
The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon ( he, חותם שלמה, '; ar, خاتم سليمان, ') is the legendary signet ring attributed to the Israelite king Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within ...
after the Sultanate disintegrated into a mass of feuding
ghazi states (see
Isfendiyarids,
Karamanids
The Karamanids ( tr, Karamanoğulları or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman ( tr, Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Pro ...
). Only the Ottoman ghazi state (later to become the
Ottoman Empire)
kept its tamga, which was so highly stylized that the bow was stylized down eventually to a crescent moon.
Tamgas of the 21
Oghuz tribes Oghuz or Oğuz may refer to:
*an early Turkic word for "tribe", see Oghuz (tribe)
* Oghuz languages, southwestern branch of the Turkic language family
* Oghuz Turks, the Turkic groups speaking Oghuz languages
* Oghuz Khan, a legendary and semi-myth ...
(as Charuklug had none) according to
Mahmud al-Kashgari
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari, ''Maḥmūd ibnu 'l-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-Kāšġarī'', , tr, Kaşgarlı Mahmûd, ug, مەھمۇد قەشقىرى, ''Mehmud Qeshqiri'' / Мәһмуд Қәшқири uz, Mahmud Qashg'ariy / М ...
in ''
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk'':
File:Kinik.svg, Kınık
Kınık is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western ...
File:Kayi.svg, Kayı Kayı can refer to:
* Kayı (tribe)
* Kayı, Çorum
* Kayı, Ilgaz
Kayı is a village in the Ilgaz District of Çankırı Province
Çankırı Province ( tr, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey, which lies close to the capital, An ...
File:Bayundur.svg,
File:Yiva.svg,
File:Salur.svg,
File:Avsar.svg,
File:Begdili.svg,
File:Bugduz.svg,
File:Bayat.svg,
File:Yazir.svg,
File:Eymur.svg, Eymur
Eymur is a village and municipality in the Agdash Rayon of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country locate ...
File:Karaevli.svg,
File:Akevli.svg,
File:Igdir.svg,
File:Yuregir.svg,
File:Dodurga.svg,
File:Alayuntlu.svg,
File:Doger.svg,
File:Pecenek.svg,
File:Cavuldur.svg,
File:Cepni.svg,
File:None-100.gif,
Secondary Usage
Eastern Europe
Russia
In Russia, the term ''tamga'' (тамга) survived in state institution of border customs, with associated cluster of terms: ''tamozhnya'' (таможня, customs), ''tamozhennik'' (таможенник, customs officer), ''rastamozhit (растаможить, pay customs duties), derived from the use of tamga as a certificate of
State. The symbol is recognized as a
national symbol in Ukraine, colloquially called ''
tryzub'' (тризуб).
Circassia
Among the Circassians, almost every family has a tamga.
[Цуекъо, Алый. Адыгэ лъэкъуацIэхэмрэ тамыгъэхэмрэ]
Islamic empires
In the late medieval
Turco-Mongol states, the term ''tamga'' was used for any kind of official stamp or seal. This usage persisted in the early modern Islamic Empires (
Ottoman Empire,
Mughal Empire), and in some of their modern successor states.
In the
Urdu language (which absorbed Turkic vocabulary), ''Tamgha'' is used as
medal.
Tamgha-i-Jurat is the fourth highest Military medal of
Pakistan. It is admissible to all ranks for gallantry and distinguished services in combat.
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz or Tamgha-e-Imtiaz ( ur, links=no, تمغہ امتیاز), which translates as "medal of excellence", is fourth highest honour given by the Government of Pakistan to both the military and civilians.
Tamgha-i-Khidmat or Tamgha-e-Khidmat (), which translates as "medal of services", is seventh highest honour given by the Government of Pakistan to both the military and civilians. It is admissible to non-commissioned officers and other ranks for long meritorious or distinguished services of a non-operational nature.
In
Egypt, the term ''damgha'' ( ar, دمغة) or ''tamgha'' () is still used in two contexts. One is a tax or fee when dealing with the government. It is normally in the form of stamps that have to be purchased and affixed to government forms, such as a driver license or a registration deed for a contract. The term is derived from the Ottoman
damga resmi. Another is a stamp put on every piece of jewelry made from gold or silver to indicate it is genuine, and not made of baser metals.
See also
*
House mark
*
Mon (emblem)
, also , , and , are Japanese emblems used to decorate and identify an individual, a family, or (more recently) an institution or business entity. While is an encompassing term that may refer to any such device, and refer specifically to embl ...
*
Siglas poveiras
*
Tughra
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* {{cite book , last=Yatsenko , first=S. A. , title=Знаки-тамги ираноязычных народов древности и раннего средневековья , trans-title=Tamga-signs of Iranic-speaking peoples of antiquity and the early medieval period , publisher=Восточная литература , location=Moscow , year=2001 , isbn=5-02-018212-5
Archaeological artefact types
Seals (insignia)
Symbols
Heraldic charges
Turkish words and phrases
Mongolian words and phrases
Turkic culture