Shamanist figures in Anatolian Seljuk architecture (1077-1308)

The history of Shamanism, which has an important place in Turkish Mythology and belief system, goes back to ancient times. The Anatolian extension of shamanism, which is a form of belief that the shaman, who strives to meet the most important spiritual needs of the people, such as treating diseases, is of Asian origin and carries mystical elements in it. The belief of Shamanism, which can communicate with God, the spirits of the underground and aboveground, continues its existence and its effects today. Our aim to determine our thesis topic as "Shamanist Figures in Anatolian Seljuk Artifacts (1077-1308)" is to determine that Shamanism, as an ancient belief, had significant effects on the later periods of history, both in the religious, social and architectural fields, and to reveal the reflections of these traces in the Turkish-Islamic Architecture of the Anatolian Seljuk Period. The works that we deal with in our study are the works built between the years 1077-1308, when the Anatolian Seljuk State and the Principalities affiliated to this state dominated. When we look at the works built by the Turks who reached Anatolia from the lands of Central Asia, we saw that there are many shamanist figures stylized and interpreted with various mental infrastructures in these works. These figures sometimes appear on the exterior of the buildings, sometimes on the tiles that adorn the building, and sometimes in the interiors of the buildings. We tried to ground, interpret and evaluate these motifs and figures we encountered with the beliefs existing in Shamanism. In this way, we have revealed the Shamanist figures in the Anatolian Seljuk works. KEYWORDS: Anatolian Seljuk, Shaman, Shamanism, Figure, Motif.