Uyghurs

For the language spoken by this ethnic group, see Uyghur language.

Uyghur
ئۇيغۇر

File:Uyghur figures.jpg
Total population
approx. 20 million
Regions with significant populations
China (Xinjiang) Pakistan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Mongolia Turkey Russia
Languages
Uyghur
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Turkic peoples

The Uyghur (also spelled Uygur, Uighur, Uigur; Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; pinyin: Wéiwú'ěr) are a Turkic people of Central Asia. Today Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also known by its controversial name East Turkistan or Uyghurstan).

There are Uyghur diasporic communities in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Germany and Turkey and a smaller one in Taoyuan County of Hunan province in south-central China. Uyghur neighborhoods can be found in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai. There are small but very active Uyghur communities in the United States, mainly in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, DC, as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

Identity

Historically the term "Uyghur" was applied to a group of Turkic-speaking tribes that lived in the Altay Mountains. Along with the Göktürks (Kokturks) the Uyghurs were one of the largest and most enduring Turkic peoples living in Central Asia.

In the literature, the term Uyghur has a number of differing spellings, mostly connected with variations in the language of research. Uyghur is variously spelled Uigur, Uygur, Uighur, and Uyghur. The word means "Confederation of Nine Tribes", and is synonymous with the name Tokuz-Oguz. In the Türkic inscriptions the name Tokuz-Oguz is used for the subdued Uigurs, and the resisting are called Uigurs, pointing to semantical nuances between the two names. Etymologically, Türkic "tokuz" = nine, and "gur" = tribe. In Chinese, the ancient Uigurs were called Chi-Di, meaning "Red Di" (i.e. "red haired Di"), they were one of the Tele tribes that migrated in the 4th c. from Hesi northward. Chinese also used names Hoy-Hu and Üan-Ga to designate Uigurs or their components, Chinese also called Uigurs Chiu Hsing "Nine Clans". Among other suggested etymologies have been a composite of "uigy" quick + "er/ir/ur" = man for "Quicky People", "Uygar" as "civilised", and derivations such as "unified, united", though none of these are justified on historical linguistic grounds.

An Uyghur girl in Xinjiang

The earliest use of the term "Uyghur" (Weihu) was during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD), in China. At that time the Uyghur were part of the Gaoche, Chinese for "High Wheels", a group of Turkic tribes, which Chinese later called Tele people from Turkic "Tele" (~Tegreg: Hamilton, 1962 the "nine-family Tele" association , i.e. Tokuz-Oguzes) for "wheelwagon". This group included tribes such as Syr-Tardush (Ch. Xueyantuo), Basmyl (Ch. Baximi), Oguz (Ch. Wuhu), Khazar (Ch. Hesan), Alans (Ch. A-lans), Kyrgyz (Ch. Hegu), Tuva (Ch. Duva) and Yakut (Ch. Guligan) from the Lake Baikal Region. The forebears of the Tele belonged to those of Hun (Ch. Xiongnu etc.) descendants. According to Chinese Turkic scholars Ma Changshou and Cen Zhongmian, the Chinese word Tiele originates from the Turkic word "Türkler" (Turks), which is a plural form of "Türk" (Turk) and the Chinese word "Tujue" comes from the Turkic word "Türküt" which is a singular form of Türk. The origin of Gaoche can be traced back to the Dingling peoples c. 200 BC, contemporary with the Chinese Han Dynasty.

The first use of "Uyghur" as reference to a political nation occurred during the interim period between the First and Second Göktürk Kaganates (630-684 AD). After the collapse of the Uyghur Empire in 840 AD, Uyghur refugees resettled to the Tarim Basin, intermarrying with the local people. It is only after this resettlement, that "Uyghur" can be properly used as an ethnic designation.

In modern usage, "Uyghur" refers to settled Turkic urban-dwellers and farmers of Kashgaria and Jungaria who follow traditional Central Asian practice, distinguished from nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia . The Bolsheviks reintroduced the term "Uyghur" to replace the previously used Turki. "Uyghur" is widely credited as having been used by Soviets for the first time in 1921 with the establishment of the Revolutionary Uyghur Union (Inqilawi Uyghur Itipaqi) during meeting of some Turkic leaders in Tashkent- communist nationalist organization, that opened its underground sections in main cities of Kashgaria and was performing its activities till 1926, when Soviets recognized Sinkiang Provincial Government and concluded with it trade agreements; consequently Uyghur section was created in Comintern's or III International's structure. There is some evidence that Uyghur students and merchants living in Russia had already embraced the name prior to this date, drawing on Russian studies that claimed a linkage between the historical khanate and Xinjiang's current inhabitants.

Uyghurs live mainly in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, where they are the largest ethnic group, together with Han Chinese, Hui, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Russians. Thousands of Uyghurs also live in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. "Xinjiang", meaning "New Frontier", is the official Chinese name of the Autonomous Region.

History

See also History of Mongolia, Turkic migration, History of Xinjiang

Orkhon Uyghur

Uyghur history can be divided into four distinct phases: Pre-Imperial (300 BCE-630 CE), Imperial (630-840 CE), Idiqut (840-1209 CE), and Mongol (1209-1600 CE), with perhaps a fifth modern phase running from the death of the Silk Road in 1600 CE until the present. Uyghur history is the story of an obscure nomadic tribe from the Altai Mountains rising to challenge the Chinese Empire and ultimately becoming the diplomatic arm of the Mongol invasion.

Pre-630 CE

Map of the Western (purple) and Eastern (blue) Göktürk khaganates at their height, c. 600 CE. Lighter areas show direct rule; darker areas show spheres of influence.

The ancestors of the Uyghur include the nomadic Gaoche people and possibly the Tocharian peoples of the Tarim Basin. Gaoche, meaning 'High Cart', was a reference to the distinct high-wheeled, ox-drawn carts used to move yurts. The Gaoche were Altaic nomads who lived in the valleys south of Lake Baikal and around the Yenisei River(Yenisei = Ana Say, or "Mother River" in Turkic). They practiced some minor agriculture and were highly developed metalsmiths due to the abundance of easily available iron ore in the Yenisei. They became vassals of the Huns and provided them with manufactured arms. After the Huns they were passed as vassals to the Rouran and Hepthalite States. In 450 CE the Gaoche planned a revolt against the Rouran that was defeated by the Türk (another Rouran vassal tribe). This incident marked the beginning of the historic Türk-Tiele animosity that plagued the Göktürk Khanate. When the Göktürk defeated the Rouran/Hepthalite state, they became the new masters of the Tiele (the name "Gaoche" was replaced by "Tiele" in historic records around this time). It was also at this time that the Uyghur tribe was first mentioned in Chinese records as a small tribe of 10,000 yurts in the South Baikal region.

The Uyghur participated in a coalition of Tiele under the leadership of the Syr-Tardush tribe, who allied with the Chinese Sui Empire in 603 to defeat Tardu Khan and win their independence. This alliance existed with varying degrees of autonomy from 603 until 630 when the Göktürk Khanate was decisively defeated by the Emperor Tang Taizong. During this time the Uyghur occupied second position in the alliance after the Syr-Tardush. In the interregnum between the first and second Göktürk Khanates (630-683), the Uyghur toppled the Syr-Tardush and declared their independence. When a second Göktürk Khanate was established during the reign of Empress Wu, the Uyghurs, together with other nomadic Turkic tribes, participated in the Gokturk empire. the empire declined following Bilge Khan's death in 734. After a series of revolts coordinated with their Chinese allies, the Uyghur emerged as the leaders of a new coalition force called the "Toquz Oghuz". In 744 the Uyghur, together with other related subject tribes (the Basmyl and Qarluq), defeated the Göktürk Khanate and founded the Uyghur Empire at Mount Ötüken, which lasted for about 100 years.

745 CE-840 CE

Map of the Uyghur Khaganate and areas under its dominion (in yellow) at its height, c. 820 CE.

Properly called the On- Uyghur (ten Uyghurs) and Toquz-Oghuz (nine tribes) Orkhon Khanate, the Uyghur Empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to Manchuria and lasted from 745 to 840 CE. It was administered from the imperial capital Ordu Baliq. During the imperial phase "Uyghur" came to mean any citizen of the Uyghur Empire, and not just a member of the Uyghur tribe. After the An Shi Rebellion, the Uyghur Empire considered conquering the Tang Empire, but chose instead to use an exploitative trade policy to drain off the wealth of China without actually destroying it. In return, they policed the borders and quelled internal rebellions. Large numbers of Sogdian refugees came to Ordu Baliq. It was due to them that the Uyghur were converted from Buddhism to Manichaeanism. The Uyghurs thus inherited the legacy of Sogdian Culture.

In 840, following a famine and a civil war, the Uyghur Empire was overrun by the Kyrgyz, another Turkic people.

Modern Uyghur

840 CE-1600 CE

Uyghur princesses. Bezeklik, Cave 9, ca. 8th/9th century CE, wall painting

Uyghur princes wearing Chinese-styled robes and headgears. Bezeklik, Cave 9

Following the collapse of the Uyghur Empire, the Uyghur refugees established states in three areas: present day Gansu,Xinjiang, and the Chu River the West of Tian Shan ( Tengri-Tag) Mountains.

Those who fled west, together with other Turkic tribal groups living in Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin, established the Beshbalik-Turpan-Kucha state in the Tarim Basin, Turfan Depression, and Dzungaria. In the process, they merged with the local populations of Tocharians (or Tokharians, whose language was Indo-European). It is probable that genetically and culturally, modern Uyghurs descended from the nomadic Turkic tribes and the Indo-European-speaking groups who preceded them in the Tarim Basin oasis-cities, as well as Uyghurs from Mongolia. Today one can still see Uyghurs with light-colored skin and hair. Modern studies have found that modern Uyghur populations represent an admixture of eastern and western Eurasian mtDNA and Y chromosome lineages. It is at this time "Uyghur" can be used as an ethnic designation.

Yugor The eastern-most of the three Uyghur states was the Ganzhou Kingdom (870- 1036 CE), with its capital near present-day Zhangye in the Gansu province of China. There, the Uyghur converted from Manicheism to Lamaism (Tibetan and Mongol Buddhism). Unlike other Turkic peoples further west, they did not later convert to Islam. Their descendants are now known as Yugurs (or Yogir, Yugor, and Sary Uyghurs, literally meaning "yellow Uyghurs") and are distinct from modern Uyghurs. In 1028-1036 CE the Yugors were defeated in a bloody war and forcibly absorbed into the Tangut kingdom.

Karakhoja The central of the three Uyghur states was the Karakhoja kingdom (created during 856-866 CE), also called the "Idiqut" (" Holy Wealth, Glory ") state, and was based around the cities of Turfan (winter capital), Beshbalik (summer capital), Kumul, and Kucha. A Buddhist state, with state-sponsored Buddhism and Manichaeism, it can be considered the epicentre of Uyghur culture. The Idiquts (title of the Karakhoja rulers) ruled independently until 1209, when they submitted to the Mongols under Genghis Khan and, as vassal rulers, existed until 1335.

Kara-Khanids, or The Karahans (Great Khans Dynasty), was the westernmost of the three Uyghur states. The Karahans (Karakhanliks) originated from Uyghur tribes settled in the Chu River Valley after 840 and ruled between 940-1212 in Turkistan and Maveraünnehir. They converted to Islam in 934 under the rule of Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan (920-956) and, after taking power over Qarluks in 940, built a federation with Muslim institutions. Together with the Samanids of Samarkand, they considered themselves the defenders of Islam against the Buddhist Uyghur Idiqut and the Buddhist Scythian-Tocharian kingdom of Khotan. The first capital of the Karahans was established in the city of Balasagun in the Chu River Valley and later was moved to Kashgar.

The reign of the Karahans is especially significant from the point of view of Turkic culture and art history. It is during this period that mosques, schools, bridges, and caravansaries were constructed in the cities. Kashgar, Bukhara and Samarkand became centers of learning. During this period, Turkish literature developed. Among the most important works of the period is Kutadgu Bilig (translated as "The Knowledge That Gives Happiness"), written by Yusuf Balasaghuni between the years 1060-1070.

Both the Idiqut and the Kara-Khanid states eventually submitted to the Kara Khitais. After the rise of the Seljuk Turks in Iran, the Kara-Khanids became nominal vassals of the Seljuks as well. Later they would serve the dual-suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans to the north and the Seljuks to the south. Finally all three states became vassals to Genghis Khan in 1209.

Most inhabitants of the Besh Balik and Turfan regions did not convert to Islam until the 15th century expansion of the Yarkand Khanate, a Turko-Mongol successor state based in western Tarim. Before converting to Islam, Uyghurs were Manichaeans, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, or Nestorian Christians.

Chagatay Khanate

See also Chagatay Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate was a khanate of the Mongol Empire that comprised the lands controlled by Chagatai Khan (alternative spellings Chagata, Chugta, Chagta, Djagatai, Jagatai), second son of the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan. Chagatai's ulus, or hereditary territory, consisted of the part of the Mongol Empire which extended from the Ili River (today in eastern Kazakhstan) and Kashgaria (in the western Tarim Basin) to Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). He inherited most of what are now the five Central Asian states and northern Iran after the death of his father, which lands he ruled until his death in 1242. The lands later came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate, part of the Mongol Empire. These territories would later become the Turco-Mongol states.

After the death of the Chagatayid ruler Qazan Khan in 1346, the Chagatai Khanate was divided into western (Transoxiana) and eastern (Moghulistan/Uyghuristan) halves, which was later known as "Kashgar and Uyghurstan", according Balkh historian Makhmud ibn Vali (Sea of Mysteries, 1640). Kashgar historian Muhammad Imin Sadr Kashgari called the country Uyghurstan in his book Traces of Invasion (Asar al-futuh) in 1780. Power in the western half devolved into the hands of several tribal leaders, most notably the Qara'unas. Khans appointed by the tribal rulers were mere puppets. In the east, Tughlugh Timur (1347–1363), an obscure Chaghataite adventurer, gained ascendancy over the nomadic Mongols, and converted to Islam. In 1360, and again in 1361, he invaded the western half in the hope that he could reunify the khanate. At their height, the Chaghataite domains extended from the Irtysh River in Siberia down to Ghazni in Afghanistan, and from Transoxiana to the Tarim Basin.

Tughlugh Timur was unable to completely subjugate the tribal rulers, and, after his death in 1363, the Moghuls left Transoxiana, whereupon the Qara'unas leader Amir Husayn took control of Transoxiana. Tīmur-e Lang (Timur the lame), or Tamerlane, a Muslim native of Transoxania who claimed descent from Genghis Khan, desired control of the khanate for himself and opposed Amir Husayn. He took Samarkand in 1366, and was recognized as emir in 1370, although he continued to officially act in the name of the Chagatai khans. For over three decades, Timur used the Chagatai lands as the base for extensive conquests, conquering the rulers of Herat in Afghanistan, Shiraz in Persia, Baghdad in Iraq, Delhi in India, and Damascus in Syria. After defeating the Ottoman Turks at Angora, Timur died in 1405 while marching on China. The Timurid Dynasty continued under his son, Shah Rukh, who ruled from Herat until his death in 1447.

By 1369, the western half (Transoxonia and further west) of the Chagatai Khanate had been conquered by Tamerlane, in his attempt to reconstruct the Mongol Empire. The eastern half, mostly under what is now Xinjiang, remained under Chagatai princes that were at times allied or at war with Timurid princes. Finally, in the 17th century, all the remaining Chagatay domains fell under the theocratic regime of Apak Khoja and his descendant, the Khojijans, who ruled East Turkestan under Jungar and Manchu overlordships, consecutively.

Both Transoxonia and the Tarim Basin of East Turkestan became known as Moghulistan or Mughalistan, named after the ruling class of Chagatay and Timurid states which descended from the "Moghol" (Mongol) tribe of Doghlat, but was completely Islamicized and Turkified in language. It was the same Moghol Timurid ruling class that established the Timurid rule on the Indian Subcontinent known as the Mughal Empire.

Arguably, it was under the Chagatay Khanate's rule in East Turkestan, that the culture of the original subjects of the Karakhanids became somewhat of a "national culture" of the largely Muslim state, that the Buddhist populations of the former Karakhoja Idikut-ate largely converted into the Muslim faith, and that all Chagatai language speaking Muslims, regardless whether they lived in Turpan or Kashgar, became known by their occupations as Moghols (ruling class), Sarts (merchants and townspeople) and Taranchis (farmers). This triple division of classes among the same Muslim Turkic folk was also the same in Transoxonia, regardless whether they were under Timurid or Chagatay, or even Uzbek and Khojijan princes. Even today, the sense of ethnic kinship between the modern Uyghur and Uzbek peoples remain strong.

Therefore it is widely believed that the modern Uyghur nation acquired its current demographic composition and its current cultural identity during the East Turkestani Chagatay period. The Chagatay period in East Turkestan was marked by instability and internecine warfare, with Kashgar, Yarkant and Qomul as major centers of warfare and warlord rule. Some Chagatay princes allied with the Timurids and Uzbeks of Transoxonia, some sought help from the Buddhist Kalmyks. The Chagatay prince Mirza Haidar Kurgan escaped his war-torn homeland Kashgar in early 16th century to Timurid Tashkent, only to be evicted by the invading Shaybanids. Escaping to the mercy of his Mughal Timurid cousins which was then rulers of Delhi, India, he gained his final post as governor of Kashmir and wrote the famous Tarikh-i-Rashidi, widely acclaimed as the most comprehensive work on the Uyghur civilization during the East Turkestani Chagatay reign [1].

The Khojijans were originally the Aq Tagh tariqa of the Naqshbandi order, which originated in Timurid Transoxonia. Struggles between two prominent Naqshbandi tariqas the Aq Taghlik and the Kara Taghlik engulfed the entire East Turkestani Chagatay domain in late 17th century, which Apaq Khoja finally triumphant both as a national religious and political leader. The last ruling Chagatay princess married one of the ruling Khojijan princes (descendants of Apaq) and became known as Khanum Pasha. She ruled with brutality after the death of her husband, and singlehandedly slaughtered many of her Khojijan and Chagatayid rivals. She was known to have boiled alive the last Chagatayid princess that could have continued the dynasty. The Khojijan Dynasty fell into chaos despite the brutality of Khanum Pasha, and became a vassal of the invading Jungar Kalmyks.

It was the triumph of another invading force, the Manchu Qing Dynasty, over the Jungars, that brought Manchu military governorship to the Ili Valley north of Kashgar. Some Khojijan princes put up a struggle against Qing overlordship, but all were finally pacified and became local rulers in a fragmented East Turkestan that recognized Qing suzerainty.

Post-1600 CE

The Manchus, nomads from present-day northeast China, vastly expanded the Qing empire, which they founded in 1644, to include much of Mongolia, East Turkistan, and Tibet. The Manchus invaded East Turkistan in 1759 and dominated it until 1864. During this period the Uyghurs revolted 42 times against Manchu rule with the purpose of regaining their independence. In the revolt of 1864, the Uyghurs were successful in expelling the Manchus from East Turkistan, and founded an independent Kashgaria kingdom, called Yettishar (meaning "country of seven cities", it included Kashgar, Yarkand, Hotan, Aksu, Kucha, Korla and Turfan), under the leadership of Yakub Beg. The kingdom was recognized by the Ottoman Empire (1873), Tsarist Russia (1872), and Great Britain (1874), which established mission in the capital Kashgar.

Large Manchu forces under the overall command of General Zuo Zongtang attacked East Turkestan in 1876. Fearing Tsarist expansion into East Turkestan, Great Britain supported the Manchu invasion forces through loans by British banks (mostly through Boston Bank, located in Hong Kong). After this invasion, East Turkestan was renamed "Xinjiang" or "Sinkiang", which means "New Dominion" or "New Territory", and it was annexed by the Manchu empire on November 18, 1884.

In 1911, the Nationalist Chinese, under the leadership of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, overthrew Manchu rule and established a republic. Official recognition of the Uyghurs came under the rule of Sheng Shicai who deviated from the official Kuomintang five races of China stance in favor of a Stalinist policy of delineating fourteen distinct ethnic nationalities in Xinjiang. The Uyghurs staged several uprisings against Nationalist Chinese rule. Twice, in 1933 and 1944, the Uyghurs were successful in setting up two independent Islamic Eastern Turkestan Republic. These independent Republics were subsequently overthrown by the Nationalist Chinese with the military assistance and political support of the Soviet Union, which opposed the Uyghur independence movement throughout this period. In 1949, the Nationalist Chinese were defeated by the Chinese communists and East Turkestan was annexed by the People's Republic of China.

Separatism

Main article: East Turkestan independence movement

The "Kokbayraq" flag. This flag is used by Uyghurs as a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement. It is almost identical to the flag of Turkey except with a blue background. The Government of the People's Republic of China prohibits using the flag in the country.

Following 9/11, China voiced its support for the United States of America in the war on terror. The Chinese government has often referred to Uyghur nationalists as "terrorists" and received more global support for their own "war on terror" since 9/11. Human rights organizations have become concerned that this "war on terror" is being used by the Chinese government as a pretext to repress ethnic Uyghurs. Uyghur exile groups also claim that the Chinese government is suppressing Uyghur culture and religion, and responding to demands for independence with human rights violations. These include mass abortions of Uyghur children and forced termination of marriages between Uyghur people. Uyghur children who are born unauthorized are denied food and shelter by the government.

According to at least one outside source Beijing has "decimated Uighur culture."

In traditional Uyghur cities like Kashgar, a vibrant bazaar town on the border of Central Asia, the authorities tore down Uyghur stalls across the central square, where Muslim men once gathered for open-air shaves before heading to the central mosque. The local government replaced them with a bland plaza patrolled by Chinese troops. In another unpopular move, Beijing offered financial incentives for ethnic Chinese migrants to come to the province and set up businesses. Now, ethnic [Han] Chinese dominate nearly all big businesses in the region.

Many Uyghur in the diaspora support Pan-Turkic groups. Several organizations, such as the East Turkestan Party, provide support for the Chinese Uyghurs.

Though most Uyghur political groups support peaceful, secular Uyghur nationalism, there are some radical Islamist militant groups (such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and East Turkestan Liberation Organization) advocating independence from China. This has caused much confusion with regard to names and beliefs of Uyghur political groups. Often the Chinese government refers generally to East Turkestan nationalists as "terrorists".

The Chinese government often imprisons Uyghur nationalists and has executed some individuals. On February 9, 2007, Ismail Semed was executed by the Peoples Republic of China for "attempting to split the motherland". In March 2006, Huseyin Celil, a Canadian Muslim religious leader was arrested and later convicted for “separatist activities” and sentenced to life imprisonment because of his alleged links to groups seeking independence for Xinjiang.

The name Xinjiang, which means "new territory" in Chinese, is considered offensive by many advocates of Uyghur independence who prefer to use historical or ethnic names such as Uyghurstan, Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan (with Turkestan sometimes spelled as Turkistan)

Culture

Three Uyghur girls at a Sunday market in the oasis city Khotan (Hotan / Hetian), in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.

The relics of the Uyghur culture constitute major collections in the museums of Berlin, London, Paris, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and New Delhi. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientific and archaeological expeditions to the region of Eastern Turkestan’s Silk Road discovered numerous cave temples, monastery ruins, and wall paintings, as well as valuable miniatures, books, and documents. Explorers from Europe, America, and even Japan were amazed by the art treasures found there, and soon their reports caught the attention of an interested public around the world. The manuscripts and documents discovered in Xinjiang (Uyghurstan/Eastern Turkestan) reveal the very high degree of civilization attained by the Uyghurs. This Uyghur power, prestige, and civilization, which dominated Central Asia for over a thousand years, went into a steep decline after the Manchu invasion of their homeland. Throughout the history of Central Asia, they left a lasting imprint on both the culture and tradition of the people of central Asia.

Chinese ambassador Wang Yen De to the Karakhoja Uyghur Kingdom in 981-984: "I was impressed with the extensive civilization I have found in the Uyghur Kingdom. The beauty of the temples, monasteries, wall paintings, statues, towers, gardens, housings and the palaces built throughout the kingdom cannot be described. The Uyghurs skilfully make things of silver and gold, vases and pitchers. Some say that God has infused this talent into these people only."

Albert von Le Coq: "The Uyghur language and script contributed to the enrichment of civilizations of the other peoples in Central Asia. Compared to the Europeans of that time, the Uyghurs were far more advanced. Documents discovered in Uyghur Region prove that an Uigur farmer could write down a contract, using legal terminology. How many European farmers could have done that at that period ? This shows the extent of Uyghur civilization of that time."

Currently, Turkic and Islamic cultural elements are dominant in the Tarim Basin, which reflects a thousand years of Turkic rule in the region and resulted in the replacement of previous religious traditions.

Both Uyghur and Han locals live by the unofficial "Xinjiang time", two hours removed from the official Beijing time. Businesses and government offices have modified hours to compensate for the difference from official Beijing time (e.g. opening at 10 am and closing at 8 pm).

Literature

The Uyghurs are known as educated people, they worked in chanceries and embassies of different states, and they were teachers, military officers, and ambassadors in Rome, Istanbul, and Bagdad, scholars in Tebriz. There are hundreds of famous Uyghur scholars and the Uyghur literature is vast. Some of Uyghur books have been translated into different western languages. The Uyghurs had been printing their books for hundreds years before Gutenberg invented his printing press. In the 11th century the Uyghurs accepted the Arabic alphabet.

Most of the early Uyghur literary works were translations of Buddhist and Manichean religious texts, but there were also narrative, poetic, and epic works. Some of these have been translated into German, English, Russian, and Turkish. After embracing Islam, world-renowned Uyghur scholars emerged, and Uyghur literature flourished. Among hundreds of important works surviving from that era are Qutatqu Bilik (Wisdom Of Royal Glory) by Yüsüp Has Hajip (1069-70), Mähmut Qäşqäri's Divan-i Lugat-it Türk- A Dictionary of Turkic Dialects(1072), and Ähmät Yüknäki's Atabetul Hakayik. Perhaps the most famous and well loved pieces of modern Uyghur literature are Abdurehim Otkur's Iz, Oyghanghan Zimin, Zordun Sabir's Anayurt and Ziya Samedi's (former minister of culture in Sinkiang Government in 50's) novels Mayimkhan and Mystery of the years .

Ferdinand de Saussure: "Those who preserved the language and written culture of Central Asia were the Uyghurs."

Medicine

The Uyghurs had an extensive knowledge of medicine and medical practice. Chinese Song Dynasty (906-960) sources indicate that a Uyghur physician named Nanto traveled to China and brought with him many kinds of medicine unknown to the Chinese. There were 103 different herbs for use in Uyghur medicine recorded in a medical compendium by Li Shizhen (1518-1593), a Chinese medical authority. Some scholars believe that acupuncture was originally a Uyghur discovery, not a Chinese discovery.

Tartar scholar, professor Rashid Rahmeti Arat in Zur Heilkunde der Uighuren (Medical Practices of the Uygurs) published in 1930 and 1932, in Berlin, discussed the Uygur medicine. Relying on a sketch of a man with an explanation of acupuncture, he and some Western scholars suspect that acupuncture was not a Chinese, but a Uygur discovery.

Today, traditional Uyghur medicine can still be found at street stands. Similar to other traditional medicine, diagnosis is usually made through checking the pulse, symptoms, and disease history, and then the pharmacist pounds up different dried herbs, making personalized medicines according to the prescription. Modern Uyghur medical hospitals adopted the Western medical system and adopt Western pharmaceutical technology to produce traditional medicines.

Art

Wall painting at Bezeklik caves in Flaming Mountains, Turpan Depression

The cave paintings at Bezeklik and Kizil

Music

Russian scholar Pantusov writes that the Uyghurs manufactured their own musical instruments; they had 62 different kinds of musical instruments and in every Uyghur home there used to be an instrument called a "dutar".

Orthography

Main article: Uyghur alphabet

Throughout the centuries, the Uyghurs have used the following scripts:

1. Confederated with the Göktürks in the 6th and 7th centuries, they used the Orkhon script.
2. In the 5th century, they adopted Sogdian italic script which became known as the Uyghur script. This script was used for almost 800 years, not only by the Uyghurs, but also by other Turkic peoples, by the Mongols, and by the Manchus in the early stage of their rule in China.

After having studied the Chinese historical chronicles, Uighur historian Turghun Almas asserts, that Uighur script came into the world several centuries before Christ.

1. After embracing Islam in the 10th century, the Uyghurs adopted the Arabic alphabet, and its use became common in the 11th century.
2. During a short period of time (1969-1987), Uyghurs in China used a Latin script (yengi yazik).
3. Today the Uyghurs of the former Soviet Union use Cyrillic, the Uyghurs of Xinjiang (Eastern Turkestan) use a modified Arabic script, and the Uyghurs of Turkey use the Latin alphabet.

File:Uigur.jpg The Uighur Script

See also

• List of Uyghurs
• Uyghur language
• East Turkestan/Uyghurstan
• Kushan Empire
• Uyghur detainees in Guantanamo
• Uyghur timeline

References

• http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinethn.html
• Findley, Carter Vaughn. 2005. The Turks in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516770-8; 0-19-517726-6 (pbk.)
• Hessler, Peter. Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.
• Human Rights in China: China, Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions, London, Minority Rights Group International, 2007
• Kamberi, Dolkun. 2005. Uyghurs and Uyghur identity. Sino-Platonic papers, no. 150. Philadelphia, PA: Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
• Mackerras, Colin. Ed. and trans. 1972. The Uighur Empire according to the T'ang Dynastic Histories: a study in Sino-Uyghur relations 744–840. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-279-6
• Millward, James A. and Nabijan Tursun, Political History and Strategies of Control, 1884–1978 in Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland ISBN 0-7656-1318-2
• Rall, Ted. Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East? New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
• Rudelson, Justin Ben-Adam, Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road, New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

External links

• All News about Uyghurs(Uighurs) and East Turkistan
• The London Uyghur Ensemble
• Lost Nation: Stories from the Uyghur diaspora An introduction to the Uyghur Diaspora and links to resources
• Lost Nation: Stories from the Uyghur diaspora A documentary film in which five Uyghurs from five cities around the world tell their personal story of migration.
• Talking Borders Queen's University Belfast online audio archive talk by Dr Michael Dillon
• The World Uyghur Congress
• Unintended Uighurs
• The “New T’ang History” (Hsin T’ang-shu) on the History of the Uighurs Translated and annotated by Colin Mackerras
• The Uyghur Human Rights Project
• The Uyghur American Association
• East Turkistan Information
• Introduction to Uyghur Culture and History Links to cultural and historical background, current news, research materials and photographs.
• Photos of Uyghur People
• East Turkestan Culture and Solidarity Association, Kayseri, Turkey Information website by Uyghur diaspora in living in Turkey
• The Uighurs Independent Tripod Site
• Uyghur News Site
• Save East Turkistan
• Information Video
• Uyghur | Uyghur Music | Uyghur Video | Uyghur TV
• Uyghur Online

Language

• Online UyghurWikipedia
• Online English-Uighur Dictionary
• An Uyghur-English Multiscript Dictionary
• UighurLanguage.com
• Online Uyghur-English Dictionary
• Uyghur Language Discussion Group
• English-Uyghur Online Dictionary
• Uyghur Email Groups
• Uyghur language Injil and other texts

Guantanamo Uyghur FOIA Documents

• Uyghur testimony before Combatant Status Review Tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba