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131-525: Xinjiang consists of two main geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct regions with different historical names, Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin ( Altishahr ), which Qing China unified into Xinjiang province in 1884. At the time of the Qing conquest in 1759, Dzungaria was inhabited by steppe-dwelling, nomadic Mongolic-speaking , Tibetan Buddhist Dzungars , while the Tarim Basin (Altishahr)

262-404: A combination of disease and warfare, and recovery took generations. Han and Hui merchants were initially only allowed to trade in the Tarim Basin; their settlement in the Tarim Basin was banned until the 1830 Muhammad Yusuf Khoja invasion , when the Qing rewarded merchants for fighting off Khoja by allowing them to settle in the basin. The Uyghur Muslim Sayyid and Naqshbandi Sufi rebel of

393-780: A consequence of the Han–Xiongnu War from 133 BC to 89 AD, the Tarim Basin region of Xinjiang in Northwest China, including the Saka-founded oasis city-state of Khotan and Kashgar, fell under Han Chinese influence, beginning with the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC) of the Han dynasty . Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan , people of Kashgar, the capital of the Shule Kingdom , spoke Saka , one of

524-667: A flood, We went out among their cities, We tore down the idol-temples, We shat on the Buddha's head! In Turkic: kälginläyü aqtïmïz kändlär üzä čïqtïmïz furxan ävin yïqtïmïz burxan üzä sïčtïmïz The Buddhist Uyghurs of the Kingdom of Qocho and Turfan embraced Islam after conversion at the hands of the Muslim Chagatai Khizr Khwaja. Kara Del was a Mongolian ruled and Uighur populated Buddhist Kingdom. The Muslim Chagatai Khan Mansur invaded and used

655-467: A military base in the province and deployed several military and economic advisors. Sheng invited a group of Chinese Communists to Xinjiang (including Mao Zedong's brother, Mao Zemin ), but executed them all in 1943 in fear of a conspiracy. In 1944, President and Premier of China Chiang Kai-shek , informed by the Soviet Union of Shicai's intention to join it, transferred him to Chongqing as

786-545: A number of Mongol nomadic tribes. These tribes resented the conversion of khan Tarmashirin to Islam and the move of the khan to the sedentary areas of Transoxiana . They were behind the revolt that ended in Tarmashirin's death. One of the khans that followed Tarmashirin, Changshi , favored the east and was non-Muslim. In the 1340s as a series of ephemeral khans struggled to hold power in Transoxiana, little attention

917-653: A result of a long struggle with the Dzungars which began during the 17th century. In 1755, with the help of the Oirat noble Amursana , the Qing attacked Ghulja and captured the Dzungar khan. After Amursana's request to be declared Dzungar khan went unanswered, he led a revolt against the Qing. Qing armies destroyed the remnants of the Dzungar Khanate over the next two years, and many Han Chinese and Hui moved into

1048-835: A succession of people and empires have vied for control over all or parts of this territory. The territory came under the rule of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, which was later replaced by the Republic of China . Since 1949 and the Chinese Civil War , it has been part of the People's Republic of China. In 1954, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) to strengthen border defense against

1179-640: A tight-knit partnership, with intermarriage between Dunhuang and Khotan's rulers and Dunhuang's Mogao grottos and Buddhist temples being funded and sponsored by the Khotan royals, whose likenesses were drawn in the Mogao grottoes. Halfway in the 10th century Khotan came under attack by the Karakhanid ruler Musa, a long war ensued between the Turkic Karakhanid and Buddhist Khotan which eventually ended in

1310-680: A tomb dated to as early as the 7th century BC. According to the Sima Qian 's Shiji , the nomadic Indo-European Yuezhi originally lived between Tengri Tagh ( Tian Shan ) and Dunhuang in Gansu , China. However, the Yuezhi were assaulted and forced to flee from the Hexi Corridor of Gansu by the forces of the Xiongnu ruler Modu Chanyu , who conquered the area in 177–176 BC (decades before

1441-511: A town named after its Saka inhabitants (i.e. saγlâ ). Although the ancient Chinese called Khotan Yutian (于闐), its more native Iranian names during the Han period were Jusadanna (瞿薩旦那), derived from Indo-Iranian Gostan and Gostana , the names of the town and region around it, respectively. Around 200 BCE, the Yuezhi were overrun by the Xiongnu . The Xiongnu then tried to invade the western region of China, but ultimately failed and lost control of

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1572-570: Is a crossroads and former trading post. The Tarim Basin is the result of an amalgamation between an ancient microcontinent and the growing Eurasian continent during the Carboniferous to Permian periods, a process which ended in the earliest Triassic with the closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean. At present, deformation around the margins of the basin is resulting in the microcontinental crust being pushed under Tian Shan to

1703-622: Is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas , Xinjiang in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan . In total it spans 5,000 km (3,100 mi), passing through Jiangsu , Anhui , Henan , Shaanxi , Gansu before ending in Xinjiang. Besides Shanghai, cities of note on the route include Suzhou , Wuxi , Nanjing , Hefei , Xinyang , Nanyang , Xi'an , Lanzhou , Jiayuguan and Ürümqi . The road

1834-539: Is actually the earliest fortified urban settlement in the entire region, covering 6 hectares, and developed in four phases between c. 770 BC and 80 AD. Spouted jars were found at this site, similar to those of Chawuhu culture, and buckles and moulds with animal motifs resemble steppe traditions. Another people in the region besides these Tarim people were the Indo-Iranian Saka people, who spoke various Eastern Iranian Khotanese Scythian or Saka dialects. In

1965-471: Is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads of Central Asia and East Asia . Being the largest province-level division of China by area and the 8th-largest country subdivision in the world, Xinjiang spans over 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 sq mi) and has about 25 million inhabitants. Xinjiang borders

2096-510: Is home to most of the Uyghur population, about nine million people, out of a total population of twenty million; fifty-five percent of Xinjiang's Han population, mainly urban, live in the north. This created an economic imbalance, since the northern Junghar basin (Dzungaria) is more developed than the south. Land reform and collectivization occurred in Uyghur agricultural areas at the same general pace as in most of China. Hunger in Xinjiang

2227-443: Is not recognized by Republic of China (Taiwan). This observation was eventually dropped in new National Highway plans, replaced by Dandong-Dongxing Highway. A extension plan of the highway system was announced in 2013, including extension of existing highways(101-112, 201-227, 301-330) and new highways (North-South 228-248, East-West 331-361, Connections 501-581). Only small portions of them needs to be constructed from scratch; most of

2358-468: Is of some importance historically. My own preference is for an explanation connecting it semantically with the name Saka, for the Iranian inhabitants of Khotan... In Northwest China , Khotanese-Saka-language documents, ranging from medical texts to Buddhist literature , have been found, primarily in Khotan and Tumshuq (northeast of Kashgar). They largely predate the arrival of Islam to the region under

2489-604: Is the fabled Jade Gate which the Chinese considered the gateway to the Western Regions . Beyond that was Dunhuang with its ancient manuscripts and then Anxi at the west end of the Gansu Corridor . Settlements include Kashgar; Yangi Hissar , famous for its knives; Yarkand , once larger than Kashgar; Karghalik (Yecheng), with a route to India; Karakash ; Khotan , the main source of Chinese jade; eastward

2620-461: Is too dry for permanent habitation. The Yarkand , Kashgar and Aksu Rivers join to form the Tarim River which runs along the north side of the basin. Formerly it continued to Loulan , but some time after 330 AD it turned southeast near Korla toward Charkilik , and Loulan was abandoned. The Tarim ended at the now-dry Lop Nur, which occupied a shifting position east of Loulan. Eastward

2751-706: The Achaemenid era Old Persian inscriptions found at Persepolis , dated to the reign of Darius I (r. 522–486 BC), the Saka are said to have lived just beyond the borders of Sogdiana . Likewise, an inscription dated to the reign of Xerxes I (r. 486–465 BC) has them coupled with the Dahae people of Central Asia. The contemporary Greek historian Herodotus noted that the Achaemenid Persians called all Indo-Iranian Scythian peoples "Saka". They were known as

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2882-758: The Afaqi suborder, Jahangir Khoja was sliced to death (Lingchi) in 1828 by the Manchus for leading a rebellion against the Qing . According to Robert Montgomery Martin , many Chinese with a variety of occupations were settled in Dzungaria in 1870; in Turkestan (the Tarim Basin), however, only a few Chinese merchants and garrison soldiers were interspersed with the Muslim population. The 1765 Ush rebellion by

3013-494: The Bronze Age linked to the expansion of early Indo-Europeans . These population dynamics gave rise to a heterogeneous demographic makeup. Iron Age samples from Xinjiang show intensified levels of admixture between Steppe pastoralists and northeast Asians, with northern and eastern Xinjiang showing more affinities with northeast Asians, and southern Xinjiang showing more affinity with central Asians. Between 2009 and 2015,

3144-491: The Chinese Tajiks ( Pamiris ), Han Chinese , Hui , Kazakhs , Kyrgyz , Mongols , Russians , Sibe , Tibetans , and Uyghurs . There are more than a dozen autonomous prefectures and counties for minorities in Xinjiang. Older English-language reference works often refer to the area as Chinese Turkestan , Chinese Turkistan, East Turkestan and East Turkistan. With a documented history of at least 2,500 years,

3275-694: The Eastern Iranian languages . As noted by the Greek historian Herodotus, the contemporary Persians labelled all Scythians "Saka". Indeed, modern scholarly consensus is that the Saka language, ancestor to the Pamir languages in northern India and Khotanese in Xinjiang , belongs to the Scythian languages . During China's Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), the region once again came under Chinese suzerainty with

3406-720: The Four Garrisons of Anxi . Tang hegemony beyond the Pamir Mountains in modern Tajikistan and Afghanistan ended with revolts by the Turks, but the Tang retained a military presence in Xinjiang. These holdings were later invaded by the Tibetan Empire to the south in 670. For the remainder of the Tang dynasty, the Tarim Basin alternated between Tang and Tibetan rule as they competed for control of Central Asia. As

3537-902: The Han Chinese conquest and colonization of western tip of Gansu or the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions ). In turn the Yuezi attacked and pushing the Sai (i.e. Saka) west into Sogdiana, where in the mid-2nd century BC the latter crossed the Syr Darya into Bactria , but also into the Fergana Valley where they settled in Dayuan , south towards northern India, and eastward as well, where they settled in some of

3668-671: The Kaidu river . Structures made of mud bricks were found at Xintala , showing building techniques similar to those seen in early oasis sites in western Central Asia, as well as in Yanbulake . There were no burials in Xintala culture, and its settlements were small. Autosomal genetic evidence suggests that the earliest Tarim people arose from locals of primarily Ancient North Eurasian descent with significant Northeast Asian admixture. The Tarim mummies have been found in various locations in

3799-530: The Kara-Khanid Khanate in Semirechye , Western Tian Shan , and Kashgaria . The Karakhanids became the first Islamic Turkic dynasty in the tenth century when Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in 966 while he controlled Kashgar. Satuq Bughra Khan and his son directed endeavors to preach Islam among the Turks and engage in conquests. Satok Bughra Khan's nephew or grandson Ali Arslan

3930-631: The Kokand Khanate ) fled from the khanate in 1865 after losing Tashkent to the Russians . Beg settled in Kashgar, and soon controlled Xinjiang. Although he encouraged trade, built caravansareis , canals and other irrigation systems, his regime was considered harsh. The Chinese took decisive action against Yettishar; an army under General Zuo Zongtang rapidly approached Kashgaria, reconquering it on 16 May 1877. After reconquering Xinjiang in

4061-721: The Lanxin Railway near Turpan, follows the north side of the basin to Kashgar, and curves southeast to Khotan, while Hotan–Ruoqiang railway loops around the south and west side of the Traim. They are part of the Taklimakan Desert railway loop, joined together with sections of the Golmud–Korla railway , Hotan–Ruoqiang railway , Kashgar–Hotan railway , and Southern Xinjiang railway . The main road from eastern China reaches Ürümqi and continues as highway 314 along

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4192-652: The Protectorate General to Pacify the West ( 安西都護府 ) or Anxi Protectorate, in 640 to control the region. During the Anshi Rebellion , which nearly destroyed the Tang dynasty, Tibet invaded the Tang on a broad front from Xinjiang to Yunnan . It occupied the Tang capital of Chang'an in 763 for 16 days, and controlled southern Xinjiang by the end of the century. The Uyghur Khaganate took control of Northern Xinjiang, much of Central Asia and Mongolia at

4323-574: The Taklamakan Desert , one south, and a middle one connecting both through the Lop Nor region. In the early period, beginning around 2000 BC, there were six different cultural zones in the Tarim Basin, and bronze began to appear. One of these cultures was the Xintala culture ( c.  1700 –1500 BC), near the site of Yanqi, also known as Karashar , to the north and east of the Tarim, at

4454-762: The Torugart pass leads to the Ferghana Valley . Near Uchturpan the Bedel Pass leads to Lake Issyk-Kul and the steppes. Somewhere near Aksu the difficult Muzart Pass led north to the Ili River basin (Kulja). Near Korla was the Iron Gate Pass and now the highway and railway north to Ürümqi. From Turfan the easy Dabancheng pass leads to Ürümqi. The route from Charkilik to the Qaidam Basin

4585-451: The Turkic Kara-Khanids . Similar documents in the Khotanese-Saka language were found in Dunhuang dating mostly to the 10th century. After the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate of modern-day Mongolia , Uyghur people migrated to the Tarim Basin and mixed with the Tocharians and converted to their religion, and adopted their method of oasis agriculture. In the tenth century, the Karluks , Yagmas , Chigils and other Turkic tribes founded

4716-452: The "infidel Kalmuks" (Dzungars) built Buddhist monuments in their region. The Turkic Muslims of the Turfan and Kumul oases then submitted to the Qing dynasty and asked China to free them from the Dzungars; the Qing accepted their rulers as vassals. They warred against the Dzungars for decades before defeating them; Qing Manchu Bannermen then conducted the Dzungar genocide , nearly eradicating them and depopulating Dzungaria. The Qing freed

4847-539: The 10th century "makes it likely that the ruler of Khotan was a speaker of Iranian ." Furthermore, he elaborated on the early name of Khotan: The name of Khotan is attested in a number of spellings, of which the oldest form is hvatana , in texts of approximately the 7th to the 10th century AD, written in an Iranian language itself called hvatana by the writers. The same name is attested also in two closely related Iranian dialects, Sogdian and Tumshuq ...Attempts have accordingly been made to explain it as Iranian, and this

4978-433: The 13th century, although it was ruled by foreign overlords. The Kara-Khanids converted to Islam. The Uyghur state in Eastern Xinjiang, initially Manichean , later converted to Buddhism . Remnants of the Liao dynasty from Manchuria entered Xinjiang in 1132, fleeing rebellion by the neighboring Jurchens . They established a new empire, the Qara Khitai (Western Liao), which ruled the Kara-Khanid and Uyghur-held parts of

5109-400: The 1860s, Xinjiang had been under Qing rule for a century. The region was captured in 1759 from the Dzungar Khanate , whose population (the Oirats ) became the targets of genocide. Xinjiang was primarily semi-arid or desert and unattractive to non-trading Han settlers, and others (including the Uyghurs) settled there. The Dungan Revolt by the Muslim Hui and other Muslim ethnic groups

5240-406: The 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD, the Han Empire established the Protectorate of the Western Regions or Xiyu Protectorate ( 西域都護府 ) in an effort to secure the profitable routes of the Silk Road . The Western Regions during the Tang era were known as Qixi ( 磧西 ). Qi refers to the Gobi Desert while Xi refers to the west. The Tang Empire had established the Protectorate General to Pacify

5371-413: The 3rd century, bearing dual inscriptions in Chinese and Gandhari Prakrit in the Kharosthi script. Although Prakrit was the administrative language of nearby Shanshan , 3rd-century documents from that kingdom record the title hinajha (i.e. "generalissimo") for the king of Khotan, Vij'ida-simha, a distinctively Iranian-based word equivalent to the Sanskrit title senapati , yet nearly identical to

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5502-556: The Afaqi (White Mountain) and the Ishaqi (Black Mountain). The Ishaqi defeated the Afaqi and the Afaq Khoja invited the 5th Dalai Lama (the leader of the Tibetans ) to intervene on his behalf in 1677. The Dalai Lama then called on his Dzungar Buddhist followers in the Dzungar Khanate to act on the invitation. The Dzungar Khanate conquered the Tarim Basin in 1678, during the Dzungar conquest of Altishahr , after which they set up Afaq Khoja as their puppet ruler. Xinjiang did not exist as one unit until 1884 under Qing rule. It consisted of

5633-451: The Afaqi Khoja leader Burhan-ud-din and his brother, Khoja Jihan, from Dzungar imprisonment and appointed them to rule the Tarim Basin as Qing vassals. The Khoja brothers reneged on the agreement, declaring themselves independent leaders of the Tarim Basin. The Qing and the Turfan leader Emin Khoja crushed their revolt, and by 1759 China controlled Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin. The Manchu Qing dynasty gained control of eastern Xinjiang as

5764-445: The Afaqi and the Afaq Khoja invited the 5th Dalai Lama (the leader of the Tibetans ) to intervene on his behalf in 1677. The Dalai Lama then called on his Dzungar Buddhist followers in the Dzungar Khanate to act on the invitation. The Dzungar Khanate conquered the Tarim Basin in 1680, setting up the Afaqi Khoja as their puppet ruler. After converting to Islam, the descendants of the previously- Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan believed that

5895-421: The Alagou sites near the Turfan basin, and north to the region close to Ürümqi . Earlier diggings in the southern Tarim Basin, in the 1990s, suggested that Yuansha (Djoumbulak Koum) in the Keriya river valley was the earliest fortified urban site, from around 400 BC, but new surveys and excavations between 2018 and 2020, showed that the site Kuiyukexiehai'er (Koyuk Shahri), located in the northern Tarim Basin,

6026-520: The Karakhanid leader. The "infidels" were defeated and driven towards Khotan by Yusuf Qadir Khan and the four Imams, but the Imams were assassinated by the Buddhists prior to the last Muslim victory. After Yusuf Qadir Khan's conquest of new land in Altishahr towards the east, he adopted the title "King of the East and China". In 1006, the Muslim Kara-Khanid ruler Yusuf Kadir (Qadir) Khan of Kashgar conquered Khotan, ending Khotan's existence as an independent state. The Islamic conquest of Khotan led to alarm in

6157-417: The Khotan River from Khotan to near Aksu . A road follows the Yarkant River from Yarkand to Baqu . East of the Korla-Charkilik road, travel continues to be very difficult. Rivers coming south from the Tien Shan join the Tarim, the largest being the Aksu . Rivers flowing north from the Kunlun are usually named for the town or oasis they pass through. Most dry up in the desert; only the Hotan River reaches

6288-413: The Khotanese Saka hīnāysa attested in contemporary documents. This, along with the fact that the king's recorded regnal periods were given in Khotanese as kṣuṇa , "implies an established connection between the Iranian inhabitants and the royal power", according to the late Professor of Iranian Studies Ronald E. Emmerick (d. 2001). He contended that Khotanese-Saka-language royal rescripts of Khotan dated to

6419-413: The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry the following year. During the Ili Rebellion , the Soviet Union backed Uyghur separatists to form the Second East Turkestan Republic (ETR) in the Ili region while most of Xinjiang remained under Kuomintang control. The People's Liberation Army entered Xinjiang in 1949 , when Kuomintang commander Tao Zhiyue and government chairman Burhan Shahidi surrendered

6550-480: The Sai (塞, sāi, sək in archaic Chinese) in ancient Chinese records. These records indicate that they originally inhabited the Ili and Chu River valleys of modern Kazakhstan . In the Chinese Book of Han , the area was called the "land of the Sai", i.e. the Saka. A people believed to be Saka has also been found in various locations in the Tarim Basin, for example in the Keriya region at Yumulak Kum (Djoumboulak Koum, Yuansha) around 200 km east of Khotan, with

6681-427: The Soviet Union and promote the local economy by settling soldiers into the region. In 1955, Xinjiang was administratively changed from a province into an autonomous region . In recent decades, abundant oil and mineral reserves have been found in Xinjiang and it is currently China's largest natural-gas-producing region. From the 1990s to the 2010s, the East Turkestan independence movement , separatist conflict and

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6812-410: The Tahe oil field. Below the level enriched with gas and oil is a complex Precambrian basement believed to be made up of the remnants of the original Tarim microplate , which accrued to the growing Eurasian continent in Carboniferous time. The snow on K2 , the second-highest mountain in the world, flows into glaciers which move down the valleys to melt. The melted water forms rivers which flow down

6943-417: The Tang dynasty, a series of expeditions were conducted against the Western Turkic Khaganate and their vassals: the oasis states of southern Xinjiang. Campaigns against the oasis states began under Emperor Taizong with the annexation of Gaochang in 640. The nearby kingdom of Karasahr was captured by the Tang in 644 and the kingdom of Kucha was conquered in 649 . The Tang Dynasty then established

7074-444: The Tarim Basin for the next century. Although Khitan and Chinese were the primary administrative languages, Persian and Uyghur were also used. Present-day Xinjiang consisted of the Tarim Basin and Dzungaria and was originally inhabited by Indo-European Tocharians and Iranian Sakas who practiced Buddhism and Zoroastrianism . The Turfan and Tarim Basins were inhabited by speakers of Tocharian languages, with Caucasian mummies found in

7205-422: The Tarim Basin were originally ruled by the Chagatai Khanate and the nomadic Buddhist Oirat Mongols in Dzungaria ruled the Dzungar Khanate. The Naqshbandi Sufi Khojas , descendants of Muhammad , had replaced the Chagatayid Khans as rulers of the Tarim Basin during the early 17th century. There was a struggle between two Khoja factions: the Afaqi (White Mountain) and the Ishaqi (Black Mountain). The Ishaqi defeated

7336-435: The Tarim basin, rebelled against the Moghulistan Khanate and broke away. Five years later Sultan Said Khan , a brother of the Khan of Moghulistan in Turfan , conquered the Dughlats but established his own Yarkent Khanate instead. By the early 17th century, the Naqshbandi Sufi Khojas , descendants of Muhammad , had replaced the Chagatayid Khans as rulers of the Tarim Basin. There was a struggle between two Khoja factions:

7467-420: The Tarim in good years. An exception is the Qiemo River which flows northeast into Lop Nor. Ruins in the desert imply that these rivers were once larger. The original caravan route seems to have followed the south side. At the time of the Han dynasty conquest, it shifted to the center (Jade Gate-Loulan-Korla). When the Tarim changed course about 330 AD it shifted north to Hami . A minor route went north of

7598-404: The Tian Shan. When there was war on the Gansu Corridor trade entered the basin near Charkilik from the Qaidam Basin . The original route to India seems to have started near Yarkand and Kargilik, but it is now replaced by the Karakoram Highway south from Kashgar. To the west of Kashgar via the Irkeshtam border crossing is the Alay Valley , which was once the route to Persia. Northeast of Kashgar

7729-406: The Tianshan Mountains and the Tarim Basin south of the Tianshan Mountains, before Qing China unified them into one political entity called Xinjiang Province in 1884. At the time of the Qing conquest in 1759, Dzungaria was inhabited by steppe dwelling, nomadic Tibetan Buddhist Dzungar people, while the Tarim Basin was inhabited by sedentary, oasis dwelling, Turkic-speaking Muslim farmers, now known as

7860-403: The Tocharian language had high amounts of influence from Paleosiberian languages , such as Uralic and Yeniseian languages . Yuezhi culture is documented in the region. The first known reference to the Yuezhi was in 645 BC by the Chinese chancellor Guan Zhong in his work, Guanzi ( 管子 , Guanzi Essays: 73: 78: 80: 81). He described the Yúshì , 禺氏 (or Niúshì , 牛氏 ), as a people from

7991-407: The Turpan-Urumchi region offered its allegiance to the Mongols in 1209, contributing taxes and troops to the Mongol imperial effort. In return, the Uyghur rulers retained control of their kingdom; Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire conquered the Qara Khitai in 1218. Xinjiang was a stronghold of Ögedei Khan and later came under the control of his descendant, Kaidu . This branch of the Mongol family kept

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8122-527: The Uyghurs against the Manchu began after Uyghur women were raped by the servants and son of Manchu official Su-cheng. It was said that "Ush Muslims had long wanted to sleep on [Sucheng and son's] hides and eat their flesh" because of the months-long abuse. The Manchu emperor ordered the massacre of the Uyghur rebel town; Qing forces enslaved the Uyghur children and women, and killed the Uyghur men. Sexual abuse of Uyghur women by Manchu soldiers and officials triggered deep Uyghur hostility against Manchu rule. By

8253-450: The Uyghurs, who were governed separately until 1884. The Qing dynasty was well aware of the differences between the former Buddhist Mongol area to the north of the Tian Shan and the Turkic Muslim area south of the Tian Shan and ruled them in separate administrative units at first. However, Qing people began to think of both areas as part of one distinct region called Xinjiang. The very concept of Xinjiang as one distinct geographic identity

8384-559: The West or Anxi Protectorate ( 安西都護府 ) in 640 to control the region. During the Qing dynasty , the northern part of Xinjiang, Dzungaria was known as Zhunbu ( 準部 , " Dzungar region") and the Southern Tarim Basin was known as Huijiang ( 回疆 , "Muslim Frontier"). Both regions merged after Qing dynasty suppressed the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas in 1759 and became the region of "Xiyu Xinjiang" ( 西域新疆 , literally "Western Regions' New Frontier"), later simplified as "Xinjiang" ( 新疆 ; formerly romanized as "Sinkiang"). The official name

8515-619: The Western Tarim Basin such as Loulan , the Xiaohe Tomb complex and Qäwrighul . These mummies have been previously suggested to have been Tocharian or Indo-European speakers, but recent evidence suggest that the earliest mummies belonged to a distinct population unrelated to Indo-European pastoralists and spoke an unknown language, probably a language isolate . Although many of the Tarim mummies were classified as Caucasoid by anthropologists, Tarim Basin sites also contain both "Caucasoid" and "Mongoloid" remains, indicating contact between newly arrived western nomads and agricultural communities in

8646-478: The Xiongnu and Han China in which China eventually prevailed. During the 100s BCE, the Silk Road brought increasing Chinese economic and cultural influence to the region. In 60 BCE, Han China established the Protectorate of the Western Regions ( 西域都護府 ) at Wulei ( 烏壘 , near modern Luntai ), to oversee the region as far west as the Pamir Mountains . The protectorate was seized during the civil war against Wang Mang (r. AD 9–23), returning to Han control in 91 due to

8777-404: The Yuan dynasty at bay until their rule ended. During the Mongol Empire era the Yuan dynasty vied with the Chagatai Khanate for rule of the region and the latter controlled most of it. After the Chagatai Khanate divided into smaller khanates during the mid-14th century, the politically-fractured region was ruled by a number of Persianized Mongol Khans, including those from Moghulistan (with

8908-404: The Yuezhi, albeit under slightly different names. After the Han dynasty, the kingdoms of the Tarim Basin began to have strong cultural influences on China as a conduit between the cultures of India and Central Asia and China. Indian Buddhists had previously travelled to China during the Han dynasty, but the Buddhist monk Kumārajīva from Kucha , who visited China during the Six Dynasties period

9039-500: The army of the First East Turkestan Republic in the 1934 Battle of Kashgar , ending the republic after Chinese Muslims executed its two emirs: Abdullah Bughra and Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra . The Soviet Union invaded the province ; it was brought under the control of northeast Han warlord Sheng Shicai after the 1937 Xinjiang War . Sheng ruled Xinjiang for the next decade with support from the Soviet Union , many of whose ethnic and security policies he instituted. The Soviet Union maintained

9170-456: The assistance of local Dughlat emirs), Uigurstan (later Turpan) and Kashgaria. These leaders warred with each other and the Timurids of Transoxiana to the west and the Oirats to the east: the successor Chagatai regime based in Mongolia and China. During the 17th century, the Dzungars established an empire over much of the region. The Mongolian Dzungars were the collective identity of several Oirat tribes which formed and maintained, one of

9301-493: The campaigns of conquest by Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649). From the late 8th to 9th centuries, the region changed hands between the Chinese Tang Empire and the rival Tibetan Empire . By the early 11th century the region had fallen to the Muslim Turkic peoples of the Kara-Khanid Khanate , which led to both the Turkification of the region and its conversion from Buddhism to Islam . Suggestive evidence of Khotan's early link to India are minted coins from Khotan dated to

9432-470: The central government denied the name Xinjiang was colonialist and denied that the central government could be colonialists both because they were communists and because China was a victim of colonialism. However, due to the Uyghur complaints, the administrative region would be named "Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region". Xinjiang consists of two main geographically, historically and ethnically distinct regions with different historical names, Dzungaria north of

9563-757: The conquest of Khotan by Kashgar by the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan around 1006. Accounts of the Muslim Karakhanid war against the Khotanese Buddhists are given in Taẕkirah of the Four Sacrificed Imams written sometime in the period from 1700 to 1849 which told the story of four imams from Mada'in city (possibly in modern-day Iraq) who traveled to help the Islamic conquest of Khotan, Yarkand, and Kashgar by Yusuf Qadir Khan,

9694-502: The countries of Afghanistan , India , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Mongolia , Pakistan , Russia , and Tajikistan . The rugged Karakoram , Kunlun and Tian Shan mountain ranges occupy much of Xinjiang's borders, as well as its western and southern regions. The Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract regions are claimed by India but administered by China. Xinjiang also borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and

9825-584: The country's territory. Xinjiang borders the Tibet Autonomous Region and India 's Leh district in Ladakh to the south, Qinghai and Gansu provinces to the east, Mongolia ( Bayan-Ölgii , Govi-Altai and Khovd Provinces ) to the east, Russia 's Altai Republic to the north and Kazakhstan ( Almaty and East Kazakhstan Regions ), Kyrgyzstan ( Issyk-Kul , Naryn and Osh Regions ), Tajikistan 's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region , Afghanistan 's Badakhshan Province and Pakistan 's Gilgit-Baltistan to

9956-487: The early 1990s, a total of 19 billion yuan had been spent in Xinjiang on large- and medium-sized industrial projects, with an emphasis on developing modern transportation, communications infrastructure, and support for the oil and gas industries. A brisk cross-border shuttle trade by Uyghurs further developed following the adoption of the Soviet Union's perestroika . China National Highway 312 China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312 ,

10087-525: The east and Dunhuang's Cave 17, which contained Khotanese literary works, was closed shut possibly after its caretakers heard that Khotan's Buddhist buildings were razed by the Muslims, the Buddhist religion had suddenly ceased to exist in Khotan. The Karakhanid Turkic Muslim writer Mahmud al-Kashgari recorded a short Turkic language poem about the conquest: English translation: We came down on them like

10218-603: The east. Mummies have been found in various locations in the Western Tarim Basin such as Loulan , the Xiaohe Tomb complex and Qäwrighul . Nomadic tribes such as the Yuezhi , Saka and Wusun were probably part of the migration of Indo-European speakers who had settled in Tarim Basin of Xinjiang long before the Xiongnu and Han Chinese. By the time the Han dynasty under Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC) wrested

10349-586: The eastern Tarim Basin such as Loulan , the Xiaohe Tomb complex , and Qäwrighul . These mummies have previously been suggested to be of Tocharian origin, but recent evidence suggests that the mummies belonged to a distinct population unrelated to later Indo-European pastoralists, such as Afanasievo. In the Iron Age , the Chawuhu culture (c. 1000–400 BC) flourished in the Yanqi (Karashar) oasis, and also reached

10480-401: The efforts of general Ban Chao . The Western Jin dynasty succumbed to successive waves of invasions by nomads from the north at the beginning of the 4th century. The short-lived kingdoms that ruled northwestern China one after the other, including Former Liang , Former Qin , Later Liang and Western Liáng , all attempted to maintain the protectorate, with varying degrees of success. After

10611-491: The final reunification of Northern China under the Northern Wei empire, its protectorate controlled what is now the southeastern region of Xinjiang. Local states such as Shule, Yutian , Guizi and Qiemo controlled the western region, while the central region around Turpan was controlled by Gaochang , remnants of a state ( Northern Liang ) that once ruled part of what is now Gansu province in northwestern China. During

10742-528: The finding of a vast, carbon-rich underground sea beneath the basin. It is speculated that the Tarim Basin may be one of the last places in Asia to have become inhabited: It is surrounded by mountains and irrigation technologies might have been necessary. The Northern Silk Road on one route bypassed the Tarim Basin north of the Tian Shan mountains and traversed it on three oases-dependent routes: one north of

10873-609: The historical Uyghur name for the southern half of the region referring to "the six cities" of the Tarim Basin , as well as Khotan, Khotay, Chinese Tartary , High Tartary, East Chagatay (it was the eastern part of the Chagatai Khanate ), Moghulistan ("land of the Mongols"), Kashgaria, Little Bokhara, Serindia (due to Indian cultural influence) and, in Chinese, Xiyu ( 西域 ), meaning " Western Regions ". Between

11004-556: The influence of radical Islam have resulted in unrest in the region with occasional terrorist attacks and clashes between separatist and government forces. These conflicts prompted the Chinese government to commit a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the province including, according to some, genocide. The general region of Xinjiang has been known by many different names throughout time. These names include Altishahr ,

11135-617: The land becomes more desolate; Keriya (Yutian); Niya (Minfeng); Qiemo (Cherchen); Charkilik (Ruoqiang). The modern road continues east to Tibet. There is currently no road east across the Kumtag Desert to Dunhuang, but caravans somehow made the crossing through the Yangguan pass south of the Jade Gate. The whole Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan Desert are surrounded by railroads. The Southern Xinjiang Railway branches from

11266-468: The last nomadic empires . The Dzungar Khanate covered Dzungaria, extending from the western Great Wall of China to present-day Eastern Kazakhstan and from present-day Northern Kyrgyzstan to Southern Siberia . Most of the region was renamed "Xinjiang" by the Chinese after the fall of the Dzungar Empire, which existed from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. The sedentary Turkic Muslims of

11397-610: The last vestiges of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, expanded back into the Tarim Basin in the 1st–2nd centuries CE, where they established a kingdom in Kashgar and competed for control of the area with nomads and Chinese forces. The Yuezhi or Rouzhi ( Chinese : 月氏 ; pinyin : Yuèzhī ; Wade–Giles : Yüeh-chih , [ɥê ʈʂɻ̩́] ) were an ancient people first reported in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in

11528-457: The late 1870s from Yaqub Beg, the Qing dynasty established Xinjiang ("new frontier") as a province in 1884  – making it part of China, and dropping the old names of Zhunbu ( 準部 , Dzungar Region) and Huijiang (Muslimland). After Xinjiang became a Chinese province, the Qing government encouraged the Uyghurs to migrate from southern Xinjiang to other areas of the province (such as

11659-455: The late 1970s has exacerbated uneven regional development, more Uyghurs have migrated to Xinjiang's cities and some Han have migrated to Xinjiang for economic advancement. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made a nine-day visit to Xinjiang in 1981 and described the region as "unsteady". The Deng era reforms encouraged China's ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, to establish small private companies for commodity transit, retail, and restaurants. By

11790-460: The late 19th century, it was still being proposed by some people that two separate regions be created out of Xinjiang, the area north of the Tianshan and the area south of the Tianshan, while it was being argued over whether to turn Xinjiang into a province. Xinjiang is a large, sparsely populated area, spanning over 1.6 million km (comparable in size to Iran ), which takes up about one sixth of

11921-810: The long run, supplying one-fifth of the country's total oil supply by 2010, with an annual output of 35 million tonnes . On June 10, 2010, Baker Hughes announced an agreement to work with PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Co. to supply oilfield services, including both directional and vertical drilling systems, formation evaluation services, completion systems and artificial lift technology for wells drilled into foothills formations greater than 7,500 meters (24,600 feet) deep with pressures greater than 20,000 psi (1,400 bar) and bottom-hole temperatures of approximately 160 °C (320 °F). Electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems will be employed to dewater gas and condensate wells. PetroChina will fund any joint development. In 2015, Chinese researchers published

12052-604: The mid-first millennium BC, the Yuezhi engaged in the jade trade, of which the major consumers were the rulers of agricultural China." Crossed by the Northern Silk Road , the Tarim and Dzungaria regions were known as the Western Regions. At the beginning of the Han dynasty the region was ruled by the Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic people. During the 2nd century BC, the Han dynasty prepared for war against Xiongnu when Emperor Wu of Han dispatched Zhang Qian to explore

12183-506: The mountains and into the Tarim Basin, never reaching the sea. Surrounded by desert, some rivers feed the oases where the water is used for irrigation while others flow to salt lakes and marshes. Lop Nur is a marshy , saline depression at the east end of the Tarim Basin. The Tarim River ends in Lop Nur. The Tarim Basin is believed to contain large potential reserves of petroleum and natural gas . Methane comprises over 70 percent of

12314-536: The mountains. Bachu or Miralbachi; Uchturpan north of the main road; Aksu on the large Aksu River ; Kucha was once an important kingdom; Luntai ; Korla , now a large town; Karashar near Bosten Lake ; Turpan north of the Turpan Depression and south of the Bogda Shan ; Hami ; then southeast to Anxi and the Gansu Corridor . Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert which

12445-541: The mysterious kingdoms to the west and form an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu. As a result of the war, the Chinese controlled the strategic region from the Ordos and Gansu corridor to Lop Nor . They separated the Xiongnu from the Qiang people on the south and gained direct access to the Western Regions. Han China sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the states of the region, beginning several decades of struggle between

12576-452: The name colonialist in nature since it meant "new territory". Saifuddin Azizi , the first chairman of Xinjiang, registered his strong objections to the proposed name with Mao Zedong , arguing that "autonomy is not given to mountains and rivers. It is given to particular nationalities." Some Uyghur Communists proposed the name " Tian Shan Uyghur Autonomous Region" instead. The Han Communists in

12707-404: The natural gas reserve, with variable contents of ethane (<1% – c. 18%) and propane (<0.5% – c. 9%). China National Petroleum Corporation 's comprehensive exploration of the Tarim basin between 1989 and 1995 led to the identification of 26 oil- and gas-bearing structures. These occur at deeper depths and in scattered deposits. Beijing aims to develop Xinjiang into China's new energy base for

12838-432: The north side to Kashgar. Highway 315 follows the south side from Kashgar to Charkilik and continues east to Tibet. There are currently four north–south roads across the desert. 218 runs from Charkilik to Korla along the former course of the Tarim, forming an oval whose other end is Kashgar. The Tarim Desert Highway , a major engineering achievement, crosses the center from Niya to Luntai . The new Highway 217 follows

12969-467: The north, and Kunlun Shan to the south. A thick succession of Paleozoic , Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks occupy the central parts of the basin, locally exceeding thicknesses of 15 km (9 mi). The source rocks of oil and gas tend to be mostly Permian mudstones and, less often, Ordovician strata which experienced an intense and widespread early Hercynian karstification . The effect of this event are e.g. paleokarst reservoirs in

13100-526: The north-west who supplied jade to the Chinese from the nearby mountains (also known as Yushi) in Gansu. The longtime jade supply from the Tarim Basin is well-documented archaeologically: "It is well known that ancient Chinese rulers had a strong attachment to jade. All of the jade items excavated from the tomb of Fuhao of the Shang dynasty , more than 750 pieces, were from Khotan in modern Xinjiang. As early as

13231-485: The oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin. Whereas the Yuezhi continued westward and conquered Daxia around 177–176 BC, the Sai (i.e. Saka), including some allied Tocharian peoples , fled south to the Pamirs before heading back east to settle in Tarim Basin sites like Yanqi (焉耆, Karasahr ) and Qiuci (龜茲, Kucha ). The Saka are recorded as inhabiting Khotan by at least the 3rd century and also settled in nearby Shache (莎車),

13362-403: The pacified areas. The native Dzungar Oirat Mongols suffered greatly from the brutal campaigns and a simultaneous smallpox epidemic. Writer Wei Yuan described the resulting desolation in present-day northern Xinjiang as "an empty plain for several thousand li , with no Oirat yurt except those surrendered." It has been estimated that 80 percent of the 600,000 (or more) Dzungars died from

13493-748: The province and acceded in name to the Republic of China in March of that year. Balancing mixed ethnic constituencies, Yang controlled Xinjiang until his 1928 assassination after the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang . The Kumul Rebellion and others broke out throughout Xinjiang during the early 1930s against Jin Shuren , Yang's successor, involving Uyghurs, other Turkic groups and Hui (Muslim) Chinese. Jin enlisted White Russians to crush

13624-465: The province to them. Five ETR leaders who were to negotiate with the Chinese about ETR sovereignty died in an airplane crash that year in the outskirts of Kabansk in the Russian SFSR . The PRC continued the system of settler colonialism and forced assimilation which had defined previous Chinese expansionism in Xinjiang. The PRC autonomous region was established on 1 October 1955, replacing

13755-574: The province; that year (the first modern census in China was taken in 1953), Uyghurs were 73 percent of Xinjiang's total population of 5.11 million. Although Xinjiang has been designated a "Uygur Autonomous Region" since 1954, more than 50 percent of its area is designated autonomous areas for 13 native non-Uyghur groups. Modern Uyghurs developed ethnogenesis in 1955, when the PRC recognized formerly separately self-identified oasis peoples. Southern Xinjiang

13886-492: The provinces of Gansu and Qinghai . The most well-known route of the historic Silk Road ran through the territory from the east to its northwestern border. Xinjiang is divided into the Dzungarian Basin ( Dzungaria ) in the north and the Tarim Basin in the south by a mountain range and only about 9.7 percent of Xinjiang's land area is fit for human habitation. It is home to a number of ethnic groups, including

14017-444: The region between Qitai and the capital, largely inhabited by Han Chinese, and Ürümqi, Tacheng (Tabarghatai), Yili, Jinghe, Kur Kara Usu, Ruoqiang, Lop Nor and the lower Tarim River. In 1912, the Qing dynasty was replaced by the Republic of China . The ROC continued to treat the Qing territory as its own, including Xinjiang. Yuan Dahua, the last Qing governor of Xinjiang, fled. One of his subordinates, Yang Zengxin , took control of

14148-521: The region to the Chinese. The Han Chinese wrested control of the Tarim Basin from the Xiongnu at the end of the 1st century under the leadership of General Ban Chao (32–102 CE), during the Han-Xiongnu War . The Chinese administered the Tarim Basin as the Protectorate of the Western Regions . The Tarim Basin was later under many foreign rulers, but ruled primarily by Turkic, Han, Tibetan, and Mongolic peoples. The powerful Kushans , who conquered

14279-568: The region. The area became Islamified during the 10th century with the conversion of the Kara-Khanid Khanate , who occupied Kashgar. During the mid-10th century, the Saka Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan was attacked by the Turkic Muslim Karakhanid ruler Musa; the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan conquered Khotan around 1006. After Genghis Khan unified Mongolia and began his advance west the Uyghur state in

14410-573: The remains of 92 individuals in the Xiaohe Cemetery were analyzed for Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA markers. Genetic analyses of the mummies showed that the paternal lineages of the Xiaohe people were of almost all European origin, while the maternal lineages of the early population were diverse, featuring both East Eurasian and West Eurasian lineages, as well as a smaller number of Indian / South Asian lineages. lineages. Over time,

14541-459: The revolts. In the Kashgar region on 12 November 1933, the short-lived First East Turkestan Republic was self-proclaimed after debate about whether it should be called "East Turkestan" or "Uyghuristan". The region claimed by the ETR encompassed the Kashgar , Khotan and Aksu Prefectures in southwestern Xinjiang. The Chinese Muslim Kuomintang 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) defeated

14672-791: The same time. As Tibet and the Uyghur Khaganate declined in the mid-9th century, the Kara-Khanid Khanate (a confederation of Turkic tribes including the Karluks , Chigils and Yaghmas) controlled Western Xinjiang during the 10th and 11th centuries. After the Uyghur Khaganate in Mongolia was destroyed by the Kirghiz in 840, branches of the Uyghurs established themselves in Qocha (Karakhoja) and Beshbalik (near present-day Turfan and Ürümqi). The Uyghur state remained in eastern Xinjiang until

14803-488: The sword to make the population convert to Islam. After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" ( Dzungars ) were the ones who built Buddhist monuments in their area, in opposition to the current academic theory that it was their own ancestral legacy. The eastern regions of the Chagatai Khanate in the early 14th century had been inhabited by

14934-650: The traditional Uyghur name for it was Altishahr ( Uyghur : التى شهر , romanized :  Altä-shähär , Алтә-шәһәр ). It was formerly the area of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate 東察合台汗國, land of the Uyghur people before being conquered by the Dzungars. The population of the Tarim Basin is estimated at approximately 5.5 million. Xinjiang Xinjiang , officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region ,

15065-662: The two separate political entities of Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin (Eastern Turkestan). Dzungharia or Ili was called Zhunbu 準部 (Dzungar region) Tianshan Beilu 天山北路 (Northern March), "Xinjiang" 新疆 (New Frontier), or "Kalmykia" (La Kalmouquie in French). It was formerly the area of the Dzungar (or Zunghar) Khanate 準噶爾汗國, the land of the Dzungar people . The Tarim Basin was known as "Tianshan Nanlu 天山南路 (southern March), Huibu 回部 (Muslim region), Huijiang 回疆 (Muslim frontier), Chinese Turkestan , Kashgaria, Little Bukharia, East Turkestan ", and

15196-503: The west Eurasian maternal lineages were gradually replaced by east Eurasian maternal lineages. Outmarriage to women from Siberian communities, led to the loss of the original diversity of mtDNA lineages observed in the earlier Xiaohe population. The Tarim population was therefore always notably diverse, reflecting a complex history of admixture between people of Ancient North Eurasian , South Asian and Northeast Asian descent. The Tarim mummies have been found in various locations in

15327-568: The west. The east-west chain of the Tian Shan separate Dzungaria in the north from the Tarim Basin in the south. Dzungaria is a dry steppe and the Tarim Basin contains the massive Taklamakan Desert , surrounded by oases. In the east is the Turpan Depression . In the west, the Tian Shan split, forming the Ili River valley. The earliest inhabitants of the region encompassing modern day Xinjiang were genetically of Ancient North Eurasian and Northeast Asian origin, with later geneflow from during

15458-581: The western Tarim Basin away from its previous overlords (the Xiongnu), it was inhabited by various peoples who included the Indo-European -speaking Tocharians in Turfan and Kucha , the Saka peoples centered in the Shule Kingdom and the Kingdom of Khotan , the various Tibeto-Burmese groups (especially people related to the Qiang ) as well as the Han Chinese people. Some linguists posit that

15589-739: The western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat by the Xiongnu, in the 2nd century BC, the Yuezhi split into two groups: the Greater Yuezhi ( Dà Yuèzhī 大月氏) and Lesser Yuezhi ( Xiǎo Yuèzhī 小月氏). They introduced the Brahmi script, the Indian Prakrit language for administration, and Buddhism , playing a central role in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Eastern Asia. Three pre-Han texts mention peoples who appear to be

15720-544: Was captured by the Tang in 644 and the kingdom of Kucha was conquered in 649 . The expansion into Central Asia continued under Taizong's successor, Emperor Gaozong , who dispatched an army in 657 led by Su Dingfang against the Western Turk qaghan Ashina Helu . Ashina was defeated and the khaganate was absorbed into the Tang empire. The Tarim Basin was administered through the Anxi Protectorate and

15851-406: Was created by the Qing. During the Qing rule, no sense of "regional identity" was held by ordinary Xinjiang people; rather, Xinjiang's distinct identity was given to the region by the Qing, since it had distinct geography, history and culture, while at the same time it was created by the Chinese, multicultural, settled by Han and Hui and separated from Central Asia for over a century and a half. In

15982-584: Was fought in China's Shaanxi , Ningxia and Gansu provinces and in Xinjiang from 1862 to 1877. The conflict led to a reported 20.77 million deaths due to migration and war, with many refugees dying of starvation. Thousands of Muslim refugees from Shaanxi fled to Gansu; some formed battalions in eastern Gansu, intending to reconquer their lands in Shaanxi. While the Hui rebels were preparing to attack Gansu and Shaanxi, Yaqub Beg (an Uzbek or Tajik commander of

16113-687: Was given during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor in 1878. It can be translated as "new frontier" or "new territory". In fact, the term "Xinjiang" was used in many other places conquered, but never were ruled by Chinese empires directly until the gradual Gaitu Guiliu administrative reform, including regions in Southern China. For instance, present-day Jinchuan County in Sichuan was then known as "Jinchuan Xinjiang", Zhaotong in Yunnan

16244-583: Was inhabited by sedentary, oasis-dwelling, Turkic-speaking Uyghur Muslim farmers. Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin were each governed separately until the creation of Xinjiang in 1884 . The Chinese called this the Tien Shan Nan Lu or Tien Shan South Road, as opposed to the Bei Lu north of the mountains. Along it runs the modern highway and railroad while the middle Tarim River is about 100 km south. The caravans met in Kashgar before crossing

16375-474: Was named directly as "Xinjiang", Qiandongnan region, Anshun and Zhenning were named as "Liangyou Xinjiang" etc. In 1955, Xinjiang Province was renamed "Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region". The name that was originally proposed was simply "Xinjiang Autonomous Region" because that was the name for the imperial territory. This proposal was not well-received by Uyghurs in the Communist Party, who found

16506-623: Was not as great as elsewhere in China during the Great Leap Forward and a million Han Chinese fleeing famine resettled in Xinjiang. In 1980, China allowed the United States to establish electronic listening stations in Xinjiang so the United States could monitor Soviet rocket launches in central Asia in exchange for the United States authorizing the sale of dual-use civilian and military technology and nonlethal military equipment to China. The Chinese economic reform since

16637-518: Was of some importance when Tibet was an empire. North of the mountains is Dzungaria with its central Gurbantünggüt Desert , Ürümqi, and the Karamay oil fields. The Kulja territory is the upper basin of the Ili River and opens out onto the Kazakh Steppe with several roads east. The Dzungarian Gate was once a migration route and is now a road and rail crossing . Tacheng or Tarbaghatay

16768-716: Was paid by the Chagatayids to the eastern regions. As a result, the eastern tribes there were virtually independent. The most powerful of the tribes, the Dughlats , controlled extensive territories in Moghulistan and the western Tarim Basin. In 1347 the Dughlats decided to appoint a khan of their own, and raised the Chagatayid Tughlugh Timur to the throne. In 1509 the Dughlats, vassal rulers of

16899-593: Was particularly renowned. Music and dances from Kucha were also popular in the Sui and Tang periods. During the Tang dynasty , a series of military expeditions were conducted against the oasis states of the Tarim Basin, then vassals of the Western Turkic Khaganate . The campaigns against the oasis states began under Emperor Taizong with the annexation of Gaochang in 640. The nearby kingdom of Karasahr

17030-757: Was slain by the Buddhists during the war. Buddhism lost territory to the Turkic Karakhanid Satok Bughra Khan during the Karakhanid reign around Kashgar. The Tarim Basin became Islamicized over the next few centuries. In the tenth century, the Buddhist Iranic Saka Kingdom of Khotan was the only city-state that was not conquered yet by the Turkic Uyghur (Buddhist) and the Turkic Karakhanid (Muslim) states. The Buddhist entitites of Dunhuang and Khotan had

17161-672: Was the subject of Rob Gifford 's 2007 book China Road , in which he describes traveling the entire length of Route 312 from the East China Sea to Central Asia . The G40 Shanghai–Xi'an Expressway has replaced National Highway 312 as the main route between those two cities. On October 10 2019, a bridge of G312 crossing Xigang Road in Wuxi was collapsed by several overloaded trucks, killing 3 people and injuring 2 others. China National Highway 112 runs around Beijing Before 2013, Mainland China observed National Highway 228 as Taiwan Ring, composed of several National Expressway (Republic of China) and Taiwan provincial highways, this designation

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