The article is devoted to the confessional situation in Tuva in the past and present. Special attention is paid to traditional beliefs-Buddhism and shamanism, their place and role during the Qing Dynasty of China (1758-1911), the Tuvan People's Republic (1921-1944), the Soviet (1944-1991) and post - Soviet times. Modern non-traditional confessions are also considered, and the attitude of Tuvans to them is analyzed. The article is based on various sources, including archival documents and the results of the author's field research conducted in 1990-2000. Tuva is one of the three republics of the Russian Federation, along with Kalmykia and Buryatia, where Buddhists live compactly. Until the middle of the 9th century, the territory of Tuva was part of the Turkic and Uyghur khaganates, in the beginning of the 13th century it was conquered by the Mongols, and in the 18th century - by the Manchus, i.e., the Qing dynasty of China. After the overthrow of the Manchurian yoke in 1911, Tuva, then called the Uriankhai Region, was taken under the protectorate of Russia, and later, in 1921, as a result of the national liberation revolution, it was proclaimed a people's republic. In October 1944. Tuva became part of the USSR as an autonomous region; after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, it was transformed into the Republic of Tyva 1 within the Russian Federation. Mahayana Buddhism is the official religion of Tuvans. The traditional belief of the population of Tuva is shamanism. PENETRATION OF BUDDHISM IN TUVA According to Chinese chronicles, the earliest forms of Buddhism existed as early as the time of the Turkic Khaganate, which emerged in the second half of the sixth century in the vast territory of Central Asia and soon split into two parts. The northern Turks were concentrated in the area of Lake Baikal, where Buryatia was later formed, and the southern Turks-in the valley of the Yenisei River, in the territory of modern Tuva. American Buddhologist A. Berzin believes that B ... Читать далее