Geser Khan
Although Geser Khan may have been a historical personage, he is primarily known as a protective deity of warriors and herds in Mongolian religion, both Buddhism and Shamanism, as well as in literature. The numerous epics concerning Geser Khan are rich sources of information about Mongol mythology and cosmological beliefs. He is particularly revered among the Buryat Mongols of Russia. It is thought that the worship of Geser Khan did not enter Mongolia until the early seventeenth century.
The Geser Khan of the Mongols may be the same figure as the Geser Khan of the Tibetans. They share many characteristics, both as cult and literary figures. Despite Geser Khan's possible Tibetan origin, the Mongol epics are distinct from their Tibetan counterparts. For example, whereas the Tibetans deified some of the companions and opponents of Geser, this appears less frequently in the Mongolian cult of Geser.
In the Mongol tradition, Geser Khan comes into the world to rid it of evil for the betterment of humankind. Throughout time, Geser Khan's importance in Shamanism and Buddhism has remained constant for the Mongols, and special shrines to him existed into the 1940s. Some shrines may remain today; however, Soviet influence, whether overt or covert, seriously undermined not only the Buddhist religion among the Mongols but also the folk religion so that many traditions died out. Whether the Geser cult remains today is uncertain but probable, as more and more Mongols have begun to seek out their past religious systems. The epic certainly remains a vital part of Mongolian literature.
Further Reading
Curtin, Jeremiah. (1909) A Journey in Southern Siberia. Boston: Little, Brown.
David-Neel, Alexandra, and the Lama Yongden. (1959) The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling. Trans. with the collaboration of Violet Sydney. London: Rider.
Heissig, Walther. (1980) The Religions of Mongolia. Trans. by Geoffrey Samuel. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
——. (1984) "Shamanic Myth and Clan-Epic." In Shamanism in Eurasia, pt. 2, edited by Mihaly Hoppal. Göttingen, Germany: Herodot.
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