Uyghurs << WEE gurs >> are a Turkic-speaking people who live mainly in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China. About 9 million Uyghurs live in the region today. Most make their living in agriculture or trade. Nearly all Uyghurs are Sunni Muslims. Uyghur is also spelled Uygur, Uighur, or Uigur.
Uyghurs were originally a nomadic people who made their living by herding livestock. In 744 A.D., they united and founded a powerful empire that spread across Central Asia through Mongolia and Manchuria. Uyghurs helped the neighboring Tang dynasty of China defeat the An Lushan rebellion of 755-763 (see Tang dynasty (The middle years) ). During this time, many Uyghurs adopted Manichaeism, a Mediterranean religion that blended Christianity, Buddhism, and other beliefs. Around 840, Kirghiz armies defeated the Uyghurs, some of whom moved to Xinjiang.
Uyghurs in western Xinjiang began to adopt Islam in the 900’s. Genghis Khan conquered the region as part of the vast Mongol Empire in the early 1200’s. By the 1500’s, the Yarkand Khanate flourished in the area with a majority Uyghur population. A khanate is a territory ruled by a leader called a khan. Yarkand was conquered by the Western Mongols in the 1600’s. The Chinese began to dominate the region from 1759, during the Qing dynasty.
Today, Xinjiang is one of five autonomous (self-governing) regions in China. The autonomous regions operate under the Chinese government, but they also have additional powers to pass laws related to the affairs of ethnic groups.
Many Chinese people from other parts of the country have moved to Xinjiang, especially since the 1990’s. Ethnic tension between Chinese and Uyghurs contributed to unrest in the early 2000’s, and the government responded by arresting thousands of Uyghurs. In 2017, a harsh crackdown began, in which Chinese authorities sent about a million Muslim Uyghurs to detention camps. The authorities claimed that the camps were centers for work training and political education. In 2018, a United Nations report called for an end to the detentions, but the Chinese government continued its policy.
