The Asud ( Mongolian Cyrillic : Асуд , IPA : / ˈasʊt /) were a military group of Alani origin. The Mongol clan Asud is the plural of As, the Arabic name for the Alans .
128-638: Against the Alans and the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mongols used divide and conquer tactics by first telling the Cumans to stop allying with the Alans and after the Cumans followed their suggestion the Mongols then attacked the Cumans after defeating the Alans. Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called "Right Alan Guard" which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in
256-619: A Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia . The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China . They are one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities . The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited a series of oases scattered across the Taklamakan Desert within
384-502: A Manichaean temple in the kingdom, there was continued respect for Tang dynasty legacies and Buddhism. There were over fifty Buddhist temples, the name inscriptions on their gates all presented by the Tang court. The edicts of Emperor Taizong of Tang were carefully stored in an "Imperial Writings Tower." Indeed, the 10th century Persian geography book Hudud al-'Alam called Qocho, the capital city, "Chinese town". James A. Millward claimed that
512-793: A Manichaean temple, with Persian monks who keep their own religious law and call the Buddhist scriptures the 'foreign Way' ... In this land there are no poor people; anyone short of food is given public aid. People live to an advanced age, generally over one hundred years. No one dies young. In 996, Bügü Bilgä Tengri ilig succeeded Süngülüg Khagan. In 1007, Alp Arsla Qutlugh Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan succeeded Bügü Bilgä Tengri ilig. In 1008, Manichaean temples were converted to Buddhist temples . In 1024, Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan succeeded Alp Arsla Qutlugh Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan. In 1068, Tengri Bügü il Bilgä Arslan Tengri Uighur Tärkän succeeded Kül Bilgä Tengri Khan. By 1096, Qocho had lost Aksu , Tumshuk , and Kucha to
640-610: A Uyghur tribe appears in accounts from the Northern Wei (4th–6th century A.D.), wherein they were named 袁紇 Yuanhe (< MC ZS * ɦʉɐn-ɦət ) and derived from a confederation named 高车 / 高車 ( lit. "High Carts"), read as Gāochē in Mandarin Chinese but originally with the reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation *[kɑutɕʰĭa], later known as the Tiele ( 铁勒 / 鐵勒 , Tiělè ). Gāochē in turn has been connected to
768-569: A genetically isolated local population that "adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert." These mummified individuals were long suspected to have been " Proto-Tocharian -speaking pastoralists", ancestors of the Tocharians , but the authors of this study found no genetic connection with Indo-European -speaking migrants, particularly
896-538: A hatred in his Diwan where he wrote the verse cycle on the war against Uyghur Buddhists. Buddhist origin words like toyin (a cleric or priest) and Burxān or Furxan (meaning Buddha, acquiring the generic meaning of "idol" in the Turkic language of Kashgari) had negative connotations to Muslim Turks. The Uyghurs were subjected to attacks by Muslim Turks, according to Kashgari's work. The Kara-Khanid Khanate 's ruler Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan razed Qocho's Buddhist temples in
1024-744: A link between the Karakhanid and the Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate, although this connection is disputed by others. The Karakhanids converted to Islam in the tenth century beginning with Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan , the first Turkic dynasty to do so. Modern Uyghurs see the Muslim Karakhanids as an important part of their history; however, Islamization of the people of the Tarim Basin was a gradual process. The Indo-Iranian Saka Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan
1152-456: A matter of fact there was for centuries no 'national' name for them; people identified themselves with the oasis they came from, such as Kashgar or Turfan. The term "Uyghur" was not used to refer to a specific existing ethnicity in the 19th century: it referred to an 'ancient people'. A late-19th-century encyclopedia entitled The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia said "the Uigur are
1280-459: A part in the expedition of the Mongols against Karajang (Yunnan). This Alan imperial guard was still in existence in 1272, 1286 and 1309, and it was divided into two corps with headquarters in the Ling pei province (Karakorúm). In 1254 Rubruquis found a Russian deacon amongst the other Christians at Karakoram. The reason why the earlier Persian word tersa was gradually abandoned by the Mongols in favour of
1408-673: A people European in appearance indicates the migration of a European-looking people into the Tarim area at the beginning of the Bronze Age around 1800 BC. These people may have been of Tocharian origin, and some have suggested them to be the Yuezhi mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. The Tocharians are thought to have developed from the Indo-European speaking Afanasevo culture of Southern Siberia (c. 3500–2500 BC). A study published in 2021 showed that
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#17328477444721536-513: A southwest and northeast differentiation in the population, partially caused by the Tianshan Mountains which form a natural barrier, with gene flows from the east and west. The study identifies four major ancestral components that may have arisen from two earlier admixed groups: one that migrated from the west harbouring a West-Eurasian component associated with European ancestry (25–37%) and a South Asian ancestry component (12–20%) and one from
1664-886: A vassal to the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty , and were allied to the Yuan against the Chagatai Khanate . Eventually the Chagatai khan Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq eliminated Yuan influence over Qocho. When the Mongols placed the Uyghurs in control of the Koreans at court, the Korean king objected. Emperor Kublai Khan rebuked the Korean king, saying that the Uyghur king ranked higher than the Karluk Kara-Khanid ruler, who in turn
1792-400: Is a small island covered with feathers shed by birds. Over two hundred li west of this city is the county of Luntai, which also has a Tang-era stele. Five hundred li south of this city (Beshbaliq) is Hezhou (Qocho), known as Gaochang in the Tang. It is also known as Yizhou. Three to four thousand li west of Gaochang is the city of Wuduan (Khotan), which was known as the kingdom of Yutian in
1920-715: Is also claimed that they helped their new masters to fight against the Circassians and that they participated in the Mongol invasion of Europe . Under the rule of Möngke Khan , many were brought east to fight against the Chinese Song Dynasty and Kingdom of Dali in Yunnan in 1258-1259 . The Alan imperial guard was divided into two corps with headquarters in Karakorum . After the coronation of Kublai Khan , those Alans participated in
2048-572: Is also unintelligible to us. Only in Hezhou (i.e., Gaochang/Qocho) and Shazhou (i.e., Dunhuang) are the temples and images like those of the Central Lands, and in those temples they recite Buddhist scriptures written in the Chinese (Han) script. The Buddhist Uyghurs frequently came into conflict with their western Muslim neighbors. Muslim Turks described the Uyghurs in a number of derogatory ways. For example,
2176-579: Is now Iraq , the ruler of Qocho sent a letter to Nasr II of the Samanid Empire threatening to retaliate against Muslims in his realm. Manichaean monks accompanied Uyghur embassies from 934–951 while between 965 and 1022, the accompanying monks were Buddhists. Manichaeism in Qocho probably reached its peak in 866 and was gradually replaced by Buddhism afterward. This shift was noticeable by 1008 when Manichaean temples were converted to Buddhist temples. Part of
2304-521: Is referred to as the "Xizhou Uyghurs" after the old Tang Chinese name for Gaochang, the "Qocho Uyghurs" after their capital, the "Kucha Uyghurs" after another city they controlled, or the "Arslan ("Lion") Uyghurs" after their king's title. In 843, a group of Uyghurs migrated southward under the leadership of Pangtele, and occupied Karasahr and Kucha , taking them from the Tibetan Empire . In 856, this group of Uyghurs received royal recognition from
2432-663: Is still recalled in the forms of the Khotan Imam Asim Sufi shrine celebration and other Sufi holy site celebrations. Bezeklik's Thousand Buddha Caves are an example of the religiously motivated vandalism against portraits of religious and human figures. According to Kashgari's Three Turkic Verse Cycles , the "infidel tribes" suffered three defeats, one at the hands of the Karakhanids in the Irtysh Valley , one by unspecified Muslim Turks, and one inflicted upon "a city between
2560-483: Is usually pronounced in English as / ˈ w iː ɡ ʊər , - ɡ ər / WEE -goor, -gər (and thus may be preceded by the indefinite article "a"), although some Uyghurs advocate the use of a more native pronunciation / ˌ uː i ˈ ɡ ʊər / OO -ee- GOOR instead (which, in contrast, calls for the indefinite article "an"). The term's original meaning is unclear. Old Turkic inscriptions record
2688-516: The Afanasievo or BMAC cultures. The Uighurs are the people whom old Russian travelers called " Sart " (a name they used for sedentary, Turkish-speaking Central Asians in general), while Western travelers called them Turki, in recognition of their language. The Chinese used to call them "Ch'an-t'ou" ('Turbaned Heads') but this term has been dropped, being considered derogatory, and the Chinese, using their own pronunciation, now called them Weiwuerh. As
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#17328477444722816-505: The Asud or "Right Alan Guard", which was combined with "recently surrendered" soldiers, Mongols, and Chinese soldiers stationed in the area of the former kingdom of Qocho. In Beshbalik (now Jimsar County ), the Mongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi. The last Buddhist Uyghurs of Qocho and Turpan were converted to Islam by force during a Jihad (holy war) at
2944-520: The Central Plains , as "nephew" referred to the traditional relationship between the Uyghur Khans and the previous Tang dynasty, who referred to each other as uncle and nephew. Meanwhile, West Prefecture ( 西州 ) referred to Qocho's designation under Tang administration. In 984, Arslan Bilgä Tengri ilig became Süngülüg Khagan. In the same year, a Song Chinese envoy reached Qocho and gave an account of
3072-635: The Chinese government has been accused by various organizations, such as Human Rights Watch of subjecting Uyghurs living in Xinjiang to widespread persecution , including forced sterilization and forced labor. Scholars estimate that at least one million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in the Xinjiang internment camps since 2017; Chinese government officials claim that these camps, created under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping 's administration , serve
3200-690: The Dzungar genocide . The Qing "final solution" of genocide to solve the problem of the Dzungar Mongols created a land devoid of Dzungars, which was followed by the Qing sponsored settlement of millions of other people in Dzungaria. In northern Xinjiang, the Qing brought in Han, Hui, Uyghur, Xibe, Daurs, Solons, Turkic Muslim Taranchis and Kazakh colonists, with one third of Xinjiang's total population consisting of Hui and Han in
3328-583: The Guiyi Circuit . The Uyghur capital was moved to Xizhou, which the Uyghurs called Idiqutshari . Beshbalik became their summer residence. On the southern end of the Altai Mountains is a city of the Uighurs, called Bieshiba (Beshbaliq). There is a Tang-era stele there that identifies it as the former Vast Sea (Hanhai) Military Prefecture. The Vast Sea is several hundred li northwest of this city. In that sea
3456-819: The Kara-Khanid Khanate . In 1123, Bilgä rose to power. He was succeeded by Yur Temur at some point. In 1128, the Kingdom of Qocho became a vassal of the Qara Khitai . In 1128, during the reign of Bilge Tekin, the Uighur Kingdom became a vassal state of the Western Liao established by the Khitan. Originally the Western Liao exercised only a loose control over the Uighur state, but soon started to extort excessive taxes and levies in
3584-529: The Kingdom of Qocho and Kara-Khanid Khanate formed after the dissolution of the Uyghur Khaganate. Historians generally agree that the adoption of the term "Uyghur" is based on a decision from a 1921 conference in Tashkent , attended by Turkic Muslims from the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang). There, "Uyghur" was chosen by them as the name of their ethnicity, although they themselves note that they were not to be confused with
3712-654: The Mongol Empire , but was finally destroyed by the Chagatai Khanate by the end of the 14th century. In the tenth century, the Karluks , Yagmas , Chigils and other Turkic tribes founded the Kara-Khanid Khanate in Semirechye , Western Tian Shan , and Kashgaria and later conquered Transoxiana . The Karakhanid rulers were likely to be Yaghmas who were associated with the Toquz Oghuz and some historians therefore see this as
3840-481: The Old Uyghur alphabet . The Idiquts (the title of the Qocho rulers) ruled independently until they become a vassal state of the Qara Khitai (Chinese: "Western Liao"). They do not cremate their dead, but bury the dead without coffins. They always bury the dead with the head facing west. Their monks do not shave their heads, and there are no painted or sculpted images in their temples. The language of their scriptures
3968-496: The Tang dynasty . At this time, their capital was in Karasahr (Yanqi). The land of the Uighurs is very large, so large that to the west it appears boundless. In the fourth and fifth months, all vegetation dries up as if it were winter. The mountains are snow-covered even in summer. When the sun rises it becomes hot, but as soon as it sets, it grows cold. Even in the sixth lunar month (i.e.,
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4096-698: The Tarim Basin . The rest of Xinjiang's Uyghurs mostly live in Ürümqi , the capital city of Xinjiang , which is located in the historical region of Dzungaria . The largest community of Uyghurs living outside of Xinjiang are the Taoyuan Uyghurs of north-central Hunan 's Taoyuan County . Significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in other Turkic countries such as Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Uzbekistan and Turkey. Smaller communities live in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Russia and Sweden. Since 2014,
4224-509: The Tarim Basin . These oases have historically existed as independent states or were controlled by many civilizations including China , the Mongols , the Tibetans , and various Turkic polities. The Uyghurs gradually started to become Islamized in the 10th century, and most Uyghurs identified as Muslims by the 16th century. Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity. An estimated 80% of Xinjiang's Uyghurs still live in
4352-676: The Tiele , who lived in the valleys south of Lake Baikal and around the Yenisei River . They overthrew the First Turkic Khaganate and established the Uyghur Khaganate . The Uyghur Khaganate lasted from 744 to 840. It was administered from the imperial capital Ordu-Baliq , one of the biggest ancient cities built in Mongolia. In 840, following a famine and civil war, the Uyghur Khaganate
4480-570: The Toquz Oghuz . The name fell out of use in the 15th century, but was reintroduced in the early 20th century by the Soviet Bolsheviks to replace the previous terms Turk and Turki . The name is currently used to refer to the settled Turkic urban dwellers and farmers of the Tarim Basin who follow traditional Central Asian sedentary practices, distinguishable from the nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. The earliest record of
4608-532: The Uyghur Qangqil ( قاڭقىل or Қаңқил). Throughout its history, the term Uyghur has had an increasingly expansive definition. Initially signifying only a small coalition of Tiele tribes in northern China, Mongolia and the Altai Mountains , it later denoted citizenship in the Uyghur Khaganate . Finally, it was expanded into an ethnicity whose ancestry originates with the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate in
4736-582: The Uyghur Khaganate of medieval history. According to Linda Benson, the Soviets and their client Sheng Shicai intended to foster a Uyghur nationality to divide the Muslim population of Xinjiang, whereas the various Turkic Muslim peoples preferred to identify themselves as "Turki", "East Turkestani" or "Muslim". On the other hand, the ruling regime of China at that time, the Kuomintang , grouped all Muslims, including
4864-553: The World Uyghur Congress claimed a 4,000-year history in East Turkestan. However, the official Chinese view, as documented in the white paper History and Development of Xinjiang , asserts that the Uyghur ethnic group formed after the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840, when the local residents of the Tarim Basin and its surrounding areas were merged with migrants from the khaganate. The name "Uyghur" reappeared after
4992-436: The "Compendium of the Turkic Dialects" by Mahmud al-Kashgari states that "just as the thorn should be cut at its root, so the Uighur should be struck on the eye". They also used the derogatory word "Tat" to describe the Buddhist Uyghurs, which means "infidels". Uyghurs were also called dogs. While al-Kashgari displayed a different attitude towards the Turk diviners beliefs and "national customs", he expressed towards Buddhism
5120-410: The "Imperial Writings Tower" and Chinese dictionaries like Jingyun, Yupian, Tang yun, and da zang jing (Buddhist scriptures) stored inside the Buddhist temples. Uyghur Buddhists studied the Chinese language and used Chinese books like the Thousand Character Classic and the Qieyun . It was written that "In Qocho city were more than fifty monasteries, all titles of which are granted by the emperors of
5248-567: The "Uighur" name for the Turkic people of Xinjiang was criticized and rejected by Turki intellectuals such as Pan-Turkist Jadids and East Turkestan independence activists Muhammad Amin Bughra (Mehmet Emin) and Masud Sabri . They demanded the names "Türk" or "Türki" be used instead as the ethnonyms for their people. Masud Sabri viewed the Hui people as Muslim Han Chinese and separate from his people, while Bughrain criticized Sheng for his designation of Turkic Muslims into different ethnicities which could sow disunion among Turkic Muslims. After
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5376-419: The "Yellow Uyghur" ( Sarïq Uyghur ). Some scholars say the Yugurs' culture, language and religion are closer to the original culture of the original Uyghur Karakorum state than is the culture of the modern Uyghur people of Xinjiang. Linguist and ethnographer S. Robert Ramsey argues for inclusion of both the Eastern and Western Yugur and the Salar as sub-groups of the Uyghur based on similar historical roots for
5504-404: The 1390s, and the Uyghurs there became largely Muslim by the beginning of the 16th century. After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan failed to retain memory of their ancestral legacy and falsely believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" ( Dzungars ) were the ones who built Buddhist structures in their area. From the late 14th through 17th centuries,
5632-543: The 15-16th centuries, they formed part of the Yungshebiyu tumen in central Inner Mongolia and the Asud were large tribe of Southern Mongolia. Today, there are few people with the clan name Asud in Ar Khorchin banner, Inner Mongolia . Mongolian Asuds live in Ulaanbaatar , Dundgovi , Töv and other aimags. Kingdom of Qocho Qocho or Kara-Khoja ( Chinese : 高昌回鶻 ; pinyin : Gāochāng Huíhú ; lit. 'Gaochang Uyghurs'), also known as Idiqut , ("holy wealth"; "glory"; "lord of fortune" )
5760-401: The 1930s, referring to them by the name "Altishahri" in his article Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism . Thum indicated that Altishahri Turkis did have a sense that they were a distinctive group separate from the Turkic Andijanis to their west, the nomadic Turkic Kirghiz, the nomadic Mongol Qalmaq and the Han Chinese Khitay before they became known as Uyghurs. There
5888-467: The 19th century. The name "Uyghur" reappeared after the Soviet Union took the 9th-century ethnonym from the Uyghur Khaganate , then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. It followed western European orientalists like Julius Klaproth in the 19th century who revived the name and spread the use of the term to local Turkic intellectuals and a 19th-century proposal from Russian historians that modern-day Uyghurs were descended from
6016-409: The 2004 book Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland that there is "scant evidence" to support Uyghur claims that their population within China exceeds 20 million. A study of mitochondrial DNA (2004) (therefore the matrilineal genetic contribution ) found the frequency of Western Eurasian-specific haplogroup in Uyghurs to be 42.6% and East Asian haplogroup to be 57.4%. Uyghurs in Kazakhstan on
6144-440: The 4th century AD. There may also be an Indian component as the founding legend of Khotan suggests that the city was founded by Indians from ancient Taxila during the reign of Ashoka . Other people in the region mentioned in ancient Chinese texts include the Dingling as well as the Xiongnu who fought for supremacy in the region against the Chinese for several hundred years. Some Uyghur nationalists also claimed descent from
6272-414: The Aqtaghlik Afaqi Khoja into exile. In the 17th century, the Buddhist Dzungar Khanate grew in power in Dzungaria . The Dzungar conquest of Altishahr ended the last independent Chagatai Khanate, the Yarkent Khanate , after the Aqtaghlik Afaq Khoja sought aid from the 5th Dalai Lama and his Dzungar Buddhist followers to help him in his struggle against the Qarataghlik Khojas. The Aqtaghlik Khojas in
6400-411: The Buddhist city of Hami was the final blow to Uyghur Buddhism, although some Buddhist influence in the names of Turpan Muslims still remained. Since Islam reached them much after other cities in the Tarim Basin, personal names of pre-Islamic Old Uyghur origin are still used in Hami and Turpan while Uyghurs to the west use mostly Islamic names of Arabic origin. Cherrypicking of history of Xinjiang with
6528-554: The Communist victory, the Chinese Communist Party under Chairman Mao Zedong continued the Soviet classification, using the term "Uyghur" to describe the modern ethnicity. In current usage, Uyghur refers to settled Turkic-speaking urban dwellers and farmers of the Tarim Basin and Ili who follow traditional Central Asian sedentary practices, as distinguished from nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. However, Chinese government agents designate as "Uyghur" certain peoples with significantly divergent histories and ancestries from
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#17328477444726656-416: The Dzungar conflict, two Aqtaghlik brothers, the so-called "Younger Khoja" ( Chinese : 霍集佔 ), also known as Khwāja-i Jahān, and his sibling, the Elder Khoja ( Chinese : 波羅尼都 ), also known as Burhān al-Dīn, after being appointed as vassals in the Tarim Basin by the Dzungars, first joined the Qing and rebelled against Dzungar rule until the final Qing victory over the Dzungars, then they rebelled against
6784-471: The First and Second Göktürk Khaganates (AD 630–684). The Old History of the Five Dynasties records that in 788 or 809, the Chinese acceded to a Uyghur request and emended their transcription to 回鹘 / 回鶻 (Mandarin: Huíhú , but [ɣuɒiɣuət] in Middle Chinese). Modern etymological explanations for the name Uyghur range from derivation from the verb "follow, accommodate oneself" and adjective "non-rebellious" (i.e., from Turkic uy/uð- ) to
6912-401: The Jinshan Kingdom's loss to the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom in 911. In 954, Ilig Bilgä Tengri rose to power. In 981, Arslan Bilgä Tengri ilig rose to power. From 981, the Idiqut of Qocho sent tribute missions to the Song dynasty under the title "Nephew Lion King Arslan Khan of the West Prefecture." The addition of the title "Nephew" ( 外甥 ) was intended as a show of sincerity to the Han people of
7040-407: The Kingdom of Qocho became a vassal of the Mongol Empire . I must, however, point out that, although Chinggis Khan adopted the ruler of the Uighur state Barchukh Art Tegin as his "fifth son", the Uighur state never became the "fifth khanate", as has been suggested by some scholars. The Uighur state was not independent, but was part of the Mongol empire. During the early Yuan dynasty, at least before
7168-404: The Minglaq province across the Ili region. Buddhist murals at the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves were damaged by local Muslim population whose religion proscribed figurative images of sentient beings, the eyes and mouths in particular were often gouged out. Pieces of murals were also broken off for use as fertilizer by the locals. The Islamic–Buddhist conflict from the 11th to 12th centuries
7296-430: The Princes' rebellions, the Yuan central government exercised a tight control over the Uighur state. Although the Mongol royal family maintained a marriage relationship with the Uighur Idu-qut family for almost a century, the women who were married into Uighurstan were not the daughters of the Yuan emperors, but were mostly descendants of Ogedei Khan who had lost the throne to the descendants of Tolui, his younger brother. At
7424-402: The Qing in the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas (1757–1759), an action which prompted the invasion and conquest of the Tarim Basin by the Qing in 1759. The Uyghurs of Turfan and Hami such as Emin Khoja were allies of the Qing in this conflict, and these Uyghurs also helped the Qing rule the Altishahr Uyghurs in the Tarim Basin. The final campaign against the Dzungars in the 1750s ended with
7552-571: The Sogdians, such as Manichaeism , Buddhism , and Christianity , but also looked to the Sogdians as "mentors" while gradually replacing them in their roles as Silk Road traders and purveyors of culture. During the rule of the Qocho Kingdom, some of their subjects also began adopting Islam, as evident when the Idiqut threatened to retaliate against the Muslims of his lands and "destroy the mosques" if Manichaeans were persecuted in neighbouring Khorasan . He emphasized that Muslims in Qocho were "more numerous" than Manichaeans under Islamic rule, and he
7680-448: The Soviet Union took the 9th-century ethnonym from the Uyghur Khaganate, then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. Many contemporary western scholars, however, do not consider the modern Uyghurs to be of direct linear descent from the old Uyghur Khaganate of Mongolia. Rather, they consider them to be descendants of a number of peoples, one of them the ancient Uyghurs. Discovery of well-preserved Tarim mummies of
7808-415: The Syro - Greek word arkon, when speaking of Christians, manifestly is that no specifically Greek Church was ever heard of in China until the Russians had been conquered; besides, there were large bodies of Russian and Alan guards at Peking throughout the last half of the thirteenth and first half of the fourteenth century, and the Catholics there would not be likely to encourage the use of a Persian word which
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#17328477444727936-534: The Tang dynasty, which keep many Buddhist texts as the Tripiṭaka , Tangyun , Yupuan , Jingyin etc." The Uyghurs of Qocho continued to produce the Chinese Qieyun rime dictionary and developed their own pronunciations of Chinese characters. They viewed the Chinese script as "very prestigious" so when they developed the Old Uyghur alphabet , based on the Syriac script, they deliberately switched it to vertical like Chinese writing from its original horizontal position in Syriac. While Persian monks still maintained
8064-538: The Tang. The two rivers that produce black and white jade are located there. In 869 and 870 the Kingdom of Qocho attacked the Guiyi Circuit but was repelled. In 876 the Kingdom of Qocho seized Yizhou from the Guiyi Circuit. In 880, Qocho attacked Shazhou ( Dunhuang ) but was repelled. By 887, they were settled under an agrarian lifestyle in Qocho. In 904, Zhang Chengfeng of the Guiyi Circuit (later renamed Jinshan Kingdom) attacked Qocho and seized Yizhou ( Hami /Kumul) and Xizhou ( Gaochang ). This occupation ended after
8192-576: The Tangut and China", Qatun Sini, at the hands of the Tangut Khan. The war against Buddhist, shamanist, and Manichaean Uyghurs was considered a jihad by the Kara-Khanids. Imams and soldiers who died in the battles against the Uyghur Buddhists and Khotan are revered as saints. It is possible the Muslims drove some Uyghur Buddhist monks towards taking asylum in the Tangut Western Xia dynasty. There are many varieties of people in that country. Their hair and beards are thick and curly like wool, and vary widely in shade from black to yellow. One sees only
8320-417: The Tarim Basin and Turfan in the 17th century. The Khojas however split into two rival factions, the Aqtaghlik ("White Mountainers") Khojas (also called the Afaqiyya ) and the Qarataghlik ("Black Mountainers") Khojas (also called the Ishaqiyya). The legacy of the Khojas lasted until the 19th century. The Qarataghlik Khojas seized power in Yarkand where the Chagatai Khans ruled in the Yarkent Khanate, forcing
8448-401: The Tarim Basin then became vassals to the Dzungars. The expansion of the Dzungars into Khalkha Mongol territory in Mongolia brought them into direct conflict with Qing China in the late 17th century, and in the process also brought Chinese presence back into the region a thousand years after Tang China lost control of the Western Regions . The Dzungar–Qing War lasted a decade. During
8576-428: The Turkic Muslims of the region as "Turki" in their books. Use of the term Uyghur was unknown in Xinjiang until 1934. The area governor, Sheng Shicai , came to power, adopting the Soviet ethnographic classification instead of the Kuomintang's and became the first to promulgate the official use of the term "Uyghur" to describe the Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang. "Uyghur" replaced "rag-head". Sheng Shicai's introduction of
8704-427: The Turkic-speaking people of Xinjiang, into the " Hui nationality ". The Qing dynasty and the Kuomintang generally referred to the sedentary oasis-dwelling Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang as "turban-headed Hui" to differentiate them from other predominantly Muslim ethnicities in China. In the 1930s, foreigners travelers in Xinjiang such as George W. Hunter , Peter Fleming , Ella Maillart and Sven Hedin , referred to
8832-470: The Uighur lands. In 1209, the Uighur Iduq-qut ("Lord of happiness") Barchuk Art Tegin ordered the death of the Khitan magistrate ( shangjian ) in an attempt to free his people from the rule of the Western Liao. It just so happened that Chinggis Khan's envoys arrived at this juncture, and fearing retaliation from the Liao, he immediately sent envoys to Mongolia to express his willingness to acknowledge allegiance to Chinggis in exchange from protection. In 1209,
8960-517: The Uyghur rulers of Qocho prior to the thirteenth century. The title of the ruler of Qocho was idiqut or iduq qut . In 1308, Nolen Tekin was granted the title Prince of Gaochang by the Yuan Emperor Ayurbarwada . The following list of rulers is drawn mostly from Turghun Almas , Uyghurlar (Almaty, 1992), vol. 1, pp. 180–85. Named rulers based on various sources of other languages are also included. Uyghurs The Uyghurs , alternatively spelled Uighurs , Uygurs or Uigurs , are
9088-422: The Uyghurs as the original inhabitants of Xinjiang with a long history. Uyghur politician and historian Muhammad Amin Bughra wrote in his book A History of East Turkestan , stressing the Turkic aspects of his people, that the Turks have a continuous 9000-year-old history, while historian Turghun Almas incorporated discoveries of Tarim mummies to conclude that Uyghurs have over 6400 years of continuous history, and
9216-540: The Uyghurs were generally " Mongoloid " (a term meaning "appearing ethnically Eastern or Inner Asian"), giving as an example the images of Uyghur patrons of Buddhism in Bezeklik, temple 9, until they began to mix with the Tarim Basin's original, Indo-European -speaking " Caucasoid " inhabitants, such as the so-called Tocharians . Buddhist Uyghurs created the Bezeklik murals. The Uyghurs of Qocho were Buddhists whose religious identity were intertwined with their religion. Qocho
9344-647: The Xinjiang region became further subdivided into Moghulistan in the north, Altishahr (Kashgar and the Tarim Basin), and the Turfan area, each often ruled separately by competing Chagatayid descendants, the Dughlats , and later the Khojas . Islam was also spread by the Sufis , and branches of its Naqshbandi order were the Khojas who seized control of political and military affairs in
9472-624: The Xiongnu (according to the Chinese historical text the Book of Wei , the founder of the Uyghurs was descended from a Xiongnu ruler), but the view is contested by modern Chinese scholars. The Yuezhi were driven away by the Xiongnu but founded the Kushan Empire , which exerted some influence in the Tarim Basin, where Kharosthi texts have been found in Loulan , Niya and Khotan . Loulan and Khotan were some of
9600-526: The Yindu (Indians) who are dark and ugly and uses fire to brand their faces. In 1209, the Kara-Khoja ruler Baurchuk Art Tekin declared his allegiance to the Mongols under Genghis Khan and the kingdom existed as a vassal state until 1335. After submitting to the Mongols, the Uyghurs served the Mongol rulers as bureaucrats, providing the expertise that the initially illiterate nomads lacked. Qocho continued exist as
9728-777: The Yugur and on perceived linguistic similarities for the Salar. " Turkistani " is used as an alternate ethnonym by some Uyghurs. For example, the Uyghur diaspora in Arabia, adopted the identity " Turkistani ". Some Uyghurs in Saudi Arabia adopted the Arabic nisba of their home city, such as " Al- Kashgari " from Kashgar . Saudi-born Uyghur Hamza Kashgari 's family originated from Kashgar. The Uyghur population within China generally remains centered in Xinjiang region with some smaller subpopulations elsewhere in
9856-461: The [Tang] calendar produced in the seventh year of the Kaiyuan reign (719). They fashion pipes of silver or brass and channel flowing water to shoot at each other; or they sprinkle water on each other as a game, which they call pressing out the sun's heat to chase off sickness. They like to take walks, and the strollers always carry a musical instrument with them. There are over fifty Buddhist temples here,
9984-590: The area of the former Kingdom of Qocho and in Besh Balikh the Mongols established a Chinese military colony led by Chinese general Qi Kongzhi (Ch'i Kung-chih). Alan and Kipchak guards were used by Kublai Khan. In 1368 at the end of the Yuan dynasty in China Toghan Temür was accompanied by his faithful Alan guards. Mangu enlisted in his bodyguard half the troops of the Alan prince, Arslan, whose younger son Nicholas took
10112-472: The cabinet minister and of the Il Ugasi ministers of the great, fortunate Uyghur government." The document details a dramatized dialogue between Mani and a prince, and testifies to the rich cultural life of the Qocho kingdom. Tang rule over Qocho and Turfan left a lasting Chinese Buddhist influence on the area. Tang names remained on more than 50 Buddhist temples with Emperor Taizong of Tang 's edicts stored in
10240-633: The campaign against Ariq Böke and later Qaidu under the Yuan Dynasty . They suffered heavy losses from Song resistance when they were under the command of Bayan of the Baarin and Aju . Kublai Khan organized them into the Jasin guard (Alan guard) of 3,000 soldiers around 1271, along with some of the Kipchaks . The Alani guard reached its peak during the reign of Tugh Temür and their number expanded to 30,000. During
10368-504: The city: There is no rain or snow here and it is extremely hot. Each year at the hottest time, the inhabitants dig holes in the ground to live in ... The earth here produces all the five grains except buckwheat. The nobility eat horseflesh, while the rest eat mutton, wild ducks and geese. Their music is largely played on the pipa and harp. They produce sables, fine white cotton cloth, and an embroidered cloth made from flower stamens. By custom they enjoy horseback riding and archery ... They use
10496-501: The conquest. The settled population of these cities later merged with the incoming Turkic people, including the Uyghurs of Uyghur Khaganate, to form the modern Uyghurs. The Indo-European Tocharian language later disappeared as the urban population switched to a Turkic language such as the Old Uyghur language . The early Turkic peoples descended from agricultural communities in Northeast Asia who moved westwards into Mongolia in
10624-471: The country, such as in Taoyuan County where an estimated 5,000–10,000 live. The size of the Uyghur population, particularly in China, has been the subject of dispute. Chinese authorities place the Uyghur population within the Xinjiang region to be just over 12 million, comprising approximately half of the total regional population. As early as 2003, however, some Uyghur groups wrote that their population
10752-580: The death of Genghis Khan in 1227, Transoxiana and Kashgar became the domain of his second son, Chagatai Khan . The Chagatai Khanate split into two in the 1340s, and the area of the Chagatai Khanate where the modern Uyghurs live became part of Moghulistan , which meant "land of the Mongols". In the 14th century, a Chagatayid khan Tughluq Temür converted to Islam, Genghisid Mongol nobilities also followed him to convert to Islam. His son Khizr Khoja conquered Qocho and Turfan (the core of Uyghuristan) in
10880-505: The descendants of a number of peoples, including the ancient Uyghurs of Mongolia migrating into the Tarim Basin after the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate, Iranic Saka tribes and other Indo-European peoples inhabiting the Tarim Basin before the arrival of the Turkic Uyghurs. Uyghur activists identify with the Tarim mummies , remains of an ancient people inhabiting the region, but research into
11008-555: The descendants of the Uyghurs in Turpan failed to retain memory of their Buddhist legacy and were led to believe that the "infidel Kalmuks" ( Dzungar people ) were the ones who built Buddhist monuments in their area. The Encyclopaedia of Islam wrote "By then the Turks of the Turfan ... forgetting all the other highlights of their past, they attributed the Buddhist and other monuments to the 'infidel Kalmuks'." The Islamic conversion forced on
11136-506: The diversity of cytochrome B further suggests Uyghurs are closer to Chinese and Siberian populations than to various Caucasoid groups in West Asia or Europe. However, there is significant genetic distance between the Xinjiang's southern Uyghurs and Chinese population, but not between the northern Uyghurs and Chinese. A Study (2016) of Uyghur males living in southern Xinjiang used high-resolution 26 Y-STR loci system high-resolution to infer
11264-590: The earliest Tarim Basin cultures had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry, with smaller admixture from Northeast Asians . Uyghur activist Turgun Almas claimed that Tarim mummies were Uyghurs because the earliest Uyghurs practiced shamanism and the buried mummies' orientation suggests that they had been shamanists; meanwhile, Qurban Wäli claimed words written in Kharosthi and Sogdian scripts as "Uyghur" rather than Sogdian words absorbed into Uyghur according to other linguists. Later migrations brought peoples from
11392-821: The early 20th century they identified themselves by different names to different peoples and in response to different inquiries: they called themselves Sarts in front of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz while they called themselves "Chantou" if asked about their identity after first identifying as a Muslim. The term "Chantou" ( 纏頭 ; Chántóu , meaning "Turban Head") was used to refer to the Turkic Muslims of Altishahr (now Southern Xinjiang ), including by Hui (Tungan) people. These groups of peoples often identify themselves by their originating oasis instead of an ethnicity; for example those from Kashgar may refer to themselves as Kashgarliq or Kashgari , while those from Hotan identity themselves as "Hotani". Other Central Asians once called all
11520-400: The east, harbouring a Siberian ancestry component (15–17%) and an East Asian ancestry component (29–47%). In total, Uyghurs on average are 33.3% West Eurasian, 32.9% East Asian, 17.9% South Asian, and 16% Siberian. Western parts of Xinjiang are more West Eurasian components than East Eurasian. It suggests at least two major waves of admixture, one ~3,750 years ago coinciding with the age range of
11648-642: The eyes and noses on their faces [because of all the facial hair]. Their tastes and habits are also different from ours. There are Mosuluman (Muslim) Uighurs who are cruel by nature and eat only meat from animals that they have just killed with their own hands. Even when fasting, they drink wine and eat without any sense of unease. There are Yilizhu (Christian) Uighurs who are quite weak and cowardly and dislike killing; when fasting, they do not eat meat. There are Yindu (Indian) Uighurs who have black skin and are simple and honest. There are too many other kinds for me to list them all. Their king selects his eunuchs from those of
11776-454: The genetic relationships between the Uyghur population and European and Asian populations. The results showed the Uyghur population of southern Xinjiang exhibited a genetic admixture of Eastern Asian and European populations but with slightly closer relationship with European populations than to Eastern Asian populations. An extensive genome study in 2017 analyzed 951 samples of Uyghurs from 14 geographical subpopulations in Xinjiang and observed
11904-527: The genetics of ancient Tarim mummies and their links with modern Uyghurs remains problematic, both to Chinese government officials concerned with ethnic separatism and to Uyghur activists concerned the research could affect their indigenous claim. A genomic study published in 2021 found that these early mummies had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from Ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, about 28%), but no detectable Western Steppe-related ancestry . They formed
12032-633: The goals of ensuring adherence to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology, preventing separatism , fighting terrorism , and providing vocational training to Uyghurs. Various scholars, human rights organizations and governments consider abuses perpetrated against the Uyghurs to amount to crimes against humanity , or even genocide . In the Uyghur language , the ethnonym is written ئۇيغۇر in Arabic script , Уйғур in Uyghur Cyrillic and Uyghur or Uygur (as
12160-513: The hands of the Chagatai Khanate ruler Khizr Khoja (r. 1389–1399). Mirza Haidar Dughlat 's Tarikh-i-Rashidi (c. 1540, in Persian ) wrote, "( Khizr Khoja ) undertook a campaign against Karakhodja [Qocho] and Turfan, two very important towns in China, and forced their inhabitants to become Muslims". The Chagatai Khanate also conquered Hami, where the Buddhist religion was also purged and replaced with Islam. Ironically after being converted to Islam,
12288-458: The inhabitants of Xinjiang's Southern oases Kashgari, a term still used in some regions of Pakistan. The Turkic people also used "Musulman", which means "Muslim", to describe themselves. Rian Thum explored the concepts of identity among the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs in Altishahr (the native Uyghur name for Eastern Turkestan or Southern Xinjiang) before the adoption of the name "Uyghur" in
12416-482: The intention of projecting an image of either irreligiosity or piousness of Islam in Uyghur culture has been done for various reasons. After the conversion to Islam by Uyghurs, the term "Uyghur" fell out of use until it was revived in 1921. ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) The Kingdom of Qocho's rulers trace their lineage to Qutlugh of the Ediz dynasty of the Uyghur Khaganate. There are numerous gaps in our knowledge of
12544-402: The late 3rd millennium BC, where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle. By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become equestrian nomads . In subsequent centuries, the steppe populations of Central Asia appear to have been progressively Turkified by East Asian nomadic Turks, moving out of Mongolia. The Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate were part of a Turkic confederation called
12672-655: The main group. These include the Lopliks of Ruoqiang County and the Dolan people , thought to be closer to the Oirat Mongols and the Kyrgyz . The use of the term Uyghur led to anachronisms when describing the history of the people. In one of his books, the term Uyghur was deliberately not used by James Millward. Another ethnicity, the Western Yugur of Gansu , identify themselves as
12800-714: The many city-states that existed in the Xinjiang region during the Han dynasty ; others include Kucha , Turfan , Karasahr and Kashgar . These kingdoms in the Tarim Basin came under the control of China during the Han and Tang dynasties. During the Tang dynasty they were conquered and placed under the control of the Protectorate General to Pacify the West , and the Indo-European cultures of these kingdoms never recovered from Tang rule after thousands of their inhabitants were killed during
12928-609: The most ancient of Turkish tribes and formerly inhabited a part of Chinese Tartary (Xinjiang), now occupied by a mixed population of Turk, Mongol and Kalmuck ". Before 1921/1934, Western writers called the Turkic-speaking Muslims of the oases "Turki" and the Turkic Muslims who had migrated from the Tarim Basin to Ili , Ürümqi and Dzungaria in the northern portion of Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty were known as " Taranchi ", meaning "farmer". The Russians and other foreigners referred to them as "Sart", "Turk" or "Turki". In
13056-440: The mummies with European feature found in Xinjiang, and another occurring around 750 years ago. A 2018 study of 206 Uyghur samples from Xinjiang, using the ancestry-informative SNP (AISNP) analysis, found that the average genetic ancestry of Uyghurs is 63.7% East Asian-related and 36.3% European-related. The history of the Uyghur people, as with the ethnic origin of the people, is a matter of contention. Uyghur historians viewed
13184-406: The names inscribed over their gates all presented by the Tang court. The temples house copies of the Buddhist scriptures ( da zang jing ) and the dictionaries Tang yun , Yupian and Jingyun . On spring nights the locals pass the time milling about between the temples. There's an "Imperial Writings Tower' which houses edicts written by the Tang emperor Taizong kept carefully secured. There's also
13312-476: The ninth to the fourteenth century and proved to be longer-lasting than any power in the region, before or since. The Uyghurs were originally Tengrists , shamanists, and Manichaean , but converted to Buddhism during this period. Qocho accepted the Qara Khitai as its overlord in the 1130s, and in 1209 submitted voluntarily to the rising Mongol Empire . The Uyghurs of Kingdom of Qocho were allowed significant autonomy and played an important role as civil servants to
13440-745: The northern Uyghur population. A different study by Li et al. (2009) used a larger sample of individuals from a wider area and found a higher East Asian component of about 70% on average, while the European/West Asian component was about 30%. Overall, Uyghur show relative more similarity to "Western East Asians" than to "Eastern East Asians". The authors also cite anthropologic studies which also estimate about 30% "Western proportions", which are in agreement with their genetic results. A study (2013) based on autosomal DNA shows that average Uyghurs are closest to other Turkic people in Central Asia and China as well as various Chinese populations. The analysis of
13568-671: The northern area, while around two thirds were Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin. In Dzungaria, the Qing established new cities like Ürümqi and Yining. The Dzungarian basin itself is now inhabited by many Kazakhs. The Qing therefore unified Xinjiang and changed its demographic composition as well. The crushing of the Buddhist Dzungars by the Qing led to the empowerment of the Muslim Begs in southern Xinjiang, migration of Muslim Taranchis to northern Xinjiang, and increasing Turkic Muslim power, with Turkic Muslim culture and identity
13696-495: The other hand were shown to have 55% European/Western Eurasian maternal mtDNA. A study based on paternal DNA (2005) shows West Eurasian haplogroups (J and R) in Uyghurs make up 65% to 70% and East Asian haplogroups (C, N, D and O) 30% to 35%. One study by Xu et al. (2008), using samples from Hetian ( Hotan ) only, found Uyghurs have about an average of 60% European or West Asian (Western Eurasian) ancestry and about 40% East Asian or Siberian ancestry (Eastern Eurasian). From
13824-473: The peak of summer), people must use wadded coverlets to sleep. It does not rain in summer. The rain only starts to fall in autumn, and then the vegetation begins to sprout. Come winter, the rivers and plains are like our spring, with flowers in full bloom. In 866, Pugu Jun declared himself khan and adopted the title of idiqut . The Kingdom of Qocho captured Xizhou ( Gaochang ), Tingzhou ( Beshbalik , or Beiting), Changbaliq (near Ürümqi ) and Luntai ( Bugur ) from
13952-532: The reason for Manichaeism's decline may have been the lifestyle of the Manichaean clergy. A decree discovered in Turpan reports that Manichaean clerics lived in great comfort, possessed estates with serfs and slaves, ate fine food, and wore expensive garments. One of the most important medieval Uyghur documents is a 9th century decree to a Manichaean monastery affixed with eleven seals in Chinese characters saying: "Seal of
14080-475: The same area, it is found that the proportion of Uyghur individuals with European/West Asian ancestry ranges individually from 40.3% to 84.3% while their East Asian/Siberian ancestry ranges individually from 15.7% to 59.7%. Further study by the same team showed an average of slightly greater European/West Asian component at 52% (ranging individually from 44.9% to 63.1%) in the Uyghur population in southern Xinjiang but only 47% (ranging individually from 30% to 55%) in
14208-604: The same time, although the Mongol royal family continued to marry their Princesses to the Uighur Iduqut, not a single one of the Mongol Khans or Yuan Emperors married a Uighur Princess. In 1229, Barčuq Art iduq-qut succeeded Yur Temur. In, 1242 Kesmez iduq-qut succeeded Barčuq Art iduq-qut. In 1246, Salïndï Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Kesmez iduq-qut. In 1253, Ögrünch Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Salïndï Tigin iduq-qut. In, 1257 Mamuraq Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Ögrünch Tigin iduq-qut, who
14336-507: The standard Chinese romanization , GB 3304–1991) in Latin ; they are all pronounced as [ʔʊjˈʁʊːr] . In Chinese , this is transcribed into characters as 维吾尔 / 維吾爾 , which is romanized in pinyin as Wéiwú'ěr . In English, the name is officially spelled Uyghur by the Xinjiang government but also appears as Uighur , Uigur and Uygur (these reflect the various Cyrillic spellings Уиғур, Уигур and Уйгур). The name
14464-454: The verb meaning "wake, rouse or stir" (i.e., from Turkic oðğur- ). None of these is thought to be satisfactory because the sound shift of /ð/ and /ḏ/ to /j/ does not appear to be in place by this time. The etymology therefore cannot be conclusively determined and its referent is also difficult to fix. The "Huihe" and "Huihu" seem to be a political rather than a tribal designation or it may be one group among several others collectively known as
14592-621: The west and northwest to the Xinjiang region, probably speakers of various Iranian languages such as the Saka tribes, who were closely related to the European Scythians and descended from the earlier Andronovo culture , and who may have been present in the Khotan and Kashgar area in the first millennium BC, as well as the Sogdians who formed networks of trading communities across the Tarim Basin from
14720-520: The word uyɣur (Old Turkic: 𐰆𐰖𐰍𐰆𐰺 ); an example is found on the Sudzi inscription, "I am khan ata of Yaglaqar , came from the Uigur land." (Old Turkic: Uyγur jerinte Yaγlaqar qan ata keltim ). It is transcribed into Tang annals as 回纥 / 回紇 (Mandarin: Huíhé , but probably *[ɣuɒiɣət] in Middle Chinese ). It was used as the name of one of the Turkic polities formed in the interim between
14848-509: The year 842, causing Uyghur migration from Mongolia into the Tarim Basin. The Uyghurs who moved to the Tarim Basin mixed with the local Tocharians , and converted to the Tocharian religion, and adopted their culture of oasis agriculture. The fluid definition of Uyghur and the diverse ancestry of modern Uyghurs create confusion as to what constitutes true Uyghur ethnography and ethnogenesis . Contemporary scholars consider modern Uyghurs to be
14976-582: Was a Uyghur kingdom created in 843, with strong Chinese Buddhist and Tocharian influences. It was founded by refugees fleeing the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate after being driven out by the Yenisei Kirghiz . They made their winter capital in Qocho (also called Gaochang or Qara-Khoja , near modern Turpan ) and summer capital in Beshbalik (modern Jimsar County , also known as Tingzhou). Its population
15104-537: Was a Buddhist state with both state-sponsored Mahayana Buddhism and Manichaeism . The Uyghurs sponsored the construction of many of the temple-caves in what is now called the Bezeklik Caves . Although they retained some of their culture, they were heavily influenced by the indigenous peoples of western China and abandoned the Old Turkic alphabet in favor of a modified Sogdian alphabet , which later came to be known as
15232-524: Was being vastly undercounted by Chinese authorities, claiming that their population actually exceeded 20 million. Population disputes have continued into the present, with some activists and groups such as the World Uyghur Congress and Uyghur American Association claiming that the Uyghur population ranges between 20 and 30 million. Some have even claimed that the real number of Uyghurs is actually 35 million. Scholars, however, have generally rejected these claims, with Professor Dru C. Gladney writing in
15360-533: Was conquered by the Turkic Muslim Karakhanids from Kashgar in the early 11th century, but Uyghur Qocho remained mainly Buddhist until the 15th century, and the conversion of the Uyghur people to Islam was not completed until the 17th century. The 12th and 13th century saw the domination by non-Muslim powers: first the Kara-Khitans in the 12th century, followed by the Mongols in the 13th century. After
15488-633: Was executed for supporting the Ogodeid branch of the Genghisid family. In 1266, Qosqar Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Mamuraq Tigin iduq-qut. In 1280, Negüril Tigin iduq-qut succeeded Qosqar Tigin iduq-qut. In 1318, Negüril Tigin iduq-qut died. Later, the Kingdom of Qocho became part of the Chagatai Khanate . In 1322, Tämir Buqa iduq-qut rose to power. In 1330, Senggi iduq-qut succeeded Tämir Buqa iduq-qut. In 1332, Taipindu iduq-qut succeeded Senggi iduq-qut. In 1352, Ching Timür iduq-qut succeeded Taipindu iduq-qut and
15616-580: Was most probably applicable in the first instance to the Nestorians they found so degenerated. The Alan guards converted to Catholicism as reported by Odorico. Alans were converted to Roman Catholic Christianity in addition to Armenians in China by John of Montecorvino . After the Mongol invasion of Rus , many Alans submitted to the Mongol Empire . Some of them resisted the Golden Horde longer. Many warriors moved from Northern Caucasia to Mongolia . It
15744-605: Was no single name used for their identity; various native names Altishahris used for identify were Altishahrlik (Altishahr person), yerlik (local), Turki and Musulmān (Muslim); the term Musulmān in this situation did not signify religious connotations, because the Altishahris exclude other Muslim peoples like the Kirghiz while identifying themselves as Musulmān. Dr. Laura J Newby says the sedentary Altishahri Turkic people considered themselves separate from other Turkic Muslims since at least
15872-462: Was overrun by the Yenisei Kirghiz , another Turkic people. As a result, the majority of tribal groups formerly under Uyghur control dispersed and moved out of Mongolia. The Uyghurs who founded the Uyghur Khaganate dispersed after the fall of the Khaganate, to live among the Karluks and to places such as Jimsar , Turpan and Gansu . These Uyghurs soon founded two kingdoms and the easternmost state
16000-529: Was ranked higher than the Korean King, who was ranked last, because the Uyghurs surrendered to the Mongols first, the Karluks surrendered after the Uyghurs, and the Koreans surrendered last, and that the Uyghurs surrendered peacefully without violently resisting. A hybrid court was used when Han Chinese and Uyghurs were in involved in legal issues. Alans were recruited into the Mongol forces with one unit called
16128-620: Was the Ganzhou Kingdom (870–1036) which ruled parts of Xinjiang, with its capital near present-day Zhangye , Gansu, China. The modern Yugurs are believed to be descendants of these Uyghurs. Ganzhou was absorbed by the Western Xia in 1036. The second Uyghur kingdom, the Kingdom of Qocho ruled a larger section of Xinjiang, also known as Uyghuristan in its later period, was founded in the Turpan area with its capital in Qocho (modern Gaochang ) and Beshbalik . The Kingdom of Qocho lasted from
16256-460: Was the last known ruler governor of the kingdom. By the 1370s, the Kingdom of Qocho ceased to exist. Mainly Turkic and Tocharian , but also Chinese and Iranian peoples such as the Sogdians were assimilated into the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho. Chinese were among the population of Qocho. Peter B. Golden writes that the Uyghurs not only adopted the writing system and religious faiths of
16384-622: Was ultimately successful in staying the persecutions in Khorasan. This episode was recorded by Arab bibliographer Ibn Al-Nadim , although he referred to the Qocho Idiqut as the "King of China". The Uyghur ruling family of Qocho were mainly practitioners of Manichaeism until the early 11th century, although by the 960s, they also supported Buddhism . When Al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932) of the Abbasid Caliphate began persecuting Manichaeans in what
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