View source for Uyghurs

{{Short description|Turkic ethnic group}}
{{Distinguish|Yugurs}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Uyghurs
| native_name      = {{hlist|{{lang|ug|ئۇيغۇرلار}}|{{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғурлар}}|{{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghurlar}}}}
| image            = Uyghur man in Kashgar.jpg
| image_caption    = A Uyghur man in [[Kashgar]]
| total            = Disputed; more than 12 million{{NoteTag|name=PopulationDispute|The size of the Uyghur population is disputed between Chinese authorities and Uyghur organizations outside of China. The [[#Population|§ Population section]] of this article further discusses this dispute.}}
| region1          = China<br />(mainly in [[Xinjiang]])
| pop1             = 11,774,538 (2020 census)
| ref1             = <ref>{{cite web|title=Geographic Distribution and Population of Ethnic Minorities|url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2021/indexeh.htm|website=China Statistical Yearbook 2021|access-date=4 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pop-stat.mashke.org/china-ethnic-2020.htm|title=Ethnic composition of China 2020|website=pop-stat.mashke.org|access-date=8 July 2025}}</ref>
| region2          = [[Uyghurs in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]]
| pop2             = 305,648 (2025 est.)
| ref2             = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stat.gov.kz/api/iblock/element/178068/file/en/|title=Kazakhstan population by ethnic groups|access-date=18 June 2025}}</ref>
| region3          = [[Uyghurs in Pakistan|Pakistan]]
| pop3             = 1,000 (2021)
| ref3             = <ref>{{cite web|title=Чей Кашмир? Индусов,Пакистацев или уйгуров?|url=https://dzen.ru/a/Y7nr3SMGQETzz7ag|access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref>
| region4          = [[Uyghurs of Turkey|Turkey]]
| pop4             = 100,000
| ref4             = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://east-turkistan.net/about-the-uyghurs/|title=About The Uyghurs|date=4 March 2021|publisher=East Turkistan Government in Exile|access-date=11 October 2022|archive-date=2 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002101421/https://east-turkistan.net/about-the-uyghurs/}}</ref>
| region5          = [[Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan|Kyrgyzstan]]
| pop5             = 60,210 (2021)
| ref5             = <ref>{{cite news |title=Национальная самобытность: О жизни уйгуров в Кыргызстане |url=https://www.mk.kg/social/2021/04/14/nacionalnaya-samobytnost-o-zhizni-uygurom-v-kyrgyzstane.html |work=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]] |language=ru |date=14 April 2021}}</ref>
| region6          = Uzbekistan
| pop6             = 48,500 (2019)
| ref6             = <ref>{{cite web|title=Uyghur|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/uig|website=Ethnologue|access-date=23 May 2022}}</ref>
| region7          = [[Uyghur Americans|United States]]
| pop7             = 8,905 (per US Census Bureau 2015)<ref>{{cite web |title=Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over: 2009–2013 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html |website=United States Census Bureau |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> – 15,000 (per ETGE estimate 2021)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hawkins |first1=Samantha |title=Uighur Rally Puts Genocide in Focus Ahead of US-China Talks |url=https://www.courthousenews.com/uighur-rally-puts-genocide-in-focus-ahead-of-us-china-talks/ |access-date=25 March 2021 |agency=Courthouse News |date=18 March 2021}}</ref>
| ref7             = 
| region8          = Saudi Arabia
| pop8             = 8,730 (2018)
| ref8             = <ref>{{cite web |title =Uyghurs in Saudia Arabia|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/uig}}</ref>
| region9           = Iran
| pop9              = 6,900
| ref9              = <ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/15755|title=Uyghur people group in all countries &#124; Joshua Project|website=joshuaproject.net|access-date=8 July 2025}}</ref>
| region10          = Australia 
| pop10             = 4,000
| ref10             = <ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.sbs.com.au/news/uighur-abuse-australia-urged-to-impose-sanctions-on-china|title= Uighur abuse: Australia urged to impose sanctions on China|work= www.sbs.com.au|access-date= 11 September 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180911120528/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/uighur-abuse-australia-urged-to-impose-sanctions-on-china|archive-date= 11 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
| region11         = Russia
| pop11            = 3,696 (2010)
| ref11            = <ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab5.xls |title= Перепись населения России 2010 года |trans-title=Russian census 2010 |access-date= 3 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120201195659/http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/demo/per-itog/tab5.xls |archive-date= 1 February 2012 }}</ref>
| region12         = India
| pop12            = 2,000
| ref12            = <ref>{{cite web |last=Kumar |first=Kumar |date=18 December 2016 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/12/18/for-uighur-exiles-kashmir-is-heaven |url-status=live |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005130734/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/12/18/for-uighur-exiles-kashmir-is-heaven |archive-date=5 October 2020 |title=For Uighur exiles, Kashmir is heaven |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |language=en-IN }}</ref>
| region13         = Turkmenistan
| pop13            = 2,900
| ref13            = <ref name="auto3"/>
| region14         = Afghanistan
| pop14            = 2,000
| ref14            = <ref>{{cite news |last1=Gunter |first1=Joel |title=Afghanistan's Uyghurs fear the Taliban, and now China too |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58342790 |access-date=27 August 2021 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=27 August 2021}}</ref>
| region15         = Japan
| pop15            = 2,000 (2021)
| ref15            = <ref>{{cite web |title=ウイグル族 訪れぬ平安{{nbsp}}... 日本暮らしでも「中国の影」 |url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/world/20211106-OYT1T50026/ |website=読売新聞オンライン |access-date=14 July 2022 |language=ja |date=6 November 2021}}</ref>
| region16         = Sweden
| pop16            = 2,000 (2019)
| ref16            = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/2019/10/where-the-uighurs-are-free-to-be/|title=Where the Uighurs are free to be|first=Bertil|last=Lintner|date=31 October 2019|website=Asia Times|access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref>
| region17         = Canada
| pop17            = ~1,555 (2016)
| ref17            = <ref>{{cite web|url= http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Ethnic+origin&TABID=1|title= Census Profile, 2016 Census – Canada [Country] and Canada [Country]|first= Government of Canada, Statistics|last= Canada|website= www12.statcan.gc.ca|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180428023042/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Ethnic+origin&TABID=1|archive-date= 28 April 2018|date= 8 February 2017}}</ref>
| region18         = Germany
| pop18            = ~750 (2013)
| ref18            = <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shichor |first1=Yitzhak |title=Nuisance Value: Uyghur activism in Germany and Beijing–Berlin relations |journal=Journal of Contemporary China |date=July 2013 |volume=22 |issue=82 |pages=612–629 |doi=10.1080/10670564.2013.766383 |s2cid=145666712 }}</ref>
| region19         = Finland
| pop19            = 327 (2021)
| ref19            = <ref>{{cite web |title=Language according to age and sex by region, 1990-2021 |url=https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rl.px/ |website=stat.fi |access-date=29 January 2023}}</ref>
| region20         = Tajikistan
| pop20            = 300
| ref20            = <ref name="auto3"/>
| region21         = Mongolia
| pop21            = 258 (2000)
| ref21            = <ref name="Dynamic1983-2008">{{Cite web|url=http://www.statis.mn/portal/content_files/comppmedia/cxls0x450.xls|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722221549/http://www.statis.mn/portal/content_files/comppmedia/cxls0x450.xls|title=Khovd Aimak Statistical Office. 1983–2008 Dynamics Data Sheet|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>
| region22         = Taiwan
| pop22            = 200
| ref22            = <ref name="auto3"/>
| region23         = Ukraine
| pop23            = 197 (2001)
| ref23            = <ref>[http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/nationality_population/nationality_popul1/select_5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=100&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20%20%20%20&n_page=5 State statistics committee of Ukraine – National composition of population, 2001 census] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141008110958/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/results/nationality_population/nationality_popul1/select_5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=100&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20%20%20%20&n_page=5 |date= 8 October 2014 }} (Ukrainian)</ref>
| languages        = {{hlist|'''[[Uyghur language|Uyghur]]'''<br />[[Äynu language|Äynu]], [[Xinjiang Mandarin|Mandarin]], [[Russian language|Russian]]
 }}
| religions        = Predominantly [[Sunni Islam]]
| related_groups   = [[Uzbeks]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Central Asia and the Caucasus: Transnationalism and Diaspora|year=2004|page=31|author=Touraj Atabaki, Sanjyot Mehendale|quote=The Uighurs, too, are Turkic Muslims, linguistically and culturally more closely related to the Uzbeks than the Kazakhs.}}</ref> [[Ili Turks]], [[Äynu people|Äynus]]
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| ibox-order = ug, zh
| order = st
<!-- Uyghur -->
| uig = ئۇيغۇرلار
| uly = Uyghurlar
| uyy = Uyƣurlar
| sgs = Uyĝurlar
| usy = Уйғурлар
| uipa = {{IPA|ug|ujɣurˈlɑr|}}
<!-- Chinese -->
| s = {{linktext|维吾尔}}
| t = {{linktext|維吾爾}}
| p = Wéiwú'ěr
| w = {{tone superscript|Wei2-wu2-erh3}}
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|wei|2|.|wu|2|.|er|3}}
| tp = Wéi-wú-ěr
| bpmf = ㄨㄟˊ ㄨˊ ㄦˇ
| xej = وَيْوُعَرْ
| zh-dungan = Вэйвуэр
}}
{{Uyghur people}}
{{Contains special characters|Uyghur}}

The '''Uyghurs''',{{NoteTag|{{bulleted list|{{langx|ug|ئۇيغۇرلار}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғурлар}}, {{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghurlar}}, {{IPA|ug|ujɣurˈlɑr}}|{{lang-zh|s=维吾尔|t=維吾爾|p=Wéiwú'ěr}}, <small>IPA:</small> {{IPAc-cmn|wei|2|.|wu|2|.|er|3}}{{sfn|Hahn|2006|p=4}}{{sfn|Drompp|2005|p=7}}|For the English pronunciation, see [[#Etymology|Etymology]]}}.}} alternatively spelled '''Uighurs''',<ref name="Merriam-Webster Uighur"/><ref name="Collins Uighur">{{Cite Collins Dictionary|Uighur|access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Uighur|title= Uighur {{!}} History, Language, & Facts|website= Encyclopedia Britannica|language= en|access-date= 17 December 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181217154715/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Uighur|archive-date= 17 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> '''Uygurs''' or '''Uigurs''', are a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of [[Central Asia]] and [[East Asia]]. The Uyghurs are recognized as the [[titular nation]]ality of the [[Xinjiang]] Uyghur Autonomous Region in [[Northwest China]]. They are one of [[Ethnic minorities in China|China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities]].<ref name="Celtic">{{cite news|date=28 August 2006|title=The mystery of China's celtic mummies|work=[[The Independent]]|location=London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-meeting-of-civilisations-the-mystery-of-chinas-celtic-mummies-413638.html|access-date=28 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403234936/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/a-meeting-of-civilisations-the-mystery-of-chinas-celtic-mummies-413638.html|archive-date=3 April 2008}}</ref>

The Uyghurs have traditionally inhabited a series of [[Oasis|oases]] scattered across the [[Taklamakan Desert]] within the [[Tarim Basin]]. These oases historically functioned as independent states or came under the control of various [[civilization]]s, including [[History of China|Chinese]], [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]], [[Tibetan Empire|Tibetan]], and Turkic powers. The Uyghurs gradually started to become Islamized in the 10th century, and most Uyghurs identified as Muslims by the 16th century. Islam has since played an important role in Uyghur culture and identity.

An estimated 80% of Xinjiang's Uyghurs still live in the [[Tarim Basin]].{{sfn|Dillon|2004|p=24}} The rest of Xinjiang's Uyghurs mostly live in [[Yining]] (Ghulja), [[Karamay]], [[Tacheng]] (Chöchek) and [[Ürümqi]], the capital city of [[Xinjiang]], which is located in the historical region of [[Dzungaria]]. The largest community of Uyghurs living outside of Xinjiang are the [[Taoyuan County#Taoyuan Uyghurs|Taoyuan Uyghurs]] of north-central [[Hunan]]'s [[Taoyuan County]].<ref name="english.people.com.cn">{{cite news|url=http://english.people.com.cn/english/200012/28/eng20001228_59085.html|title=Ethnic Uygurs in Hunan Live in Harmony with Han Chinese|date=29 December 2000|newspaper=People's Daily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016232615/http://english.people.com.cn/english/200012/28/eng20001228_59085.html|archive-date=16 October 2007|access-date=15 March 2007}}</ref> Significant [[Diaspora|diasporic]] communities of Uyghurs exist in other Turkic countries such as [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Uzbekistan]] and Turkey.<ref>{{cite web
 |url= http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/ps053.pdf
 |title= Ethno-Diplomacy: The Uyghur Hitch in Sino-Turkish Relations
 |access-date= 28 August 2011
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110927103523/http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/ps053.pdf
 |archive-date= 27 September 2011
}}</ref> Smaller communities live in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia, Japan, Canada, Russia, Sweden, New Zealand, and the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Castets |first1=Rémi |title=The Uyghurs in Xinjiang – The Malaise Grows |journal=China Perspectives |date=1 October 2003 |volume=2003 |issue=5 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.648 |language=fr |issn=2070-3449|doi-access=free }} "The rest of the Diaspora is settled in Turkey (about 10,000 people) and, in smaller numbers, in Germany, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Canada, the US, India and Pakistan."</ref>

Since 2014,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brouwer|first=Joseph|date=30 September 2020|title=Xi Defends Xinjiang Policy as "Entirely Correct"|work=[[China Digital Times]]|url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2020/09/xi-defends-xinjiang-policy-as-entirely-correct/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=18 September 2020|title=Clues to scale of Xinjiang labour operation emerge as China defends camps|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/clues-to-scale-of-xinjiang-labour-operation-emerge-as-china-defends-camps}}</ref> the [[Government of China|Chinese government]] has been accused by various governments and organizations, such as [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/china-unrelenting-crimes-against-humanity-targeting-uyghurs | title=China: Unrelenting Crimes Against Humanity Targeting Uyghurs &#124; Human Rights Watch | date=31 August 2023 }}</ref> of subjecting Uyghurs living in Xinjiang to [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|widespread persecution]], including [[forced sterilization]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vanderklippe|first=Nathan|date=9 March 2021|title=Lawsuit against Xinjiang researcher marks new effort to silence critics of China's treatment of Uyghurs|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-lawsuit-against-xinjiang-researcher-marks-new-effort-to-silence/}}</ref><ref name="Falconer">{{Cite news|last=Falconer|first=Rebecca|date=9 March 2021|title=Report: "Clear evidence" China is committing genocide against Uyghurs|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|url=https://www.axios.com/report-clear-evidence-china-genocide-uyghur-muslims-3c50f075-89c8-47c2-9506-9433e7d5a51a.html|archive-date=9 March 2021|access-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210309143840/https://www.axios.com/report-clear-evidence-china-genocide-uyghur-muslims-3c50f075-89c8-47c2-9506-9433e7d5a51a.html}}</ref> and [[Forced labour|forced labor]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chase|first=Steven|date=24 January 2021|title=Canada urged to formally label China's Uyghur persecution as genocide|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-urged-to-formally-label-chinas-uyghur-persecution-as-genocide/}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Brouwer|first=Joseph|date=25 June 2021|title=China Uses Global Influence Campaign To Deny Forced Labor, Mass Incarceration in Xinjiang|work=[[China Digital Times]]|url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2021/06/china-uses-global-influence-campaign-to-deny-forced-labor-mass-incarceration-in-xinjiang/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cheng|first=Yangyang|date=10 December 2020|title=The edge of our existence|journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |volume=76 |issue=6 |pages=315–320 |doi=10.1080/00963402.2020.1846417 |bibcode=2020BuAtS..76f.315C |s2cid=228097031}}</ref> Scholars estimate that at least one million Uyghurs have been [[Arbitrary arrest and detention|arbitrarily detained]] in the [[Xinjiang internment camps]] since 2017;<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Raza|first=Zainab|date=24 October 2019|title=China's 'Political Re-Education of Uyghur Muslims'|journal=[[Asian Affairs]]|volume=50|issue=4|pages=488–501|doi=10.1080/03068374.2019.1672433|s2cid=210448190|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parton|first=Charles|date=11 February 2020|title=Foresight 2020: The Challenges Facing China|journal=The RUSI Journal|volume=165|issue=2|pages=10–24|doi=10.1080/03071847.2020.1723284|s2cid=213331666}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Ess |first1=Margaretha A. |last2=ter Laan |first2=Nina |last3=Meinema |first3=Erik |date=5 April 2021 |title=Beyond 'radical' versus 'moderate'? New perspectives on the politics of moderation in Muslim majority and Muslim minority settings |journal=Religion |publication-place=[[Utrecht University]] |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=161–168 |doi=10.1080/0048721X.2021.1865616 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Chinese government officials claim that these camps, created under CCP general secretary [[Xi Jinping]]'s [[Xi Jinping Administration|administration]], serve the goals of ensuring adherence to [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) ideology, preventing [[East Turkestan independence movement|separatism]], fighting [[Xinjiang conflict|terrorism]], and providing [[Vocational education|vocational training]] to Uyghurs.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McCormick|first=Andrew|date=16 June 2021|title=Uyghurs outside China are traumatized. Now they're starting to talk about it.|work=[[MIT Technology Review]]|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/06/16/1026357/uyghurs-china-minorities-trauma-telehealth-social-media/}}</ref> Various scholars, human rights organizations and governments consider abuses perpetrated against the Uyghurs to amount to [[crimes against humanity]] and [[genocide]].

==Etymology==
In the [[Uyghur language]], the [[ethnonym]] is written {{lang|ug|ئۇيغۇر}} in [[Uyghur Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]], Уйғур in [[Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet|Uyghur Cyrillic]] and ''Uyghur'' or ''Uygur'' (as the standard Chinese [[romanization]], [[National Standards of the People's Republic of China|GB]] 3304–1991) in [[Uyghur Latin alphabet|Latin]];<ref name=MairPrimer>{{cite web | title = A Little Primer of Xinjiang Proper Nouns | last=Mair | first=Victor| author-link=Victor H. Mair | work=[[Language Log]] | access-date=30 July 2009 | date=13 July 2009 | url = http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1576 | url-status=live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090718094537/http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1576 | archive-date=18 July 2009 }}</ref> they are all pronounced as {{IPA|ug|ʔʊjˈʁʊːr|}}.{{sfn|Fairbank|Chʻen |1968|p=364}}{{sfn|Özoğlu|2004|p=16}} In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], this is [[Transcription into Chinese characters|transcribed]] into [[Chinese characters|characters]] as {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|维吾尔}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|維吾爾}}}}, which is [[Romanization of Chinese|romanized]] in [[pinyin]] as ''Wéiwú'ěr''.

In English, the name is officially spelled ''Uyghur'' by the [[Xinjiang#Politics|Xinjiang government]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.meshrep.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=13450 | title = Recommendation for English transcription of the word 'ئۇيغۇر'/《维吾尔》 | author=The Terminology Normalization Committee for Ethnic Languages of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region | date=11 October 2006 | access-date=14 June 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719064522/http://www.meshrep.com/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=13450 | archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> but also appears as ''Uighur'',<ref name="oed" /> ''Uigur''<ref name=oed/> and ''Uygur'' (these reflect the various Cyrillic spellings Уиғур, Уигур and Уйгур). The name is usually pronounced in English as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|iː|.|ɡ|ʊər|,_|-|.|g|ər}} {{respell|WEE|goor|,_|-|gər}} (and thus may be preceded by the [[indefinite article]] "a"),<ref name="oed">{{citation |contribution=Uighur, ''n.'' and ''adj.'' |contribution-url = http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/208581 |title=Oxford English Dictionary |location=Oxford, England |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite EPD|18|Uyghur}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 July 2009 |title=How to say: Chinese names and ethnic groups |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/07/how_to_say_chinese_names_and_e.shtml |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=BBC |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Merriam-Webster Uighur">{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Uighur|access-date=29 April 2023}}</ref> although some Uyghurs advocate the use of a more native pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˌ|uː|.|i|.|ˈ|g|ʊər}} {{respell|OO|ee|GOOR}} instead (which, in contrast, calls for the indefinite article "an").{{sfn|Hahn|2006|p=4}}{{sfn|Drompp|2005|p=7}}<ref>{{cite LPD|3|Uighur}}</ref>

The term's original meaning is unclear. [[Old Turkic]] inscriptions record the word ''uyɣur''{{sfn|Russell-Smith|2005|p=33}} ({{langx|otk|𐰆𐰖𐰍𐰆𐰺|link=no}}); an example is found on the Sudzi inscription, "I am khan ata of [[Yaglakar clan|Yaglaqar]], came from the Uigur land." ({{langx|otk|Uyγur jerinte Yaγlaqar qan ata keltim|italic=yes|link=no}}).<ref>Sudzi inscription, [https://bitig.kz/?lang=e&mod=1&m=1&oid=33&word=JGLQR text] at ''Türik Bitig''</ref> It is transcribed into [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] annals as {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|回纥}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|回紇}}}} (Mandarin: ''Huíhé'', but probably *[ɣuɒiɣət] in [[Middle Chinese]]).{{sfn|Mackerras|1968|p=224}} It was used as the name of one of the Turkic polities formed in [[Göktürk civil war|the interim between the First and Second Göktürk Khaganates]] (AD{{nbsp}}630–684).{{sfn|Güzel|2002}} The ''[[Old History of the Five Dynasties]]'' records that in 788 or 809, the Chinese acceded to a Uyghur request and emended their transcription to {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|回鹘}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|回鶻}}}} (Mandarin: ''Huíhú'', but [ɣuɒiɣuət] in Middle Chinese).{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=155}}<ref>Jiu Wudaishi, "vol. 138: [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%88%8A%E4%BA%94%E4%BB%A3%E5%8F%B2/%E5%8D%B7138#%E5%9B%9E%E9%B6%BB Huihu]" quote: "回鶻，其先匈奴之種也。後魏時，號爲鐵勒，亦名回紇。唐元和四年，本國可汗遣使上言，改爲'''回鶻'''，義取'''{{linktext|迴}}'''旋搏擊，如'''{{linktext|鶻}}'''之迅捷也。" translation: "''Huihu'', their ancestors had been a kind of ''Xiongnu''. In [[Northern Wei|Later Wei]] time, they were also called ''[[Tiele people|Tiele]]'', and also named ''Huihe''. In the fourth year of [[Tang dynasty]]'s [[Emperor Xianzong of Tang#Early reign|Yuanhe era]] [809 CE], their country's [[Baoyi Qaghan|Qaghan]] sent envoys and requested [the name be] changed to ''Huihu'', whose meaning is taken from a strike-and-return action, like a swift and rapid falcon."</ref>

Modern [[Etymology|etymological]] explanations for the name ''Uyghur'' range from derivation from the verb "follow, accommodate oneself"<ref name=oed/> and adjective "non-rebellious" (i.e., from Turkic ''uy/uð-'') to the verb meaning "wake, rouse or stir" (i.e., from Turkic ''oðğur-''). None of these is thought to be satisfactory because the sound shift of /ð/ and /ḏ/ to /j/ does not appear to be in place by this time.{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=155}} The etymology therefore cannot be conclusively determined and its referent is also difficult to fix. The "Huihe" and "Huihu" seem to be a political rather than a [[Tribe|tribal]] designation<ref>Hakan Özoğlu, p. 16.</ref> or it may be one group among several others collectively known as the [[Toquz Oghuz]].{{sfn|Russell-Smith|2005|p= 32}} The name fell out of use in the 15th century, but was reintroduced in the early 20th century{{sfn|Fairbank|Chʻen |1968|p=364}}{{sfn|Özoğlu|2004|p=16}} by the Soviet [[Bolsheviks]] to replace the previous terms ''[[Turkic peoples|Turk]]'' and ''Turki''.<ref>{{citation |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |year=1987 |title = The Languages of China |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages =185–6 }}</ref>{{NoteTag|The term ''Turk'' was a generic label used by members of many ethnicities in Soviet Central Asia. Often the deciding factor for classifying individuals belonging to Turkic nationalities in the Soviet censuses was less what the people called themselves by nationality than what language they claimed as their native tongue. Thus, people who called themselves "Turk" but spoke Uzbek were classified in Soviet censuses as Uzbek by nationality.<ref>{{citation |first=Brian D. |last=Silver |contribution=The Ethnic and Language Dimensions in Russian and Soviet Censuses |editor=Ralph S. Clem |title = Research Guide to the Russian and Soviet Censuses |location=Ithaca |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1986 |pages = 70–97 }}</ref>|name=turki}} The name is currently used to refer to the settled Turkic urban dwellers and farmers of the [[Tarim Basin]] who follow traditional Central Asian [[Sedentism|sedentary]] practices, distinguishable from the nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia.

The earliest record of a Uyghur tribe appears in accounts from the [[Northern Wei]] (4th–6th century A.D.), wherein they were named {{lang|zh-hant|袁紇}} ''Yuanhe'' (< [[Middle Chinese|MC]] [[Zhengzhang Shangfang|ZS]] *''ɦʉɐn-ɦət'') and derived from a confederation named {{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|高车}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|高車}}}} (<small>lit.</small> "High Carts"), read as ''Gāochē'' in [[Mandarin Chinese]] but originally with the reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciation *[kɑutɕʰĭa], later known as the ''[[Tiele people|Tiele]]'' ({{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|铁勒}}}} / {{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|鐵勒}}}}, ''Tiělè'').<ref>Weishu [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%AD%8F%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7103#%E9%AB%98%E8%BB%8A "vol. 103 section Gāochē"] text: {{lang|zh-hant|'''高車'''，蓋古赤狄之餘種也，初號為狄歷，北方以為勑勒，諸夏以為'''高車、丁零。'''其語略與匈奴同而時有小異，或云其先匈奴之甥也。其種有狄氏、'''袁紇氏'''、斛律氏、解批氏、護骨氏、異奇斤氏。}} transl. "Gaoche, probably remnant stocks of the ancient Red [[Beidi|Di]]. Initially they had been called Dili, in the North they are considered Chile, the various [[Huaxia|Xia]] (i.e. [[Chinese people|Chinese]]) consider them '''Gaoche Dingling''' / '''Dingling with High-Carts'''. Their language and the Xiongnu's are similar though there are small differences. Or one may say they were sons-in-law / sororal nephews of their Xiongnu  predecessors. Their tribes are Di, '''Yuanhe''', Hulu, Jiepi, Hugu, Yiqijin."</ref><ref>Theobald, Ulrich. (2012) [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/uighurs.html "Huihe 回紇, Huihu 回鶻, Weiwur 維吾爾, Uyghurs"] ''ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref>{{sfn|Mair|2006|pp=137–8}} ''Gāochē'' in turn has been connected to the [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] ''Qangqil'' ({{lang|ug|قاڭقىل}} or Қаңқил).<ref>Rong, Xinjiang. (2018) "Sogdian Merchants and Sogdian Culture on the Silk Road" in ''Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity: Rome, China, Iran, and the Steppe, Ca. 250–750'' ed. Di Cosmo & Maas. p. 92 of 84–95</ref>

==Identity==
[[File:KashgarNaan.jpg|thumb|A Uyghur ''girde'' [[naan]] baker]]
[[File:Uyghur blacksmiths - Yengisar Flickr.webm|thumb|Uyghur blacksmiths at work. [[Yengisar County|Yengisar]], [[Xinjiang]], China. Yengisar is famous for the quality of its knives.]]
[[File:Uyghur tambur.jpg|thumb|Uyghur man in traditional clothing, playing a tambur, a traditional Uyghur instrument]]

Throughout its history, the term ''Uyghur'' has had an increasingly expansive definition. Initially signifying only a small coalition of [[Tiele people|Tiele]] tribes in northern China, Mongolia and the [[Altai Mountains]], it later denoted citizenship in the [[Uyghur Khaganate]]. Finally, it was expanded into an ethnicity whose ancestry originates with the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate in the year 842, causing Uyghur migration from [[Mongolia]] into the Tarim Basin. The Uyghurs who moved to the Tarim Basin mixed with the local [[Tocharians]], and converted to the Tocharian religion, and adopted their culture of oasis agriculture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hong |first1=Sun-Kee |last2=Wu |first2=Jianguo |last3=Kim |first3=Jae-Eun |last4=Nakagoshi |first4=Nobukazu |title=Landscape Ecology in Asian Cultures |date=25 December 2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-4-431-87799-8 |page=284 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OenWCigfFBgC&pg=PA284 |language=en}} p.284: "The Uyghurs mixed with the Tocharian people and adopted their religion and their culture of oasis agriculture (Scharlipp 1992; Soucek 2000)."</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Li |first1=Hui |last2=Cho |first2=Kelly |last3=Kidd |first3=Judith R. |last4=Kidd |first4=Kenneth K.|title=Genetic Landscape of Eurasia and "Admixture" in Uyghurs|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=December 2009 |volume=85 |issue=6 |pages=934–937 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.024 |pmid=20004770 |pmc=2790568 |quote=Historical records indicate that the present Uyghurs were formed by admixture between Tocharians from the west and Orkhon Uyghurs (Wugusi-Huihu, according to present Chinese pronunciation) from the east in the 8th century CE}}</ref> The fluid definition of ''Uyghur'' and the diverse ancestry of modern Uyghurs create confusion as to what constitutes true Uyghur [[ethnography]] and [[ethnogenesis]]. Contemporary scholars consider modern Uyghurs to be the descendants of a number of peoples, including the ancient Uyghurs of Mongolia migrating into the Tarim Basin after the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate, Iranic [[Saka]] tribes and other [[Indo-European migrations|Indo-European peoples]] inhabiting the Tarim Basin before the arrival of the Turkic Uyghurs.<ref name="xinjiang">{{cite book |author1=James A. Millward |author2=Peter C. Perdue |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |chapter=Chapter 2: Political and Cultural History of the Xinjiang Region through the Late Nineteenth Century |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |editor=S. Frederick Starr |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |pages=40–41 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA40 |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA40&dq |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Uyghur activists identify with the [[Tarim mummies]], the remains of an ancient population that inhabited the region, but genetic research on the mummies and their possible links to modern Uyghurs remains contentious, both for Chinese government officials concerned about ethnic separatism and for Uyghur activists who fear the findings could affect their indigenous claims.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html?_r=1 | work=The New York Times | first=Edward | last=Wong | title=The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn't Care to Listen To | date=19 November 2008 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121060108/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html?_r=1 | archive-date=21 November 2016 }}</ref>

A genomic study published in 2021 found that these early mummies had high levels of [[Ancient North Eurasian]] ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from [[Ancient Northeast Asians]] (ANA, about 28%), but no detectable [[Western Steppe Herder|Western Steppe-related ancestry]].{{sfn|Zhang|2021|loc="Using qpAdm, we modeled the Tarim Basin individuals as a mixture of two ancient autochthonous Asian genetic groups: the ANE, represented by an Upper Palaeolithic individual from the Afontova Gora site in the upper Yenisei River region of Siberia (AG3) (about 72%), and ancient Northeast Asians, represented by Baikal_EBA (about 28%) (Supplementary Data 1E and Fig. 3a). Tarim_EMBA2 from Beifang can also be modeled as a mixture of Tarim_EMBA1 (about 89%) and Baikal_EBA (about 11%)."}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nägele |first1=Kathrin |last2=Rivollat |first2=Maite |last3=Yu |first3=He |last4=Wang |first4=Ke |year=2022 |title=Ancient genomic research – From broad strokes to nuanced reconstructions of the past |journal=Journal of Anthropological Sciences |volume=100 |issue=100 |pages=193–230 |doi=10.4436/jass.10017 |pmid=36576953 |quote=Combining genomic and proteomic evidence, researchers revealed that these earliest residents in the Tarim Basin carried genetic ancestry inherited from local Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, carried no steppe-related  ancestry, but consumed milk products, indicating communications of persistence practices independent from genetic exchange.}}</ref> They formed a genetically isolated local population that "adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert."{{sfn|Zhang|2021}} These mummified individuals were long suspected to have been "[[Proto-Tocharian]]-speaking pastoralists", ancestors of the [[Tocharians]], but the authors of this study found no genetic connection with [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]-speaking migrants, particularly the [[Afanasievo]] or [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|BMAC]] cultures.{{sfn|Zhang|2021|loc="Our results do not support previous hypotheses for the origin of the Tarim mummies, who were argued to be Proto-Tocharian-speaking pastoralists descended from the Afanasievo, or to have originated among the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex or Inner Asian Mountain Corridor cultures. Instead, although Tocharian may have been plausibly introduced to the Dzungarian Basin by Afanasievo migrants during the Early Bronze Age, we find that the earliest Tarim Basin cultures appear to have arisen from a genetically isolated local population that adopted neighboring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert."}} Zhang et al. (2025) investigated a Late Bronze Age site in the far west of the Tarim Basin, dated 1600 to 1400 BC. Its inhabitants overwhelmingly descended from the [[Sintashta culture|Sintashta]] and [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]] population, with additional ancestry from [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|BMAC]] (10%) and Tarim_EMBA (12%). Nearly all subjects belonged to [[Haplogroup R-M17|Y-DNA haplogroup R-M17.]]<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Fan |last2=Gao |first2=Shizhu |last3=Zhao |first3=Xue |last4=Wu |first4=Yong |last5=Zhang |first5=Jie |last6=Li |first6=Jian |last7=Ning |first7=Chao |last8=Yan |first8=Shi |last9=Wei |first9=Dong |last10=Cui |first10=Yinqiu |date=4 August 2025 |title=Bronze and Iron Age genomes reveal the integration of diverse ancestries in the Tarim Basin |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00815-2 |journal=Current Biology |language=English |volume=35 |issue=15 |pages=3759–3766.e4 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2025.06.054 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=40680736}}</ref>

===Origin of modern nomenclature===
{{blockquote|The Uighurs are the people whom old Russian travelers called "[[Sart]]" (a name they used for sedentary, Turkish-speaking Central Asians in general), while Western travelers called them Turki, in recognition of their language. The Chinese used to call them "Ch'an-t'ou" ('Turbaned Heads') but this term has been dropped, being considered derogatory, and the Chinese, using their own pronunciation, now called them Weiwuerh. As a matter of fact there was for centuries no 'national' name for them; people identified themselves with the oasis they came from, such as Kashgar or Turfan.|Owen Lattimore, "Return to China's Northern Frontier." ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 139, No. 2, June 1973<ref>Lattimore (1973), p. 237.</ref>}}

The term "Uyghur" was not used to refer to a specific existing ethnicity in the 19th century: it referred to an 'ancient people'. A late-19th-century encyclopedia entitled ''The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia'' said "the Uigur are the most ancient of Turkish tribes and formerly inhabited a part of Chinese Tartary (Xinjiang), now occupied by a mixed population of Turk, Mongol and [[Kalmuck]]".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/cyclopdiaindiaa02balfgoog#page/n922/mode/2up|title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures |author=Edward Balfour|author-link=Edward Balfour|year=1885|publisher=[[B. Quaritch]] |edition=3rd |location=London |page=952 |access-date=28 June 2010}} (Original from Harvard University)</ref> Before 1921/1934,{{Clarify|reason=confusing dates for readers new to subject|date=August 2020}} Western writers called the Turkic-speaking Muslims of the oases "Turki" and the Turkic Muslims who had migrated from the Tarim Basin to [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture|Ili]], [[Ürümqi]] and [[Dzungaria]] in the northern portion of Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty were known as "[[Taranchi]]", meaning "farmer". The Russians and other foreigners referred to them as "Sart",<ref name="Benson1998" /> "Turk" or "Turki".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA50 |title=Community matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: towards a historical anthropology of the Uyghur |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |edition=Illustrated |page=50 |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>{{NoteTag|name=turki}} In the early 20th century they identified themselves by different names to different peoples and in response to different inquiries: they called themselves Sarts in front of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz while they called themselves "Chantou" if asked about their identity after first identifying as a Muslim.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=93–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109075916/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="brophy"/> The term "Chantou" ({{lang-zh|t=纏頭|p=Chántóu|labels=no}}, meaning "Turban Head") was used to refer to the Turkic Muslims of [[Altishahr]] (now [[Southern Xinjiang]]),<ref>{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=83–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109092431/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=135–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109081135/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> including by Hui (Tungan) people.<ref name="Forbes1986">{{cite book|author=Andrew D. W. Forbes|title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA307|date=9 October 1986|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-25514-1|pages=307–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822112718/https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA307|archive-date=22 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> These groups of peoples often identify themselves by their originating oasis instead of an ethnicity;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMU8Ue0HECcC|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author=Justin Jon Rudelson|year=1997|publisher=Columbia University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=978-0-231-10787-7|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> for example those from [[Kashgar]] may refer to themselves as Kashgarliq or [[Kashgari]], while those from [[Hotan]] identity themselves as "Hotani".<ref name="brophy">{{cite journal|last=Brophy|first =David|date= 2005 |title=Taranchis, Kashgaris, and the 'uyghur Question' in Soviet Central Asia|journal= Inner Asia |volume=7 |issue=2 |publisher=BRILL |page=170 |jstor=23615693|doi =10.1163/146481705793646892}}</ref><ref name="kim">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtduqAtBzegC&pg=PA68|title=Holy war in China: the Muslim rebellion and state in Chinese Central Asia, 1864–1877|author=Ho-dong Kim|year=2004|publisher=Stanford University Press|edition=illustrated|page=68|isbn=978-0-8047-4884-1|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615185520/http://books.google.com/books?id=AtduqAtBzegC&pg=PA68&dq|archive-date=15 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Other Central Asians once called all the inhabitants of Xinjiang's Southern oases Kashgari,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brophy|first =David|date= 2005 |title=Taranchis, Kashgaris, and the 'uyghur Question' in Soviet Central Asia|journal= Inner Asia |volume=7 |issue=2 |publisher=BRILL |page= 166 |jstor= 23615693|doi =10.1163/146481705793646892}}</ref> a term still used in some regions of Pakistan.<ref name="tribune">{{cite news |last=Mir |first=Shabbir |date=21 May 2015 |title=Displaced dreams: Uighur families have no place to call home in G-B |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/889640/displaced-dreams-uighur-families-have-no-place-to-call-home-in-g-b/ |newspaper=The Express Tribune |location=GILGIT |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522000502/http://tribune.com.pk/story/889640/displaced-dreams-uighur-families-have-no-place-to-call-home-in-g-b/ |archive-date=22 May 2015 }}</ref> The Turkic people also used "Musulman", which means "Muslim", to describe themselves.<ref name="kim" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7OtwAAAAMAAJ |title=war in China: the Muslim rebellion and state in Chinese Central Asia, 1864–1877|author=Ho-dong Kim|year=2004|publisher=Stanford University Press|edition=illustrated |page=3|isbn=978-0-8047-4884-1|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA93 93]}}

[[File:Pair of Uyghur donors from the Bezeklik Caves.jpg|thumb|Mural fragment depicting two Uyghur donors, from the [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves]]. Kept in the [[Museum of Asian Art]] in [[Berlin]].]]

Rian Thum explored the concepts of identity among the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs in [[Altishahr]] (the native Uyghur name for Eastern Turkestan or Southern Xinjiang) before the adoption of the name "Uyghur" in the 1930s, referring to them by the name "Altishahri" in his article ''Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism''. Thum indicated that Altishahri Turkis did have a sense that they were a distinctive group separate from the Turkic Andijanis to their west, the nomadic Turkic Kirghiz, the nomadic Mongol Qalmaq and the Han Chinese [[Khitan people|Khitay]] before they became known as Uyghurs. There was no single name used for their identity; various native names Altishahris used for identify were Altishahrlik (Altishahr person), yerlik (local), Turki and Musulmān (Muslim); the term Musulmān in this situation did not signify religious connotations, because the Altishahris exclude other Muslim peoples like the Kirghiz while identifying themselves as Musulmān.<ref name=Thum2012/><ref name="Thum2014">{{cite book|author=Rian Thum|title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149|date=13 October 2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-96702-1|pages=149–|access-date=21 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109085622/https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Dr. Laura J Newby says the sedentary Altishahri Turkic people considered themselves separate from other Turkic Muslims since at least the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Empire And the Khanate: A Political History of Qing Relations With Khoqand c.1760–1860 |first=L. J. |last=Newby |volume=16 |series=Brill's Inner Asian Library |edition=illustrated |year=2005 |publisher=BRILL |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTmO416hNQ8C&pg=PA2 |page=2 |isbn=978-90-04-14550-4 |access-date=10 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTmO416hNQ8C&pg=PA2 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The name "Uyghur" reappeared after the [[Soviet Union]] took the 9th-century [[ethnonym]] from the [[Uyghur Khaganate]], then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang.<ref name="Beller-Hann" /> It followed western European [[Orientalism|orientalists]] like [[Julius Klaproth]] in the 19th century who revived the name and spread the use of the term to local Turkic intellectuals<ref>{{cite journal|pages=169–170 |last=Brophy|first= David|year= 2005|title= Taranchis, Kashgaris, and the 'uyghur Question' in Soviet Central Asia (Inner Asia 7 (2))|journal=Inner Asia|volume=7|issue=2|publisher= BRILL: 163–84.|jstor=23615693|doi=10.1163/146481705793646892}}</ref> and a 19th-century proposal from Russian historians that modern-day Uyghurs were descended from the [[Kingdom of Qocho]] and [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]] formed after the dissolution of the Uyghur Khaganate.<ref name="Millward">{{harvnb |Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA208 208]}}</ref> Historians generally agree that the adoption of the term "Uyghur" is based on a decision from a 1921 conference in [[Tashkent]], attended by Turkic Muslims from the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang).<ref name="Beller-Hann">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA32 |title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|page=32|access-date=30 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf|title=The Xinjiang conflict: Uyghur identity, language policy, and political discourse|author1=Arienne M. Dwyer|author2=East-West Center Washington|year=2005|publisher=East-West Center Washington|edition=illustrated|page=75, note 26|isbn=978-1-932728-28-6|access-date=28 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524134646/http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf|archive-date=24 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibBzE0GpXfkC&pg=PA206 |title=The modern Uzbeks: from the fourteenth century to the present: a cultural history|author=Edward Allworth|year=1990|publisher=Hoover Press|edition=illustrated |page=206|isbn=978-0-8179-8732-9|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Akiner2013">{{cite book|author=Akiner|title=Cultural Change & Continuity In|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udjWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA72|date=28 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-15034-0|pages=72–|access-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109092753/https://books.google.com/books?id=udjWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA72|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> There, "Uyghur" was chosen by them as the name of their ethnicity, although they themselves note that they were not to be confused with the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] of medieval history.<ref name="Benson1998">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNct0NqCP8gC&pg=PA20|title=The Ili Rebellion: the Moslem challenge to Chinese authority in Xinjiang, 1944–1949 |author=Linda Benson |year=1990|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|page=30|isbn=978-0-87332-509-7|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Linda Benson|title=The Ili Rebellion: The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA30|year=1990|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-87332-509-7|pages=30–|access-date=13 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA30|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Linda Benson, the Soviets and their client [[Sheng Shicai]] intended to foster a Uyghur nationality to divide the Muslim population of Xinjiang, whereas the various Turkic Muslim peoples preferred to identify themselves as "Turki", "East Turkestani" or "Muslim".<ref name="Benson1998"/>

On the other hand, the ruling regime of China at that time, the [[Kuomintang]], grouped all Muslims, including the Turkic-speaking people of Xinjiang, into the "[[Five Races Under One Union|Hui nationality]]".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhkweJozrS0C&pg=PA171 |title=A nation-state by construction: dynamics of modern Chinese nationalism|author=Suisheng Zhao |year=2004|publisher=Stanford University Press|edition=illustrated|page=171|isbn=978-0-8047-5001-1|access-date=12 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YujNjFgTuGMC&pg=PA416 |title=The Other Taiwan: 1945 to the present|author=Murray A. Rubinstein|year=1994|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|page=416|isbn=978-1-56324-193-2 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> The [[Qing dynasty]] and the Kuomintang generally referred to the sedentary oasis-dwelling Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang as "turban-headed Hui" to differentiate them from other predominantly Muslim ethnicities in China.<ref name="Benson1998" /><ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CKc5AQAAIAAJ&q=salar+hui |title=Asia: journal of the American Asiatic Association, Volume 40 |author=American Asiatic Association|year=1940|publisher=Asia Pub. Co.|page=660|access-date=8 May 2011}}</ref>{{NoteTag|This contrasts to the [[Hui people]], called Huihui or "Hui" (Muslim) by the Chinese and the [[Salar people]], called "Sala Hui" (Salar Muslims) by the Chinese. Use of the term "Chan Tou Hui" was considered a demeaning slur.<ref>{{citation |last=Garnaut |first=Anthony |date=2008 |contribution=From Yunnan to Xinjiang:Governor Yang Zengxin and his Dungan Generals |contribution-url = http://www.ouigour.fr/recherches_et_analyses/Garnautpage_93.pdf |title=Pacific and Asian History |publisher=Australian National University |page=95 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309054654/http://www.ouigour.fr/recherches_et_analyses/Garnautpage_93.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>}} In the 1930s, foreigners travelers in Xinjiang such as [[George W. Hunter (missionary)|George W. Hunter]], [[Peter Fleming (writer)|Peter Fleming]], [[Ella Maillart]] and [[Sven Hedin]], referred to the Turkic Muslims of the region as "Turki" in their books. Use of the term Uyghur was unknown in Xinjiang until 1934. The area governor, [[Sheng Shicai]], came to power, adopting the Soviet ethnographic classification instead of the Kuomintang's and became the first to promulgate the official use of the term "Uyghur" to describe the Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang.<ref name="Benson1998" /><ref name="Millward" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqkAgpmI91UC&q=uyghur+soviet+1921+tashkent&pg=PA92|title=China and antiterrorism|author=Simon Shen|year=2007|publisher=Nova Publishers|isbn=978-1-60021-344-1|page=92 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> "Uyghur" replaced "rag-head".<ref>{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=154–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109080341/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154&lpg=PA154|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sheng Shicai's introduction of the "Uighur" name for the Turkic people of Xinjiang was criticized and rejected by Turki intellectuals such as Pan-Turkist [[Jadid]]s and [[East Turkestan independence movement|East Turkestan independence]] activists [[Muhammad Amin Bughra]] (Mehmet Emin) and [[Masud Sabri]]. They demanded the names "Türk" or "Türki" be used instead as the ethnonyms for their people. Masud Sabri viewed the [[Hui people]] as Muslim [[Han Chinese]] and separate from his people,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qz3vdkxBt4AC&pg=PA181|title=Exploring Nationalisms of China: Themes and Conflicts|first1=C. X. George|last1=Wei|first2=Xiaoyuan|last2=Liu|date=29 June 2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|via=Google Books|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=qz3vdkxBt4AC&pg=PA181|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live|isbn=978-0-313-31512-1}}</ref> while Bughrain criticized Sheng for his designation of Turkic Muslims into different ethnicities which could sow disunion among Turkic Muslims.{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA209 209]}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Linda Benson|title=The Ili Rebellion: The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA31|year=1990|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-87332-509-7|pages=31–|access-date=13 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA31|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> After the Communist victory, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] under Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] continued the Soviet classification, using the term "Uyghur" to describe the modern ethnicity.<ref name="Benson1998" />

In current usage, ''Uyghur'' refers to settled Turkic-speaking urban dwellers and farmers of the [[Tarim Basin]] and [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture|Ili]] who follow traditional Central Asian sedentary practices, as distinguished from nomadic Turkic populations in Central Asia. However, Chinese government agents{{Clarify|reason=what does "agents" mean here?|date=August 2020}} designate as "Uyghur" certain peoples with significantly divergent histories and ancestries from the main group. These include the Lopliks of [[Ruoqiang County]] and the [[Dolan people]], thought to be closer to the [[Oirats|Oirat Mongols]] and the [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]].<ref name="Dis">{{Cite book|title=Dislocating China: Reflections on Muslims, Minorities, and Other Subaltern Subjects|first=Dru|last=Gladney|publisher=C. Hurst|year=2004|page=195}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Singing the Village: Music, Memory, and Ritual Among the Sibe of Xinjiang|first=Rachel|last=Harris|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|pages=53, 216}}</ref> The use of the term Uyghur led to anachronisms when describing the history of the people.<ref name="ReedRaschke2010">{{cite book|author1=J. Todd Reed|author2=Diana Raschke|title=The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5I2b_hrJO8sC&q=anachoristic+uyghur&pg=PA7|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-36540-9|pages=7–}}</ref> In one of his books, the term Uyghur was deliberately not used by James Millward.<ref name="Levey2006">{{cite book|author=Benjamin S. Levey|title=Education in Xinjiang, 1884-1928|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzEeAQAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Indiana University|page=12|access-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109032158/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzEeAQAAMAAJ|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Another ethnicity, the [[Yugur|Western Yugur]] of [[Gansu]], identify themselves as the "Yellow Uyghur" (''Sarïq Uyghur'').<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA178 |title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author1=Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson |author2=Justin Jon Rudelson |year=1997|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-10786-0|page=178|access-date=31 October 2010}}</ref> Some scholars say the Yugurs' culture, language and religion are closer to the original culture of the original Uyghur Karakorum state than is the culture of the modern Uyghur people of Xinjiang.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icZJJN0wYPcC&pg=PA275 |author=Dru C. Gladney|title=China inside out: contemporary Chinese nationalism and transnationalism|editor1=Pál Nyíri |editor2=Joana Breidenbach |year=2005|publisher=Central European University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=978-963-7326-14-1|page=275|access-date=31 October 2010}}</ref> Linguist and ethnographer [[S. Robert Ramsey]] argues for inclusion of both the Eastern and Western Yugur and the [[Salar people|Salar]] as sub-groups of the Uyghur based on similar historical roots for the Yugur and on perceived linguistic similarities for the Salar.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ramsey |first= S. Robert |title= The Languages of China |publisher= Princeton University Press |year= 1987 |location= Princeton |pages= 185–6}}</ref>

"''Turkistani''{{-"}} is used as an alternate ethnonym by some Uyghurs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Joscelyn |first1=Thomas |date=21 April 2009 |title=The Uighurs, in their words |newspaper=[[FDD's Long War Journal]] |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/the_uighurs_in_their.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022232510/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/04/the_uighurs_in_their.php |archive-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> For example, the Uyghur diaspora in Arabia, adopted the identity "''Turkistani''". Some Uyghurs in Saudi Arabia adopted the Arabic [[Nisba (onomastics)#Nisba to a place|nisba]] of their home city, such as "''Al-[[Kashgari]]''" from [[Kashgar]]. Saudi-born Uyghur [[Hamza Kashgari]]'s family originated from Kashgar.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Balci |first=Bayram |date=1 January 2007 |title=Central Asian refugees in Saudi Arabia: religious evolution and contributing to the reislamization of their motherland |journal=Refugee Survey Quarterly |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=12–21 |doi=10.1093/rsq/hdi0223}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Bayram |last=Balci |url=https://cess.memberclicks.net/assets/cesr2/CESR3/article%203%20v3n1.pdf |access-date=30 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045534/https://cess.memberclicks.net/assets/cesr2/CESR3/article%203%20v3n1.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=The Role of the Pilgrimage in Relations between Uzbekistan and the Uzbek Community of Saudi Arabia |journal=Central Eurasian Studies Review |volume=3 |issue=1 |date=Winter 2004 |page=18}}</ref>

==Population==
[[File:Uyghur-hunter-Kashgar.jpg|thumb|Uyghur hunter in Kashgar]]
The Uyghur population within China generally remains centered in Xinjiang region with some smaller subpopulations elsewhere in the country, such as in [[Taoyuan County]] where an estimated 5,000–10,000 live.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ingvar Svanberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuEyAAAAIAAJ&q=Uighurs+are+the+largest+Turkic-speaking+Muslim+people+of+China.+Most+of+them+live+within+the+Xinjiang+Uighur+Autonomous+Region.+An+isolated+group+of+Uighurs+lives,+however,+in+Taoyuan+and+Changde+xian+of+the+Hunan+province. |title=The Altaic-speakers of China: numbers and distribution |publisher=Centre for Mult[i]ethnic Research, Uppsala University, Faculty of Arts |year=1988 |isbn=91-86624-20-2 |page=7 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="zhiyu">{{cite book |author=Chih-yu Shih, Zhiyu Shi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ePxMW066j8C&q=jian+uyghur+hunan&pg=PA133 |title=Negotiating ethnicity in China: citizenship as a response to the state |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-415-28372-8 |page=137 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

The size of the Uyghur population, particularly in China, has been the subject of dispute. Chinese authorities place the Uyghur population within the Xinjiang region to be just over 12 million, comprising approximately half of the total regional population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539451.html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121184615/http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539451.html/|archive-date=21 November 2018|script-title=zh:3–8 主要年份分民族人口数  |trans-title=3–8 Population by ethnic group in major years}}</ref> As early as 2003, however, some Uyghur groups wrote that their population was being vastly undercounted by Chinese authorities, claiming that their population actually exceeded 20 million while presenting "little evidence to support those figures".<ref name="gladney">{{cite web |last1=Gladney |first1=Dru C. |title=China's Minorities: the Case of Xinjiang and the Uyghur People |url=https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/SUBCOM/other/E-CN_4-SUB_2-AC_5-2003-WG_16.pdf |website=Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Working Group on Minorities: Ninth session |publisher=United Nations Commission on Human Rights |access-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705210900/https://ap.ohchr.org/documents/E/SUBCOM/other/E-CN_4-SUB_2-AC_5-2003-WG_16.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2020 |page=9 |date=5 May 2003 |quote="Some Uyghur groups claim that there are upwards of 20 million Uyghur in China, and nearly 50 million Muslims, with little evidence to support those figures."}}</ref> Population disputes have continued into the present, with some activists and groups such as the [[World Uyghur Congress]] and [[Uyghur American Association]] claiming that the Uyghur population ranges between 20 and 30 million.<ref>{{cite web |last1=van der Made |first1=Jan |date=7 December 2016 |title=Uighurs slam Chinese 'occupation' at Paris congress |url=http://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20160712-5th-world-uighur-congress-china-occupation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229110247/http://www.rfi.fr/en/asia-pacific/20160712-5th-world-uighur-congress-china-occupation |archive-date=29 December 2019 |access-date=5 July 2020 |website=[[Radio France Internationale]] |quote="Currently some 20 million Uighurs live in the western Chinese Xinjiang region."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About Uyghurs |url=https://uyghuramerican.org/about-uyghurs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619044634/https://uyghuramerican.org/about-uyghurs |archive-date=19 June 2020 |access-date=5 July 2020 |website=[[Uyghur American Association]] |quote="According to the latest Chinese census, there are about 12 million Uyghurs.  However, Uyghur sources indicate that Uyghur population in East Turkistan is about 20 – 30 million."}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mijit |first1=Fatima |last2=Ablimit |first2=Tangnur |last3=Abduxkur |first3=Guzalnur |last4=Abliz |first4=Guzalnur |date=November 2015 |title=Distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes detected by routine pap smear in uyghur-muslim women from Karasay Township Hotan (Xinjiang, China) |journal=[[Journal of Medical Virology]] |volume=87 |issue=11 |pages=1960–1965 |doi=10.1002/jmv.24240 |pmc=5033003 |pmid=26081269 |quote="The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, located in western China, has a population of 20 million Uyghur (the main ethnic group)." }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=EAST TURKISTAN |url=https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/east-turkestan-2/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20composition%20of%20the,of%20Uyghurs%20around%2020%20million. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519013346/https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/east-turkestan-2/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20composition%20of%20the,of%20Uyghurs%20around%2020%20million. |archive-date=19 May 2020 |access-date=5 July 2020 |website=[[World Uyghur Congress]] | date=29 September 2016 |quote=Uyghur sources put the real population of Uyghurs around 20 million."}}</ref> Some have even claimed that the real number of Uyghurs is actually 35 million.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zuberi |first1=Hena |title=Uyghurs in China: We Buried the Quran in Our Backyards |url=https://muslimmatters.org/2015/06/18/uyghurs-china-buried-quran-backyards/ |website=Muslim Matters |access-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518215227/https://muslimmatters.org/2015/06/18/uyghurs-china-buried-quran-backyards/ |archive-date=18 May 2020 |date=18 June 2015 |quote=""There are 35 million of us," he says, some in exile, others in the land of what is known to the world as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. This number is hotly contested and rejected by the Chinese government's official census."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hudayar |first1=Salim |title=Contemporary Colonialism: the Uyghurs Versus China |url=https://intercontinentalcry.org/contemporary-colonialism-uyghurs-versus-china/ |website=Intercontinental Cry |access-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530152350/https://intercontinentalcry.org/contemporary-colonialism-uyghurs-versus-china/ |archive-date=30 May 2020 |date=13 February 2017 |quote='According to some Uyghur activists, the Uyghurs number around 35 million, however official Chinese statistics put them around 12 million, a far cry from what the indigenous Uyghurs claim.' 'Analyzing historical data from Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and Uyghur sources, Turkish historian Professor Dr. Mehmet Saray expressed in his book ''Doğu Türkistan Türkleri Tarihi'' [''The History of Eastern Turkistan's Turks''] that the Uyghurs numbered roughly 24 million within East Turkistan as of 2010.' |url-status=live }}</ref> Scholars, however, have generally rejected these claims, with Professor [[Dru C. Gladney]] writing in the 2004 book ''[[Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland]]'' that there is "scant evidence" to support Uyghur claims that their population within China exceeds 20 million.<ref name="SFStarr">{{cite book |last1=Gladney |first1=Dru C. |editor1-last=Starr |editor1-first=S. Frederick |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim borderland |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 |page=113 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&q=%22uyghur%22+%22population%22+%2220+million%22&pg=PA113 |access-date=5 July 2020 |chapter=The Chinese Program of Development and Control, 1978-2001 |quote=Some Uyghur groups go so far as to claim, albeit with scant evidence, that China's population today includes upwards of 20 million Uyghurs...}}</ref>

===Population in Xinjiang===
{{Sticky table start}}
{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under sticky-header-multi sticky-table-row1 sticky-table-col1"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="width:65px"| Area || colspan="2" | [[1953 Chinese census|1953 Census]] || colspan="2" | [[1964 Chinese census|1964 Census]] || colspan="2" | [[1982 Chinese census|1982 Census]] || colspan="2" | [[1990 Chinese census|1990 Census]] || colspan="2" | [[2000 Chinese census|2000 Census]] || colspan="2" | [[2010 Chinese census|2010 Census]] || rowspan="2" | <abbr title="Reference">Ref.</abbr>
|-
! Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr> || Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr> || Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr> || Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr> || Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr> || Total || <abbr title="Percentage in the area">PCT.</abbr>
|-
| [[Ürümqi]] || 28,786 || 19.11% || 56,345 || 9.99% || 121,561 || 10.97% ||  ||  || 266,342 || 12.79% || 387,878 || 12.46% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=乌鲁木齐市党史地方志编纂委员会 [Party's History and Annals Codification Committee of Ürümqi City] |title=乌鲁木齐市志 第一卷 |trans-title=Annals of Ürümqi City, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=1994 |isbn=7-228-03205-5 |pages=231–232 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Karamay]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable ||  ||  || 23,730 || 14.54% || 30,895 || 15.09% || 37,245 || 13.78% || 44,866 || 11.47% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=克拉玛依市地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Karamay] |title=克拉玛依市志 |trans-title=Karamay Annals <!--official trans title on the book cover--> |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=1998 |isbn=7-228-04592-0 |page=87 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Turpan]] || 139,391 || 89.93% || 170,512 || 75.61% || 294,039 || 71.14% || 351,523 || 74.13% || 385,546 || 70.01% || 429,527 || 68.96% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=吐鲁番地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Turpan Prefecture] |title=吐鲁番地区志 |trans-title=Annals of Turpan Prefecture |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2004 |isbn=7-228-09218-X |pages=132–133 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Hami]] || 33,312 || 41.12% || 42,435 || 22.95% || 75,557 || 20.01% || 84,790 || 20.70% || 90,624 || 18.42% || 101,713 || 17.77% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=哈密地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Hami Prefecture] |title=哈密地区志 |trans-title=Annals of Hami Prefecture |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=[[Xinjiang University]] Publishing House |date=1997 |isbn=7-5631-0926-9 |page=158 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture|Changji]] || 18,784 || 7.67% || 23,794 || 5.29% || 44,944 || 3.93% || 52,394 || 4.12% || 58,984 || 3.92% || 63,606 || 4.45% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=昌吉回族自治州地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture] |title=昌吉回族自治州志 上册 |trans-title=Annals of Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2002 |isbn=7-228-07672-9 |pages=198–200 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture|Bortala]] || 8,723 || 21.54% || 18,432 || 15.53% || 38,428 || 13.39% ||  ||  || 53,145 || 12.53% || 59,106 || 13.32% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=博尔塔拉蒙古自治州地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture] |title=博尔塔拉蒙古自治州志 |trans-title=Annals of Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=[[Xinjiang University]] Publishing House |date=1999 |isbn=7-5631-1018-6 |pages=137–138 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture|Bayingolin]] || 121,212 || 75.79% || 153,737 || 46.07% || 264,592 || 35.03% || 310,384 || 36.99% || 345,595 || 32.70% || 406,942 || 31.83% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=巴音郭楞蒙古自治州地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture] |title=巴音郭楞蒙古自治州志 上册 |trans-title=Annals of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Beijing]] |publisher=Contemporary China Publishing House |date=1994 |isbn=7-80092-260-X |pages=241–242 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture|Kizilsu]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || 122,148 || 68.42% || 196,500 || 66.31% || 241,859 || 64.36 || 281,306 || 63.98% || 339,926 || 64.68% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州史志办公室 [Annals Codification Committee of Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture] |title=克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州志 上册 |trans-title=Annals of Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2004 |isbn=7-228-08891-3 |pages=261–263 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture|Ili]] ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 568,109 || 23.99% || 667,202 || 26.87% ||
|-
| [[Aksu Prefecture|Aksu]] || 697,604 || 98.17% || 778,920 || 80.44% || 1,158,659 || 76.23% || 1,342,138 || 79.07% || 1,540,633 || 71.93% || 1,799,512 || 75.90% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=阿克苏地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Aksu Prefecture] |title=阿克苏地区志 卷一 |trans-title=Annals of Aksu Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2008 |isbn=978-7-228-10775-9 |pages=289–291 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Kashgar Prefecture|Kashgar]] || 1,567,069 || 96.99% || 1,671,336 || 93.63% || 2,093,152 || 87.92% || 2,606,775 || 91.32% || 3,042,942 || 89.35% || 3,606,779 || 90.64% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=喀什地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Kashgar Prefecture] |title=喀什地区志 上册 |trans-title=Annals of Kashgar Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2004 |isbn=7-228-08818-2 |pages=203–204 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Hotan Prefecture|Hotan]] || 717,277 || 99.20% || 774,286 || 96.52% || 1,124,331 || 96.58% || 1,356,251 || 96.84% || 1,621,215 || 96.43% || 1,938,316 || 96.22% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=和田地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Hotan Prefecture] |title=和田地区志 上册 |trans-title=Annals of Hotan Prefecture, Volume 1 |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2011 |isbn=978-7-228-13255-3 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Tacheng Prefecture|Tacheng]] ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 36,437 || 6.16% || 36,804 || 4.12% || 38,476 || 3.16% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=塔城地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Tacheng Prefecture] |title=塔城地区志 |trans-title=Annals of Tacheng Prefecture |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=1997 |isbn=7-228-03947-5 |page=154 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Altay Prefecture|Altay]] || 3,622 || 3.73% || 6,471 || 3.09% || 10,255 || 2.19% || 10,688 || 2.09% || 10,068 || 1.79% || 8,703 || 1.44% || <ref>{{cite book |editor=阿勒泰地区地方志编纂委员会 [Annals Codification Committee of Altay Prefecture] |title=阿勒泰地区志 |trans-title=Annals of Altay Prefecture |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2004 |isbn=7-228-08710-0 |page=158 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Shihezi]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable ||  ||  ||  ||  || 7,064 || 1.20% || 7,574 || 1.99% ||
|-
| [[Aral, Xinjiang|Aral]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || 9,481 || 5.78% ||
|-
| [[Tumxuk]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || 91,472 || 67.39% ||
|-
| [[Wujiaqu]] || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || colspan="2" style="text-align: center;background-color:#D3D3D3;" | Not applicable || 223 || 0.23% ||
|-style="text-align: center;"
| '''<abbr title="Reference">Ref.</abbr>''' || colspan="2" |  || colspan="2" |  || colspan="2" |  || colspan="2" |  || colspan="2" |<ref>{{cite book |editor=新疆维吾尔自治区人口普查办公室 [Office for the Population Census of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region] |title=新疆维吾尔自治区2000年人口普查资料 |trans-title=Tabulation on the 2000 Population Census of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region |language=zh |location=[[Ürümqi]] |publisher=Xinjiang People's Publishing House |date=2002 |isbn=7-228-07554-4 |pages=46–50 }}</ref>  || colspan="2" |<ref>{{cite book |editor=新疆维吾尔自治区人民政府人口普查领导小组办公室 [Office for the Population Census of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region] |title=新疆维吾尔自治区2010年人口普查资料 |trans-title=Tabulation on the 2010 Population Census of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region |language=zh |location=[[Beijing]] |publisher=China Statistics Press |date=2012 |isbn=978-7-5037-6516-2 |pages=38–39 }}</ref>  || –
|}
{{Sticky table end}}

===Genetics===
A study of [[Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup|mitochondrial DNA]] (2004) (therefore the [[Matrilineality|matrilineal genetic contribution]]) found the frequency of Western Eurasian-specific [[haplogroup]] in Uyghurs to be 42.6% and East Asian haplogroup to be 57.4%.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Yao YG, Kong QP, Wang CY, Zhu CL, Zhang YP |title=Different matrilineal contributions to genetic structure of ethnic groups in the silk road region in China |journal=Mol Biol Evol |date=Dec 2004 |volume=21 |issue=12 |pages=2265–80 |pmid=15317881 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msh238 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Xu |first1=Shuhua |last2=Jin |first2=Li |title=A Genome-wide Analysis of Admixture in Uyghurs and a High-Density Admixture Map for Disease-Gene Discovery |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |date=12 September 2008 |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=322–336 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.08.001 |pmid=18760393 |pmc=2556439 }}</ref> [[Uyghurs in Kazakhstan]] on the other hand were shown to have 55% European/Western Eurasian maternal mtDNA.<ref name="auto"/>

A study based on [[Y haplogroup|paternal DNA]] (2005) shows West Eurasian haplogroups (J and R) in Uyghurs make up 65% to 70% and East Asian haplogroups (C, N, D and O) 30% to 35%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Xue |first1=Yali |last2=Zerjal |first2=Tatiana |last3=Bao |first3=Weidong |last4=Zhu |first4=Suling |last5=Shu |first5=Qunfang |last6=Xu |first6=Jiujin |last7=Du |first7=Ruofu |last8=Fu |first8=Songbin |last9=Li |first9=Pu |last10=Hurles |first10=Matthew E. |last11=Yang |first11=Huanming |last12=Tyler-Smith |first12=Chris |title=Male Demography in East Asia: A North–South Contrast in Human Population Expansion Times |journal=Genetics |date=April 2006 |volume=172 |issue=4 |pages=2431–2439 |doi=10.1534/genetics.105.054270 |pmid=16489223 |pmc=1456369 }}</ref>

One study by Xu et al. (2008), using samples from Hetian ([[Hotan]]) only, found Uyghurs have about an average of 60% European or [[Western Asia|West Asian]] (Western Eurasian) ancestry and about 40% [[East Asia]]n or [[Siberia]]n ancestry (Eastern Eurasian). From the same area, it is found that the proportion of Uyghur individuals with European/West Asian ancestry ranges individually from 40.3% to 84.3% while their East Asian/Siberian ancestry ranges individually from 15.7% to 59.7%.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Analysis of genomic admixture in Uyghur and its implication in mapping strategy |vauthors=Xu S, Huang W, Qian J, Jin L |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics|date=April 2008 |volume= 82|issue=4|pages=883–94 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.01.017|pmid=18355773 |pmc=2427216}}</ref> Further study by the same team showed an average of slightly greater European/West Asian component at 52% (ranging individually from 44.9% to 63.1%) in the Uyghur population in southern Xinjiang but only 47% (ranging individually from 30% to 55%) in the northern Uyghur population.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Shuhua Xu |author2=Li Jin |name-list-style=amp | title = A Genome-wide Analysis of Admixture in Uyghurs and a High-Density Admixture Map for Disease-Gene Discovery|journal=Am J Hum Genet | date=September 2008 | volume = 83 | issue = 3 | pages = 322–36 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.08.001 |pmc=2556439 | pmid=18760393 }}</ref>

A different study by Li et al. (2009) used a larger sample of individuals from a wider area and found a higher East Asian component of about 70% on average, while the European/West Asian component was about 30%. Overall, Uyghur show relative more similarity to "Western East Asians" than to "Eastern East Asians". The authors also cite anthropologic studies which also estimate about 30% "Western proportions", which are in agreement with their genetic results.<ref name="cite journal|pmc=2790568">{{cite journal|pmc=2790568|title=Genetic Landscape of Eurasia and "Admixture" in Uyghurs|year=2009|volume=85|issue=6|pmid=20004770|last1=Li|first1=H|last2=Cho|first2=K|last3=Kidd|first3=JR|last4=Kidd|first4=KK|pages=934–7; author reply 937–9|doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.024|journal=American Journal of Human Genetics}}</ref>[[File:Genetic_distances_Eurasian_West_Asian_East_Asian.png|thumb|Genetic distance between different Eurasian populations and frequency of West- and East-Eurasian components.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hui |last2=Cho |first2=Kelly |last3=Kidd |first3=J. |last4=Kidd |first4=K. |date=2009 |title=Genetic landscape of Eurasia and "admixture" in Uyghurs. |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=85 |issue=6 |pages=934–937 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.10.024|pmid=20004770 |pmc=2790568 |s2cid=37591388 }}</ref>]]

A study (2013) based on [[autosomal DNA]] shows that average Uyghurs are closest to other Turkic people in Central Asia and China as well as various Chinese populations. The analysis of the diversity of [[Cytochrome b|cytochrome B]] further suggests Uyghurs are closer to [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] and Siberian populations than to various [[Caucasoid]] groups in West Asia or Europe. However, there is significant genetic distance between the Xinjiang's southern Uyghurs and Chinese population, but not between the northern Uyghurs and Chinese.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ablimit|first1=Abdurahman|last2=Qin|first2=Wenbei|last3=Shan|first3=Wenjuan|last4=Wu|first4=Weiwei|last5=Ling|first5=Fengjun|last6=Ling|first6=Kaitelynn H.|last7=Zhao|first7=Changjie|last8=Zhang|first8=Fuchun|last9=Ma|first9=Zhenghai|date=9 October 2013|title=Genetic diversities of cytochrome B in Xinjiang Uyghur unveiled its origin and migration history|journal=BMC Genetics|volume=14|issue=1|page=100|doi=10.1186/1471-2156-14-100|issn=1471-2156|pmc=3852047|pmid=24103151|quote=Xinjiang Uyghurs are more genetically related to Chinese population in genetics than to Caucasians. Moreover, there was genetic diversity between Uyghurs from the southern and northern regions. |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A Study (2016) of Uyghur males living in southern Xinjiang used high-resolution 26 Y-STR loci system high-resolution to infer the genetic relationships between the Uyghur population and European and Asian populations. The results showed the Uyghur population of southern Xinjiang exhibited a genetic admixture of Eastern Asian and European populations but with slightly closer relationship with European populations than to Eastern Asian populations.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Analysis of genetic admixture in Uyghur using the 26 Y-STR loci system|date=4 February 2016|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=6|issue=1|article-number=19998|doi=10.1038/srep19998|pmid=26842947|pmc=4740765| last1=Bian | first1=Yingnan | last2=Zhang | first2=Suhua | last3=Zhou | first3=Wei | last4=Zhao | first4=Qi | last5=Siqintuya | last6=Zhu | first6=Ruxin | last7=Wang | first7=Zheng | last8=Gao | first8=Yuzhen | last9=Hong | first9=Jie | last10=Lu | first10=Daru | last11=Li | first11=Chengtao | bibcode=2016NatSR...619998B }}</ref>

An extensive genome study in 2017 analyzed 951 samples of Uyghurs from 14 geographical subpopulations in Xinjiang and observed a southwest and northeast differentiation in the population, partially caused by the [[Tianshan Mountains]] which form a natural barrier, with gene flows from the east and west. The study identifies four major ancestral components that may have arisen from two earlier admixed groups: one that migrated from the west harboring a West-Eurasian component associated with European ancestry (25–37%) and a South Asian ancestry component (12–20%) and one from the east, harboring a Siberian ancestry component (15–17%) and an East Asian ancestry component (29–47%). In total, Uyghurs on average are 33.3% West Eurasian, 32.9% East Asian, 17.9% South Asian, and 16% Siberian. Western parts of Xinjiang are more West Eurasian components than East Eurasian. It suggests at least two major waves of admixture, one ~3,750 years ago coinciding with the age range of the mummies with European feature found in Xinjiang, and another occurring around 750 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Genetic History of Xinjiang's Uyghurs Suggests Bronze Age Multiple-Way Contacts in Eurasia |author1=Qidi Feng |author2=Yan Lu |author3=Xumin Ni |author4=Kai Yuan |author5=Yajun Yang |author6=Xiong Yang |author7=Chang Liu |author8=Haiyi Lou |author9=Zhilin Ning |author10=Yuchen Wang |author11=Dongsheng Lu |author12=Chao Zhang |author13=Ying Zhou |author14=Meng Shi |author15=Lei Tian |author16=Xiaoji Wang |author17=Xi Zhang |author18=Jing Li |author19=Asifullah Khan |author20=Yaqun Guan |author21=Kun Tang |author22=Sijia Wang |author23=Shuhua Xu |display-authors=3 |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution|volume =34| issue= 10|date= October 2017|pages =2572–2582|doi=10.1093/molbev/msx177 |pmid= 28595347 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

A 2018 study of 206 Uyghur samples from Xinjiang, using the ancestry-informative SNP (AISNP) analysis, found that the average genetic ancestry of Uyghurs is 63.7% East Asian-related and 36.3% European-related.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=He|first1=Guanglin|last2=Wang|first2=Zheng|last3=Wang|first3=Mengge|last4=Luo|first4=Tao|last5=Liu|first5=Jing|last6=Zhou|first6=You|last7=Gao|first7=Bo|last8=Hou|first8=Yiping|date=November 2018|title=Forensic ancestry analysis in two Chinese minority populations using massively parallel sequencing of 165 ancestry-informative SNPs|journal=Electrophoresis|volume=39|issue=21|pages=2732–2742|doi=10.1002/elps.201800019|issn=1522-2683|pmid=29869338| s2cid=46935911 |quote=Comprehensive population comparisons and admixture estimates demonstrated a predominantly higher European-related ancestry (36.30%) in Uyghurs than Huis (3.66%).}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of the Uyghur people}}
[[File:Uighur princes, Bezeklik, Cave 9, c. 8th-9th century AD, wall painting - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01747.JPG|thumb|Uyghur princes from Cave 9 of the [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves]], Xinjiang, China, 8th–9th century AD, wall painting]]

The history of the Uyghur people, as with the ethnic origin of the people, is a matter of contention.<ref name="bovingdon">{{cite book |title=The Uyghurs – strangers in their own land |author=Gardner Bovingdon |chapter=Chapter 1 – Using the Past to Serve the Present |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-231-14758-3 }}</ref> Uyghur historians viewed the Uyghurs as the original inhabitants of Xinjiang with a long history. Uyghur politician and historian Muhammad Amin Bughra wrote in his book ''A History of East Turkestan'', stressing the Turkic aspects of his people, that the Turks have a continuous 9000-year-old history, while historian [[Turghun Almas]] incorporated discoveries of Tarim mummies to conclude that Uyghurs have over 6400 years of continuous history,<ref name="Tursun">{{cite journal |url= http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng=en&id=105630 |title= The Formation of Modern Uyghur Historiography and Competing Perspectives toward Uyghur History |author= Nabijan Tursun |journal= The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly |volume= 6 |issue= 3 |pages= 87–100 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130524213700/http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=0c54e3b3-1e9c-be1e-2c24-a6a8c7060233&lng=en&id=105630 |archive-date= 24 May 2013 }}</ref> and the [[World Uyghur Congress]] claimed a 4,000-year history in East Turkestan.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306105709/http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?cat=132 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url=http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?cat=132 |title=Brief History of East Turkestan |work=World Uyghur Congress }}</ref> However, the official Chinese view, as documented in the white paper ''History and Development of Xinjiang'', asserts that the Uyghur ethnic group formed after the collapse of the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] in 840, when the local residents of the Tarim Basin and its surrounding areas were merged with migrants from the khaganate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China |title=History and Development of Xinjiang |journal=Chinese Journal of International Law |date=2004 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=629–659 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.cjilaw.a000538}}</ref> The name "Uyghur" reappeared after the Soviet Union took the 9th-century ethnonym from the Uyghur Khaganate, then reapplied it to all non-nomadic Turkic Muslims of Xinjiang.<ref>Ildikó Bellér-Hann (2007). Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7546-7041-4.</ref> Many contemporary western scholars, however, do not consider the modern Uyghurs to be of direct linear descent from the old Uyghur Khaganate of Mongolia. Rather, they consider them to be descendants of a number of peoples, one of them the ancient Uyghurs.<ref name="xinjiang"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgHlxD4k0z4C&pg=PA135 |title=Democratization and Identity: Regimes and Ethnicity in East and Southeast Asia|author=Susan J. Henders|editor=Susan J. Henders|year=2006|publisher=Lexington Books |page=135|isbn=978-0-7391-0767-6|access-date=9 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat|first1=J. Todd|last1=Reed|first2=Diana|last2=Raschke|year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5I2b_hrJO8sC&pg=PA7|isbn=978-0-313-36540-9|page=7|access-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=5I2b_hrJO8sC&pg=PA7|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA44 44]}}

===Early history===
Discovery of well-preserved [[Tarim mummies]] of a people European in appearance indicates the migration of a European-looking people into the Tarim area at the beginning of the [[Bronze Age]] around 1800 BC. These people may have been of [[Tocharians|Tocharian]] origin, and some have suggested them to be the [[Yuezhi]] mentioned in ancient Chinese texts.{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA14 14]}}<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |author=A. K Narain |chapter= Chapter 6 – Indo-Europeans in Inner Asia |editor = Denis Sinor |page=153 |isbn=978-0-521-24304-9|date=March 1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> The Tocharians are thought to have developed from the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] speaking [[Afanasevo culture]] of Southern Siberia (c. 3500–2500 BC).<ref>David W. Anthony, "Two IE phylogenies, three PIE migrations, and four kinds of steppe pastoralism", ''Journal of Language Relationship'', vol. 9 (2013), pp. 1–22</ref> A study published in 2021 showed that the earliest Tarim Basin cultures had high levels of [[Ancient North Eurasian]] ancestry, with smaller admixture from [[Genetic history of East Asians|Northeast Asians]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zhang|first1=F|last2=Ning|first2=C|last3=Scott|first3=A|display-authors=etal|date=2021|title=The genomic origins of the Bronze Age Tarim Basin mummies|journal=Nature|volume=599|issue=7884|pages=256–261|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-04052-7|pmid=34707286|pmc=8580821|bibcode=2021Natur.599..256Z}}</ref> Later mummies overwhelmingly descended from the [[Sintashta culture|Sintashta]] and [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]] population, with smaller admixtures from [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|BMAC]] and the earlier Tarim mummies.<ref name=":52" /> Uyghur activist Turgun Almas claimed that Tarim mummies were Uyghurs because the earliest Uyghurs practiced shamanism and the buried mummies' orientation suggests that they had been shamanists; meanwhile, Qurban Wäli claimed words written in Kharosthi and Sogdian scripts as "Uyghur" rather than Sogdian words absorbed into Uyghur according to other linguists.<ref>{{cite book |title=Xinjiang, China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=Chapter 14 – Contested histories |author=Gardner Bovingdon |year=2004 |editor=S. Frederick Starr |pages=357–358 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe Incorporated |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 }}</ref>

Later migrations brought peoples from the west and northwest to the Xinjiang region, probably speakers of various Iranian languages such as the [[Saka]] tribes, who were closely related to the European [[Scythians]] and descended from the earlier [[Andronovo culture]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Unterländer|first1=Martina|last2=Palstra|first2=Friso|last3=Lazaridis|first3=Iosif |last4=Pilipenko|first4=Aleksandr|last5=Hofmanová|first5=Zuzana|last6=Groß|first6=Melanie|last7=Sell |first7=Christian |last8=Blöcher|first8=Jens|last9=Kirsanow|first9=Karola|last10=Rohland|first10=Nadin |last11=Rieger|first11=Benjamin|date=3 March 2017|title=Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe |journal=Nature Communications|volume=8|article-number=14615|issn=2041-1723 |doi=10.1038/ncomms14615|pmc=5337992|pmid=28256537|bibcode=2017NatCo...814615U}}</ref> and who may have been present in the [[Khotan]] and [[Kashgar]] area in the first millennium BC, as well as the [[Sogdians]] who formed networks of trading communities across the Tarim Basin from the 4th century AD.{{sfn|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA13 13], [https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA29 29]}} There may also be an Indian component as the founding legend of [[Kingdom of Khotan|Khotan]] suggests that the city was founded by Indians from [[Taxila (ancient)|ancient Taxila]] during the reign of [[Ashoka]].<ref name="Mallory 2000">{{cite book | last1 =Mallory | first1 =J. P. | author-link =J. P. Mallory | last2 =Mair | first2 =Victor H. | author2-link =Victor H. Mair | year =2000| pages = 77–81| title =The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West | place =London | publisher =Thames & Hudson}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XXGhAL1WKcC&pg=PA193 |title=The Early History of India|first= Vincent A. |last= Smith | page=193 |publisher= Atlantic Publishers |date= 1999|isbn=978-81-7156-618-1}}</ref> Other people in the region mentioned in ancient Chinese texts include the [[Dingling]] as well as the [[Xiongnu]] who fought for supremacy in the region against the Chinese for several hundred years. Some Uyghur nationalists also claimed descent from the Xiongnu (according to the Chinese historical text the ''[[Book of Wei]]'', the founder of the Uyghurs was descended from a Xiongnu ruler),{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=155}} but the view is contested by modern Chinese scholars.<ref name="Tursun"/>

The Yuezhi were driven away by the Xiongnu but founded the [[Kushan Empire]], which exerted some influence in the Tarim Basin, where [[Kharosthi]] texts have been found in [[Loulan Kingdom|Loulan]], [[Niya (Tarim Basin)|Niya]] and [[Kingdom of Khotan|Khotan]]. Loulan and Khotan were some of the many city-states that existed in the Xinjiang region during the [[Han dynasty]]; others include [[Kucha]], [[Turfan]], [[Karasahr]] and [[Kashgar]]. These kingdoms in the Tarim Basin came under the control of China during the Han and Tang dynasties. During the [[Tang dynasty]] they were conquered and placed under the control of the [[Protectorate General to Pacify the West]], and the Indo-European cultures of these kingdoms never recovered from Tang rule after thousands of their inhabitants were killed during the conquest.<ref>{{cite book  | chapter = T'ai-tsung (reign 624–49) the consolidator  | first = Howard J. | last = Wechsler | page = 228  | title = Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part 1  | editor-given = Denis | editor-surname = Twitchett | editor-link = Denis C. Twitchett | series = [[The Cambridge History of China]] | volume = 3  | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1979 | isbn = 978-0-521-21446-9 }}</ref> The settled population of these cities later merged with the incoming Turkic people, including the Uyghurs of Uyghur Khaganate, to form the modern Uyghurs. The Indo-European [[Tocharian language]] later disappeared as the urban population switched to a Turkic language such as the [[Old Uyghur language]].<ref>{{citation
  | title = The problem of Tocharian origins: an archaeological perspective
  | given = J.P. | surname = Mallory | author-link = J. P. Mallory
  | journal = Sino-Platonic Papers | number = 259 | year = 2015
  | url = http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp259_tocharian_origins.pdf
  | page = 273
}}</ref>

The early [[Turkic peoples]] descended from agricultural communities in [[Northeast Asia]] who moved westwards into [[Mongolia]] in the late 3rd millennium BC, where they adopted a pastoral lifestyle.{{sfn|Robbeets|2017|pp=216–218}}{{sfn|Robbeets|2020}}{{sfn|Nelson et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Li et al.|2020}}{{sfn|Uchiyama et al.|2020}} By the early 1st millennium BC, these peoples had become [[equestrian nomads]].{{sfn|Robbeets|2017|pp=216–218}} In subsequent centuries, the steppe populations of [[Central Asia]] appear to have been progressively [[Turkification|Turkified]] by [[East Asian people|East Asian]] nomadic Turks, moving out of Mongolia.<ref name="Damgaard_Conclusion">{{harvnb|Damgaard et al.|2018|pp=4–5}}. "These results suggest that Turkic cultural customs were imposed by an East Asian minority elite onto central steppe nomad populations... The wide distribution of the Turkic languages from Northwest China, Mongolia and Siberia in the east to Turkey and Bulgaria in the west implies large-scale migrations out of the homeland in Mongolia.</ref><ref name="Kuang_Lee_197">{{harvnb|Lee|Kuang|2017|p=197}}. "Both Chinese histories and modern dna studies indicate that the early and medieval Turkic peoples were made up of heterogeneous populations. The Turkicisation of central and western Eurasia was not the product of migrations involving a homogeneous entity, but that of language diffusion."</ref>

=== <span id="Uyghur Khaganate (8th-9th c.)"></span>Uyghur Khaganate (8th–9th centuries) ===
{{Main|Uyghur Khaganate|Toquz Oghuz}}
[[File:Conversion of Bögü Qaghan (759-780 CE) to Manicheism in 762 (detailed of Bögü Qaghan in a suit of armour, kneeling to a Manichean high priest).jpg|thumb|left|[[Bögü Qaghan]], the third Khagan of the [[Uyghur Khaganate]], in a suit of armor; 8th century [[Manichean]] manuscript ([[Leaf from a Manichaean book MIK III 4979|MIK III 4979]])]]
The Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate were part of a Turkic confederation called the [[Tiele people|Tiele]],{{sfn|Golden|1992|p=157}} who lived in the valleys south of [[Lake Baikal]] and around the [[Yenisei River]]. They overthrew the [[First Turkic Khaganate]] and established the [[Uyghur Khaganate]].

The Uyghur Khaganate lasted from 744 to 840.<ref name="xinjiang"/> It was administered from the imperial capital [[Ordu-Baliq]], one of the biggest ancient cities built in Mongolia. In 840, following a famine and civil war, the Uyghur Khaganate was overrun by the [[Yenisei Kirghiz]], another Turkic people. As a result, the majority of tribal groups formerly under Uyghur control dispersed and moved out of Mongolia.

===<span id="Uyghur kingdoms (9th-11th c.)"></span>Uyghur kingdoms (9th–11th centuries)===
[[File:Old World 820.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Uyghur Khaganate in geopolitical context c. 820 AD]]

The Uyghurs who founded the Uyghur Khaganate dispersed after the fall of the Khaganate, to live among the [[Karluks]] and to places such as [[Jimsar County|Jimsar]], [[Turpan]] and [[Gansu]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://en.people.cn/200305/26/eng20030526_117240.shtml |title = Full Text of White Paper on History and Development of Xinjiang |website=en.people.cn |access-date=15 June 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190625021941/http://en.people.cn/200305/26/eng20030526_117240.shtml |archive-date=25 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{NoteTag|"Soon the great chief Julumohe and the Kirghiz gathered a hundred thousand riders to attack the Uyghur city; they killed the Kaghan, executed Jueluowu, and burnt the royal camp. All the tribes were scattered – its ministers Sazhi and Pang Tele with fifteen clans fled to the Karluks, the remaining multitude went to Tibet and [[Guazhou County|Anxi]]." ({{lang-zh|t=俄而渠長句錄莫賀與黠戛斯合騎十萬攻回鶻城，殺可汗，誅掘羅勿，焚其牙，諸部潰其相馺職與厖特勒十五部奔葛邏祿，殘眾入吐蕃、安西。)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7217%E4%B8%8B |language=zh|script-title=zh:新唐書/卷217下 – 維基文庫，自由的圖書館 |trans-title=New Tang Book/Volume 217 – Wikisource, the free online library |website=zh.wikisource.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512145231/http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7217%E4%B8%8B|archive-date=12 May 2013}}{{full citation needed|date=December 2020}}</ref>}} These Uyghurs soon founded two kingdoms and the easternmost state was the [[Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom|Ganzhou Kingdom]] (870–1036) which ruled parts of Xinjiang, with its capital near present-day [[Zhangye]], Gansu, China. The modern [[Yugur]]s are believed to be descendants of these Uyghurs. Ganzhou was absorbed by the [[Western Xia]] in 1036.

The second Uyghur kingdom, the [[Kingdom of Qocho]] ruled a larger section of Xinjiang, also known as ''Uyghuristan'' in its later period, was founded in the Turpan area with its capital in Qocho (modern [[Gaochang]]) and [[Jimsar County|Beshbalik]]. The Kingdom of Qocho lasted from the ninth to the fourteenth century and proved to be longer-lasting than any power in the region, before or since.<ref name="xinjiang"/> The Uyghurs were originally [[Tengrism|Tengrists]], shamanists, and [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]], but converted to Buddhism during this period. Qocho accepted the [[Qara Khitai]] as its overlord in the 1130s, and in 1209 submitted voluntarily to the rising [[Mongol Empire]]. The Uyghurs of Kingdom of Qocho were allowed significant autonomy and played an important role as civil servants to the [[Mongol Empire]], but was finally destroyed by the [[Chagatai Khanate]] by the end of the 14th century.<ref name="xinjiang"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rLUbuZLiaIC&pg=PA480|title=Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage |page=480 |isbn=978-986-81419-8-8 |publisher=Rhythms Monthly |date=2006}}</ref>

===Islamization===
{{Main|Turkic settlement of the Tarim Basin}}
{{Islam and China|groups}}

In the tenth century, the [[Karluks]], [[Yagma]]s, [[Chigils]] and other Turkic tribes founded the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]] in [[Jetisu|Semirechye]], Western [[Tian Shan]], and [[Kashgaria]] and later conquered [[Transoxiana]]. The Karakhanid rulers were likely to be Yaghmas who were associated with the [[Toquz Oghuz]] and some historians therefore see this as a link between the Karakhanid and the Uyghurs of the Uyghur Khaganate, although this connection is disputed by others.<ref name="Millward2007"/>

The Karakhanids converted to Islam in the tenth century beginning with [[Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan]], the first Turkic dynasty to do so.<ref name="sinor">{{citation|last = Golden|first = Peter. B.|contribution = The Karakhanids and Early Islam|year = 1990|title = The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia|editor-last = Sinor|editor-first = Denis|page = 357|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn = 0-521-2-4304-1}}</ref> Modern Uyghurs see the Muslim Karakhanids as an important part of their history; however, Islamization of the people of the Tarim Basin was a gradual process. The Indo-Iranian [[Sakas|Saka]] Buddhist [[Kingdom of Khotan]] was conquered by the Turkic Muslim Karakhanids from Kashgar in the early 11th century, but Uyghur Qocho remained mainly Buddhist until the 15th century, and the conversion of the Uyghur people to Islam was not completed until the 17th century.

[[File:Chagatai Khanate (1490).png|thumb|left|[[Chagatai Khanate]] ([[Moghulistan]]) in 1490]]

The 12th and 13th century saw the domination by non-Muslim powers: first the [[Kara-Khitans]] in the 12th century, followed by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] in the 13th century. After the death of [[Genghis Khan]] in 1227, Transoxiana and Kashgar became the domain of his second son, [[Chagatai Khan]]. The [[Chagatai Khanate]] split into two in the 1340s, and the area of the Chagatai Khanate where the modern Uyghurs live became part of [[Moghulistan]], which meant "land of the Mongols". In the 14th century, a Chagatayid khan [[Tughlugh Timur|Tughluq Temür]] converted to Islam, Genghisid [[Mongolian nobility|Mongol nobilities]] also followed him to convert to Islam.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} His son [[Khizr Khoja]] conquered Qocho and Turfan (the core of Uyghuristan) in the 1390s, and the Uyghurs there became largely Muslim by the beginning of the 16th century.<ref name="Millward2007">{{harvnb|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA69 69]}}</ref> After being converted to Islam, the descendants of the previously [[Kingdom of Qocho|Buddhist Uyghurs in Turfan]] failed to retain memory of their ancestral legacy and falsely believed that the "infidel Kalmuks" ([[Dzungar people|Dzungars]]) were the ones who built Buddhist structures in their area.<ref name="GibbLewis1998">{{cite book|author1=Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb|author2=Bernard Lewis|author3=Johannes Hendrik Kramers|author4=Charles Pellat|author5=Joseph Schacht|title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJPrAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brill|page=677|access-date=21 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=PJPrAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the late 14th through 17th centuries, the Xinjiang region became further subdivided into Moghulistan in the north, [[Altishahr]] (Kashgar and the Tarim Basin), and the Turfan area, each often ruled separately by competing Chagatayid descendants, the [[Dughlats]], and later the [[Khoja (Turkestan)|Khojas]].<ref name="Millward2007"/>

Islam was also spread by the [[Sufis]], and branches of its [[Naqshbandi]] order were the [[Khoja (Turkestan)|Khojas]] who seized control of political and military affairs in the Tarim Basin and Turfan in the 17th century. The Khojas however split into two rival factions, the ''Aqtaghlik'' ("White Mountainers") Khojas (also called the [[Afaq Khoja|Afaqiyya]]) and the ''Qarataghlik'' ("Black Mountainers") Khojas (also called the Ishaqiyya). The legacy of the Khojas lasted until the 19th century. The Qarataghlik Khojas seized power in Yarkand where the Chagatai Khans ruled in the Yarkent Khanate, forcing the Aqtaghlik Afaqi Khoja into exile.

===Qing rule===
[[File:Khojis full-length portrait.jpg|thumb|left|Uyghur General [[Khojis]] (−1781), governor of [[Us-Turfan]], who later resided at the Qing court in Beijing. Painting by a European Jesuit artist at the Chinese court in 1775.<ref>{{cite web |title=北京保利国际拍卖有限公司 |url=https://www.polypm.com.cn/news/detail/3934/14 |website=www.polypm.com.cn}}</ref>]]
In the 17th century, the Buddhist [[Dzungar Khanate]] grew in power in [[Dzungaria]]. The [[Dzungar conquest of Altishahr]] ended the last independent Chagatai Khanate, the [[Yarkent Khanate]], after the Aqtaghlik [[Afaq Khoja]] sought aid from the [[5th Dalai Lama]] and his Dzungar Buddhist followers to help him in his struggle against the Qarataghlik Khojas. The Aqtaghlik Khojas in the Tarim Basin then became vassals to the Dzungars.

The expansion of the Dzungars into [[Khalkha Mongols|Khalkha Mongol]] territory in [[Mongolia]] brought them into direct conflict with [[Qing dynasty|Qing China]] in the late 17th century, and in the process also brought Chinese presence back into the region a thousand years after Tang China lost control of the [[Western Regions]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Wild West China: The Taming of Xinjiang |author=Christian Tyler|page=55 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year= 2004 |isbn=978-0-8135-3533-3 }}</ref>

[[File:Turpan-minarete-emir-d07.jpg|thumb|Minaret of [[Turpan]] ruler [[Emin Khoja]], built by his son and successor Suleiman in 1777 in the memory of his father (tallest minaret in China)]]
The [[Dzungar–Qing War]] lasted a decade. During the Dzungar conflict, two Aqtaghlik brothers, the so-called "Younger Khoja" ({{lang-zh|c=霍集佔}}), also known as Khwāja-i Jahān, and his sibling, the Elder Khoja ({{lang-zh|c=波羅尼都}}), also known as Burhān al-Dīn, after being appointed as vassals in the Tarim Basin by the Dzungars, first joined the Qing and rebelled against Dzungar rule until the final Qing victory over the Dzungars, then they rebelled against the Qing in the [[Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas]] (1757–1759), an action which prompted the invasion and conquest of the Tarim Basin by the Qing in 1759. The Uyghurs of Turfan and Hami such as [[Emin Khoja]] were allies of the Qing in this conflict, and these Uyghurs also helped the Qing rule the Altishahr Uyghurs in the Tarim Basin.{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA101 101]}}<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=3107653|title=The Begs of Xinjiang: Between Two Worlds|last=Newby|first=L. J.|volume= 61|issue= 2|pages=278–297|year=1998|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00013811 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|publisher=Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies|s2cid=153718110}}</ref>

The [[Ten Great Campaigns|final campaign against the Dzungars in the 1750s]] ended with the [[Dzungar genocide]]. The Qing "final solution" of genocide to solve the problem of the Dzungar Mongols created a land devoid of Dzungars, which was followed by the Qing sponsored settlement of millions of other people in Dzungaria.<ref name="Zungar2">[https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&pg=PA285 Perdue 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=J4L-_cjmSqoC&pg=PA285 |date=1 January 2016 }}, p. 285.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpG8QEguXEC&pg=PT183|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpG8QEguXEC&pg=PT183|title=The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds: A Tale of Espionage, the Silk Road and the Rise of Modern China|first=Eric Enno|last=Tamm|date=10 April 2011|archive-date=1 January 2016|publisher=Catapult|isbn = 978-1-58243-876-4|access-date=24 July 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> In northern Xinjiang, the Qing brought in Han, Hui, Uyghur, Xibe, Daurs, Solons, Turkic Muslim Taranchis and Kazakh colonists, with one third of Xinjiang's total population consisting of Hui and Han in the northern area, while around two thirds were Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin.<ref name="ed. Starr 2004">[https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA243 ed. Starr 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212214513/https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA243 |date=12 February 2019 }}, p. 243.</ref> In Dzungaria, the Qing established new cities like Ürümqi and Yining.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA102 Millward 1998] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA102 |date=1 January 2016 }}, p. 102.</ref> The [[Dzungaria]]n basin itself is now inhabited by many Kazakhs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bEzNwgtiVQ0C&pg=PA4 Tyler 2004] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=bEzNwgtiVQ0C&pg=PA4 |date=1 January 2016 }}, p. 4.</ref> The Qing therefore unified Xinjiang and changed its demographic composition as well.<ref name="Liu & Faure 1996">{{cite book |last1=Liu |first1=Tao Tao |last2=Faure |first2=David |title=Unity and Diversity; Local Cultures and Identity in China |date=1996 |publisher=University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-962-209-402-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FW8SBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |access-date=4 June 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713183855/https://books.google.co.th/books?id=FW8SBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA76&redir_esc=y |archive-date=13 July 2018 }}</ref>{{RP|71}} The crushing of the Buddhist Dzungars by the Qing led to the empowerment of the Muslim Begs in southern Xinjiang, migration of Muslim Taranchis to northern Xinjiang, and increasing Turkic Muslim power, with Turkic Muslim culture and identity was tolerated or even promoted by the Qing.<ref name="Liu & Faure 1996"/>{{RP|76}} It was therefore argued by Henry Schwarz that "the Qing victory was, in a certain sense, a victory for Islam".<ref name="Liu & Faure 1996"/>{{RP|72}}

In [[Beijing]], a community of Uyghurs was clustered around the mosque near the [[Forbidden City]], having moved to Beijing in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/middlekingdomas09willgoog |title=The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Chinese Empire and Its Inhabitants |author= Samuel Wells Williams|year=1848|publisher=Wiley and Putnam|page=[https://archive.org/details/middlekingdomas09willgoog/page/n96 64]|access-date=8 May 2011}}</ref>

The [[Ush rebellion]] in 1765 by Uyghurs against the [[Manchus]] occurred after several incidents of misrule and abuse that had caused considerable anger and resentment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759–1864 |date=1998 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-9792-7 |page=124 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ir2CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA124}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Millward |first1=James A. |title=Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864 |date=1998 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-9792-7 |pages=206–207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ir2CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA206}}</ref>{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA108 108]}} The Manchu Emperor ordered that the Uyghur rebel town be massacred, and the men were executed and the women and children enslaved.{{sfn|Millward|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA109 109]}}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Uyghur chieftain from Ush, Kucha and Aksu, with his wife.jpg|Uyghur chieftain from [[Uqturpan County|Wushi]], [[Kucha]] and [[Aksu City|Aksu]], with his wife. ''[[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]]'', 1769.<ref>[[:File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 071.jpg|烏什庫車阿克蘇等城回目]]</ref>
File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Uyghur commoners from Ush, Kucha and Aksu.jpg|Uyghur commoners from [[Uqturpan County|Wushi]], [[Kucha]] and [[Aksu City|Aksu]]. ''[[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]]'', 1769.<ref>[[:File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 072.jpg|烏什庫車阿克蘇等處回人]]</ref>
File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Uyghur people from Hami in Anxi subprefecture.jpg|Uyghur people from [[Hami]], in Anxi subprefecture. ''[[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]]'', 1769.<ref>[[:File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 077.jpg|安西廳哈密回民]]</ref>
File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Uyghur from Ili, Taleqi, Chahan and Wusu, with his wife.jpg|Uyghur people from [[Ili River|Ili]], [[Huocheng County|Taleqi]], Chahan and [[Wusu]]. ''[[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]]'', 1769.<ref>[[:File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu - 066.jpg|伊犂塔勒奇察罕烏蘇等處回人]]</ref>
</gallery>

===Yettishar===
During the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)]], Andijani Uzbeks from the [[Khanate of Kokand]] under [[Buzurg Khan]] and [[Yakub Beg of Yettishar|Yaqub Beg]] expelled Qing officials from parts of southern Xinjiang and founded an independent Kashgarian kingdom called [[Yettishar]] ("Country of Seven Cities"). Under the leadership of Yaqub Beg, it included [[Kashgar]], [[Yarkant County|Yarkand]], [[Hotan|Khotan]], [[Aksu, Xinjiang|Aksu]], [[Kucha]], [[Korla]], and [[Turpan]].{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Large Qing dynasty forces under Chinese General [[Zuo Zongtang]] attacked Yettishar in 1876.

===Qing reconquest===
After this invasion, the two regions of Dzungaria, which had been known as the Dzungar region or the Northern marches of the Tian Shan,<ref>{{cite book|title=Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759–1864|first=James A.|last=Millward|edition=illustrated|year=1998|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA21|isbn=978-0-8047-2933-8|page=21 |access-date=10 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704224223/http://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA21|archive-date=4 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Holy War in China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864–1877|first=Hodong|last=Kim|edition=illustrated|year=2004|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtduqAtBzegC&pg=PA218|isbn=978-0-8047-6723-1|page=15|access-date=10 March 2014}}</ref> and the Tarim Basin, which had been known as "Muslim land" or southern marches of the Tian Shan,<ref>{{cite book|title=Beyond the Pass: Economy, Ethnicity, and Empire in Qing Central Asia, 1759-1864 |first=James A.|last=Millward|edition=illustrated|year=1998|publisher=Stanford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA23|isbn=978-0-8047-2933-8|page=23|access-date=10 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704223821/http://books.google.com/books?id=MC6sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA23|archive-date=4 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> were reorganized into a province named ''Xinjiang'', meaning "New Territory".<ref>{{cite book |title=Wild West China: The Taming of Xinjiang |author=Christian Tyler|page=56 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year= 2004 |isbn=978-0-8135-3533-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Inner Asia, Volume 4, Issues 1-2 |page=127 |year=2002|publisher=The White Horse Press for the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1RuAAAAMAAJ&q=Zhunbu|access-date=10 March 2014}}</ref>

===First East Turkestan Republic===
In 1912, the Qing dynasty was replaced by the Republic of China. By 1920, Pan-Turkic [[Jadidism|Jadidists]] had become a challenge to Chinese warlord Yang Zengxin, who controlled Xinjiang. Uyghurs staged several uprisings against Chinese rule. In 1931, the [[Kumul Rebellion]] erupted, leading to the establishment of an independent government in Khotan in 1932,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Starr |first1=S. Frederick |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |date=2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-45137-2 |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&dq=Khotan+Government+1932&pg=PA76 |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> which later led to the creation of the [[First East Turkestan Republic]], officially known as the Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan. Uyghurs joined with Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz and successfully declared their independence on 12 November 1933.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ercilasun |first1=Güljanat Kurmangaliyeva |title=The Uyghur Community: Diaspora, Identity and Geopolitics |date=November 2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-137-52297-9 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JLg8DwAAQBAJ |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> The First East Turkestan Republic was a short-lived attempt at independence around the areas encompassing Kashgar, Yarkent, and Khotan, and it was attacked during the Qumul Rebellion by a [[36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)|Chinese Muslim army]] under [[Ma Zhancang|General Ma Zhancang]] and [[Ma Fuyuan]] and fell following the Battle of Kashgar (1934). The Soviets backed Chinese warlord Sheng Shicai's rule over East Turkestan/Xinjiang from 1934 to 1943. In April 1937, remnants of the First East Turkestan Republic launched an uprising known as the [[Islamic Rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)|Islamic Rebellion in Xinjiang]] and briefly established an independent government, controlling areas from Atush, Kashgar, Yarkent, and even parts of Khotan, before it was crushed in October 1937, following Soviet intervention.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last1=Starr |first1=S. Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&dq=Khotan+Government+1932&pg=PA76 |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |date=2015 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-1-317-45137-2 |location=United States |pages=80 |language=en |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> Sheng Shicai purged 50,000 to 100,000 people, mostly Uyghurs, following this uprising.<ref name=":4" />

===Second East Turkestan Republic===
The oppressive reign of [[Sheng Shicai]] fueled discontent by Uyghur and other Turkic peoples of the region, and Sheng expelled Soviet advisors following U.S. support for the [[Kuomintang]] of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Starr |first1=S. Frederick |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |date=2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-45137-2 |page=81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuvqBgAAQBAJ&dq=Khotan+Government+1932&pg=PA76 |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> This led the Soviets to capitalize on the Uyghur and other Turkic people's discontent in the region, culminating in their support of the [[Ili Rebellion]] in October 1944. The Ili Rebellion resulted in the establishment of the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] on 12 November 1944, in the three districts of what is now the [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Benson |first1=Linda |title=The Ili Rebellion: The Moslem Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xinjiang, 1944–1949 |date=1990 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-87332-509-7 |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> Several pro-KMT Uyghurs like [[Isa Yusuf Alptekin]], Memet Emin Bugra, and Mesut Sabri opposed the [[Second East Turkestan Republic]] and supported the Republic of China.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=James A.|editor1-last=Millward|editor2-first=Yasushi|editor2-last=Shinmen|editor3-first=Jun|editor3-last=Sugawara|publisher=The Toyo Bunko|year=2010|location=Tokyo|first=Ablet|last=Kamalov|page=260|series=Studies on Xinjiang Historical Sources in 17–20th Centuries|title=Uyghur Memoir literature in Central Asia on Eastern Turkistan Republic (1944–49)|url=https://www.academia.edu/2277955}}</ref><ref name="Klimeš2015 2">{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA197|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=197–}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=Linda |title=Uygur Politicians of the 1940s: Mehmet Emin Bugra, Isa Yusuf Alptekin and Mesut Sabri∗ |journal=Central Asian Survey |date=1991 |volume=10 |issue=4 |page=87 |doi=10.1080/02634939108400758}}</ref> In the summer of 1949, the Soviets purged the thirty top leaders of the Second East Turkestan Republic<ref>{{cite web |title=The Soviet-Sponsored Uprising in Kuldja/The East Turkestan People's Republic |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP82-00047R000200650005-2.pdf |website=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> and its five top officials died in a mysterious plane crash on 27 August 1949.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malhotra |first1=Iqbal Chand |title=Red Fear: The China Threat |date=November 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89867-59-6 |pages=356 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8k0FEAAAQBAJ |access-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> On 13 October 1949, the People's Liberation Army entered the region and the East Turkestan [[Ili National Army|National Army]] was merged into the PLA's 5th Army Corps, leading to the official end of the Second East Turkestan Republic on 22 December 1949.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Urban |first1=Madison |title=21st Century Crimes Against Humanity: Oppression of the Uyghurs in China |url=https://www.carolinapoliticalreview.org/editorial-content/2020/10/16/21st-century-crimes-against-humanity-oppression-of-the-uyghurs-in-china |access-date=25 March 2021 |agency=Carolina Political Review |date=16 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanchez |first1=Alejandro |title=Business as Usual with Beijing as Uyghurs Languish in "Education Camps" |url=https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/business-as-usual-with-beijing-as-uyghurs-languish-in-education-camps/ |access-date=25 March 2021 |agency=Geopolitical Monitor |date=30 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 March 2021 |title=Second East Turkistan Republic (1944–1949) |url=https://east-turkistan.net/second-east-turkistan-republic-1944-1949/ |access-date=25 March 2021 |website=[[East Turkistan Government in Exile]]}}</ref>

===Contemporary era===
{{further|Xinjiang conflict}}
{{Historical populations
|type=China
|percentages = pagr
|1990<ref name="census1990">{{cite web |url = http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16773.htm |script-title=zh:中華人民共和國國家統計局 關於一九九○年人口普查主要數據的公報 （第三號） |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120510075257/http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjgb/rkpcgb/qgrkpcgb/t20020404_16773.htm |archive-date=10 May 2012 |quote={{lang|zh-hans|維吾爾族 7214 431人}}}}</ref>|7214431
|2000|8405416
|2010|10069346
|footnote = Figures from Chinese Census
|}}
[[File:"TURKIC" GROUPS 1967 map, "COMMUNIST CHINA ETHNOLINGUISTIC GROUPS" by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, Office of Basic Geographic Intelligence, 1967 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Ethnolinguistic map of Xinjiang in 1967]]
[[File:Xinjiang nationalities by prefecture 2000.png|thumb|Map showing the distribution of ethnicities in [[Xinjiang]] according to census figures from 2000. The prefectures with Uyghur majorities are in blue.]]

Mao declared the founding of the [[China|People's Republic of China]] on 1 October 1949. He turned the Second East Turkistan Republic into the [[Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture]], and appointed [[Saifuddin Azizi]] as the region's first Communist Party governor. Many Republican loyalists fled into exile in Turkey and Western countries. The name Xinjiang was changed to Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghurs are the largest ethnicity, mostly concentrated in the south-western Xinjiang.<ref>{{cite book |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:2000年人口普查中國民族人口資料 |trans-title=2000 Population Census Chinese Ethnic Population Data |publisher={{lang|zh|民族出版社}} |year=2003 |isbn=978-7-105-05425-1}}</ref>

The [[Xinjiang conflict]] is a separatist conflict in China's far-west province of Xinjiang, whose northern region is known as [[Dzungaria]] and whose southern region (the [[Tarim Basin]]) is known as East Turkestan. Uyghur separatists and independence groups claim that the Second East Turkestan Republic was illegally incorporated by China in 1949 and has since been under Chinese occupation.
Uyghur identity remains fragmented, as some support a [[Pan-Islamism|Pan-Islamic]] vision, exemplified by the [[East Turkestan Islamic Movement]], while others support a [[Pan-Turkism|Pan-Turkic]] vision, such as the [[East Turkestan Liberation Organization]]. A third group which includes the [[Uyghur American Association]] supports a [[Western liberal democracies|western liberal]] vision and hopes for a US-led intervention into Xinjiang.<ref name=":7" /> Some Uyghur fighters in Syria have also studied [[Zionism]] as a model for their homeland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gerry Shih |date=22 December 2017 |title=Uighur militants in Syria look to Zionism as model for their homeland |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/uighur-militants-in-syria-look-to-zionism-as-model-for-their-homeland/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |quote=They looked to an improbable model for building an independent homeland: Israel and the Zionist movement. "We studied how the Jews built their country," Ali said.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerry Shih |date=22 December 2017 |title=AP Exclusive: Anger with China drives Uighurs to Syrian war |url=https://apnews.com/1a7aad978ad5470bb6450ef13f86469e/AP-Exclusive:-Anger-with-China-drives-Uighurs-to-Syrian-war |access-date=2 March 2024 |website=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US |quote=A shopkeeper who prayed five times a day and then at night huddled with others in a ruined Syrian neighborhood to study Zionist history.}}</ref> As a result, "no Uyghur or East Turkestan group speaks for all Uyghurs", and Uyghurs in Pan-Turkic and Pan-Islamic camps have committed violence including assassinations on other Uyghurs who they think are too assimilated to Chinese society.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Christofferson |first=Gaye |date=September 2002 |title=Constituting the Uyghur in U.S.-China Relations: The Geopolitics of Identity Formation in the War on Terrorism |url=https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/25393/Constituting_the_Uyghur_in_USChina_Relations_The_Geopolitics_of_Identity_Formation_in_the_War_on_Terrorism.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=[[Strategic Insights]] |publisher=[[Center for Contemporary Conflict]] |volume=1 |issue=7}}</ref> 

Uyghur activists like [[Rebiya Kadeer]] have mainly tried to garner international support for Uyghurs, including the right to demonstrate, although China's government has accused her of orchestrating the deadly [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/96417/6695082.html|title=Unveiled Rebiya Kadeer: a Uighur Dalai Lama|date=7 July 2009|access-date=21 August 2010|newspaper=[[People's Daily]]|first=Li|last=Hongmei|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109163217/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90002/96417/6695082.html|archive-date=9 January 2010}}</ref> Eric Enno Tamm's 2011 book stated that "authorities have censored Uyghur writers and 'lavished funds' on official histories that depict Chinese territorial expansion into ethnic borderlands as 'unifications (tongyi), never as conquests (zhengfu) or [[annexation]]s (tunbing)' "<ref>{{Cite book |last=Enno |first=Tamm, Eric |url=https://archive.org/details/horsethatleapsth00tamm/page/194 |title=The horse that leaps through clouds: a tale of espionage, the Silk Road, and the rise of modern China |date=2011 |publisher=[[Counterpoint Press]] |isbn=978-1-58243-734-7 |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/horsethatleapsth00tamm/page/194 194] |language=en |oclc=663952959 |quote="Yet the Uyghurs have stubbornly resisted the Chinese Communist Party's ideological claims, Bovingdon writes, in 'an enduring struggle over history that is also a battle' over the future of their land and their own fate." |url-access=registration}}</ref>

====Human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang====
{{main|Persecution of Uyghurs in China|Xinjiang internment camps}}

In 2014, the Chinese government announced a "[[people's war on terror]]". Since then, Uyghurs in Xinjiang have been affected by extensive controls and restrictions which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government has imposed upon their religious, cultural, economic and social lives.<ref name="Dou-2022">{{Cite news |date=23 September 2022 |title=As crackdown eases, China's Xinjiang faces long road to rehabilitation |language=en |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/23/china-xinjiang-crackdown-uyghurs-surveillance/ |access-date=6 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="aj2018">{{cite news |date=10 August 2018 |title=One million Muslim Uighurs held in secret China camps: UN panel |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/8/10/one-million-muslim-uighurs-held-in-secret-china-camps-un-panel}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{cite news |last1=Welch |first1=Dylan |last2=Hui |first2=Echo |last3=Hutcheon |first3=Stephen |date=24 November 2019 |title=The China Cables: Leak reveals the scale of Beijing's repressive control over Xinjiang |publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-25/china-cables-beijings-xinjiang-secrets-revealed/11719016}}</ref><ref name="hrw._UN:U">{{Cite web |date=10 July 2019 |title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses |archive-date=17 December 2019 |access-date=18 December 2020 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> In order to [[Forced assimilation|forcibly assimilate]] them, the government has [[Arbitrary arrest and detention|arbitrarily detained]] more than an estimated one million Uyghurs in [[Xinjiang internment camps|internment camps]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Waller |first1=James |last2=Albornoz |first2=Mariana Salazar |year=2021 |title=Crime and No Punishment? China's Abuses Against the Uyghurs |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/789548 |journal=Georgetown Journal of International Affairs |language=en |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=100–111 |doi=10.1353/gia.2021.0000 |issn=2471-8831 |s2cid=235855240}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Danilova |first=Maria |date=27 November 2018 |title=Woman describes torture, beatings in Chinese detention camp |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://apnews.com/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe |url-status=live |access-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213063324/https://apnews.com/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe |archive-date=13 December 2019}}</ref> [[Human Rights Watch]] says that the camps have been used to indoctrinate Uyghurs and other Muslims since 2017.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |date=10 September 2017 |title=China: Free Xinjiang 'Political Education' Detainees |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/10/china-free-xinjiang-political-education-detainees |access-date=10 September 2017 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last1=Ramzy |first1=Austin |last2=Buckley |first2=Chris |date=16 November 2019 |title='Absolutely No Mercy': Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html |access-date=16 November 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Leaked Chinese government operating procedures state that the main feature of the camps is to ensure adherence to [[Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP ideology]], with the inmates being continuously held captive in the camps for a minimum of 12 months depending on their performance on Chinese ideology tests.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 November 2019 |title=Read the China Cables Documents |url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/read-the-china-cables-documents/ |access-date=9 January 2025 |website=[[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' has reported inmates are required to "sing hymns praising the Chinese Communist Party and write 'self-criticism' essays," and that prisoners are also subjected to physical and verbal abuse by prison guards.<ref name="nyt-detention">{{cite news |last1=Buckley |first1=Chris |date=8 September 2018 |title=China Is Detaining Muslims in Vast Numbers. The Goal: 'Transformation.' |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/asia/china-uighur-muslim-detention-camp.html |url-status=live |access-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908213310/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/asia/china-uighur-muslim-detention-camp.html |archive-date=8 September 2018}}</ref> Chinese officials have sometimes assigned to monitor the families of current inmates, and women have been detained due to actions by their sons or husbands.<ref name="nyt-detention" />

Other policies have included [[forced labor]],<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Turdush |first1=Rukiye |last2=Fiskesjö |first2=Magnus |date=28 May 2021 |title=Dossier: Uyghur Women in China's Genocide |journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=22–43 |doi=10.5038/1911-9933.15.1.1834 |via=Digital Commons University of South Florida |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Sudworth |first=John |date=December 2020 |title=China's 'tainted' cotton |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/nz0g306v8c/china-tainted-cotton}}</ref> suppression of Uyghur [[Islam in China|religious practices]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Congressional Research Service |date=18 June 2019 |title=Uyghurs in China |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10281.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Congressional Research Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218075723/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10281.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2020 |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref> political [[indoctrination]],<ref name="reut_Musl">{{Cite news |date=9 September 2018 |title=Muslim minority in China's Xinjiang face 'political indoctrination': Human Rights Watch |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-rights/muslim-minority-in-chinas-xinjiang-face-political-indoctrination-human-rights-watch-idUSKCN1LQ01F |url-status=live |access-date=18 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032307/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-rights/muslim-minority-in-chinas-xinjiang-face-political-indoctrination-human-rights-watch-idUSKCN1LQ01F |archive-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> severe ill-treatment,<ref name="bhrc">{{cite web |title=Responsibility of States under International Law to Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, China |url=https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921202046/https://www.barhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-Responsibility-of-States-to-Uyghurs_Final.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2020 |access-date=18 December 2020 |publisher=Bar Human Rights Committee}}</ref> [[forced sterilization]],<ref name="apne_Chin">{{cite news |date=28 June 2020 |title=China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization |url=https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216200613/https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c |archive-date=16 December 2020 |access-date=18 December 2020 |work=[[Associated Press]] |quote=Birth rates in the mostly Uighur regions of Hotan and Kashgar plunged by more than 60% from 2015 to 2018, the latest year available in government statistics. Across the Xinjiang region, birth rates continue to plummet, falling nearly 24% last year alone — compared to just 4.2% nationwide, statistics show.}}</ref> forced [[contraception]],<ref name="urlChina Forces Birth Control on Uighurs to Suppress Population | Voice of America - English">{{Cite news |date=29 June 2020 |title=China Forces Birth Control on Uighurs to Suppress Population |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_china-forces-birth-control-uighurs-suppress-population/6191919.html}}</ref><ref name="genocide against the Uyghurs">{{cite news |last=Samuel |first=Sigal |date=10 March 2021 |title=China's genocide against the Uyghurs, in 4 disturbing charts |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311356/china-uyghur-birthrate-sterilization-genocide}}</ref> and [[forced abortion]].<ref name="urlwww.dw.com">{{Cite news |date=1 July 2020 |title=China: Uighur women reportedly sterilized in attempt to suppress population |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |url=https://www.dw.com/en/china-uighur-women-reportedly-sterilized-in-attempt-to-suppress-population/a-54018051 |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |date=29 June 2020 |title=China 'using birth control' to suppress Uighurs |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713 |url-status=live |access-date=7 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629222610/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713 |archive-date=29 June 2020}}</ref> According to German researcher [[Adrian Zenz]], hundreds of thousands of children have been forcibly separated from their parents and sent to [[Boarding schools in China|boarding schools]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuo |first=Lily |date=16 October 2020 |title=Chinese detention 'leaving thousands of Uighur children without parents' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/16/thousands-of-uighur-children-orphaned-by-chinese-detention-papers-show |access-date=28 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite journal |author=[[Adrian Zenz]] |date=July 2019 |title=Break Their Roots: Evidence for China's Parent-Child Separation Campaign in Xinjiang. |url=https://www.jpolrisk.com/break-their-roots-evidence-for-chinas-parent-child-separation-campaign-in-xinjiang/ |journal=The Journal of Political Risk |volume=7 |issue=7}}</ref> The [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]] estimates that some sixteen thousand [[mosque]]s have been razed or damaged since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Like we were enemies in a war" |url=https://xinjiang.amnesty.org/report/blanket-repression-and-erasure-of-ethnic-identity/destruction-of-religious-and-cultural-sites/ |access-date=28 February 2024 |website=Amnesty International |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228042709/https://xinjiang.amnesty.org/report/blanket-repression-and-erasure-of-ethnic-identity/destruction-of-religious-and-cultural-sites/ }}</ref> [[Associated Press]] reported that from 2015 to 2018, [[birth rate]]s in the mostly Uyghur regions of [[Hotan]] and [[Kashgar]] fell by more than 60%,<ref name="apne_Chin" /> compared to a decrease by 9.69% in the whole country.<ref name="data_Birt">{{Cite web |title=Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) – China |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN?start=2015&end=2018&locations=CN |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=[[The World Bank]]}}</ref> The allegation of Uyghur birth rates being lower than those of Han Chinese have been disputed by pundits from ''[[Pakistan Observer]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2021 |title=Experts reject US allegations of genocide in Xinjiang, China |url=https://pakobserver.net/experts-reject-us-allegations-of-genocide-in-xinjiang-china/ |website=[[Pakistan Observer]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Antara (news agency)|Antara]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=M. Irfan Ilmie |last2=Tia Mutiasari |date=11 January 2021 |title=Populasi Uighur naik 25 persen, pemerintah Xinjiang bantu cek keluarga |trans-title=Uighur population up 25 percent, Xinjiang government helps check families |url=https://www.antaranews.com/berita/1940188/populasi-uighur-naik-25-persen-pemerintah-xinjiang-bantu-cek-keluarga |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614144118/https://www.antaranews.com/berita/1940188/populasi-uighur-naik-25-persen-pemerintah-xinjiang-bantu-cek-keluarga |archive-date=14 June 2021 |website=[[Antara News]] |language=id}}</ref> and [[Detik.com]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Basuki |first=Novi |date=20 December 2021 |title=Uighur dan Pemboikotan Olimpiade Beijing |trans-title=Uighurs and the Boycott of the Beijing Olympics |url=https://news.detik.com/kolom/d-5863420/uighur-dan-pemboikotan-olimpiade-beijing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220720120855/https://news.detik.com/kolom/d-5863420/uighur-dan-pemboikotan-olimpiade-beijing |archive-date=20 July 2022 |website=[[Detik.com]] |language=id-ID |quote=Pada 2018, misalnya, persentase kelahiran Uighur adalah 11,9‰, sedangkan Han cuma 9,42‰. Secara keseluruhan, total populasi Uighur di Xinjiang naik dari yang sekitar 8,346 juta pada 2000, ke 11,624 juta lebih pada 2020. Alias rata-rata naik 1,71% tiap tahunnya. Jauh lebih tinggi ketimbang populasi suku minoritas lain di seluruh China yang saban warsa hanya naik 0,83%.}}</ref> [[File:Uyghurs protesting.jpg|left|thumb|Protesters in Amsterdam with the [[Flag of East Turkestan]]]]The policies have drawn widespread condemnation, with some characterizing them as a genocide. In an [[United Nations Xinjiang Report|assessment by the UN Human Rights Office]], the [[United Nations]] (UN) stated that China's policies and actions in the Xinjiang region may be [[crimes against humanity]], although it did not use the term genocide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ramzy |first1=Austin |date=1 September 2022 |title=For Uyghurs, U.N. Report on China's Abuses Is Long-Awaited Vindication |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/world/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |access-date=2 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=31 August 2022 |title=China: New UN Report Alleges Crimes Against Humanity |work=[[Human Rights Watch]] |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/31/china-new-un-report-alleges-crimes-against-humanity |access-date=2 September 2022}}</ref> The United States<ref name="wsj._U.S._says">{{Cite news |last=Gordon |first=Michael R. |date=19 January 2021 |title=U.S. Says China Is Committing 'Genocide' Against Uighur Muslims |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-declares-chinas-treatment-of-uighur-muslims-to-be-genocide-11611081555 |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref> and legislatures in several countries have described the policies as a genocide. The Chinese government denies having committed human rights abuses in Xinjiang.<ref name="Finley-2020">{{cite journal |last=Finley |first=Joanne |year=2020 |title=Why Scholars and Activists Increasingly Fear a Uyghur Genocide in Xinjiang |journal=[[Journal of Genocide Research]] |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=348–370 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2020.1848109 |s2cid=236962241}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Griffiths |first=James |date=17 April 2021 |title=From cover-up to propaganda blitz: China's attempts to control the narrative on Xinjiang |work=[[CNN]] |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/16/china/beijing-xinjiang-uyghurs-propaganda-intl-hnk-dst/index.html}}</ref>

== Uyghurs of Taoyuan, Hunan ==
Around 5,000 Uyghurs live around [[Taoyuan County, Hunan|Taoyuan County]] and other parts of [[Changde]] in [[Hunan]] province.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuEyAAAAIAAJ&q=Uighurs+are+the+largest+Turkic-speaking+Muslim+people+of+China.+Most+of+them+live+within+the+Xinjiang+Uighur+Autonomous+Region.+An+isolated+group+of+Uighurs+lives,+however,+in+Taoyuan+and+Changde+xian+of+the+Hunan+province.|title=The Altaic-speakers of China: numbers and distribution|author=Ingvar Svanberg|year=1988|publisher=Centre for Mult[i]ethnic Research, Uppsala University, Faculty of Arts|isbn=978-91-86624-20-0|page=7|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlaBw3MUGBEC&q=taoyuan+uighur+hunan&pg=PA220|title=Muslim cultures today: a reference guide|author=Kathryn M. Coughlin|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32386-7|page=220|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> They are descended from [[Hala Bashi]], a Uyghur leader from [[Turpan]] ([[Kingdom of Qocho]]), and his Uyghur soldiers sent to Hunan by the Ming Emperor in the 14th century to crush the Miao rebels during the [[Miao Rebellions (Ming Dynasty)|Miao Rebellions]] in the Ming dynasty.<ref name="english.people.com.cn"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&q=hunan+uyghur&pg=PA178|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author1=Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson |author2=Justin Jon Rudelson |year=1997|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-10786-0|page=178|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> The 1982 census recorded 4,000 Uyghurs in Hunan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpsYAAAAIAAJ&q=After+the+collapse+of+the+Ming+Dynasty,+these+soldiers+continued+to+make+their+homes+in+Changde+and+Taoyuan+in+Hunan.+That+was+how+4000+people+in+Hunan+registered+as+Uygur+nationality+during+the+1982+national+census.|title=New China's population|author=Zhongguo cai zheng jing ji chu ban she|year=1988|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-02-905471-0|page=197|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> They have genealogies which survive 600 years later to the present day. Genealogy keeping is a Han Chinese custom which the Hunan Uyghurs adopted. These Uyghurs were given the surname Jian by the Emperor.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=roiuY7bnb80C&q=hunan+uyghur&pg=PA58|title=Muslim Uyghur students in a Chinese boarding school: social recapitalization as a response to ethnic integration|author=Yangbin Chen|year=2008|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-2112-2|page=58|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> There is some confusion as to whether they practice Islam or not. Some say that they have assimilated with the Han and do not practice Islam anymore and only their genealogies indicate their Uyghur ancestry.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=weYQMv2RqCgC&q=arab+fujian&pg=PA197|title=Islam outside the Arab world|author1=David Westerlund |author2=Ingvar Svanberg |year=1999|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-22691-6|page=197|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> Chinese news sources report that they are Muslim.<ref name="english.people.com.cn"/>

The Uyghur troops led by Hala were ordered by the Ming Emperor to crush [[Miao people|Miao]] rebellions and were given titles by him. Jian is the predominant surname among the Uyghur in Changde, Hunan. Another group of Uyghur have the surname Sai. [[Hui people|Hui]] and Uyghur have intermarried in the Hunan area. The Hui are descendants of Arabs and Han Chinese who intermarried and they share the Islamic religion with the Uyghur in Hunan. It is reported that they now number around 10,000 people. The Uyghurs in Changde are not very religious and eat pork. Older Uyghurs disapprove of this, especially elders at the mosques in Changde and they seek to draw them back to Islamic customs.<ref name="Shih">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ePxMW066j8C&q=jian+uyghur+hunan&pg=PA133|title=Negotiating ethnicity in China: citizenship as a response to the state|author=[[Chih-yu Shih]], Zhiyu Shi|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=0-415-28372-8|page=133|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

In addition to eating pork, the Uyghurs of [[Changde]] Hunan practice other Han Chinese customs, like ancestor worship at graves. Some Uyghurs from Xinjiang visit the Hunan Uyghurs out of curiosity or interest. Also, the Uyghurs of Hunan do not speak the [[Uyghur language]], instead, they speak Mandarin as their native language and Arabic for religious reasons at the mosque.<ref name="Shih" />

==Culture==
===Religion===
[[File:Khotan-mezquita-d03.jpg|thumb|A [[Khotan Mosque|Uyghur mosque]] in [[Hotan|Khotan]]]]

The ancient Uyghurs believed in many local deities. These practices gave rise to [[shamanism]] and [[Tengrism]]. Uyghurs also practiced aspects of [[Zoroastrianism]] such as [[fire altar]]s, and adopted [[Manichaeism]] as a state religion for the Uyghur Khaganate,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moriyasu|first=Takao|date=13 October 2015|title=New Developments in the History of East Uighur Manichaeism|journal=Open Theology|language=en|volume=-1|issue=open-issue|doi=10.1515/opth-2015-0016|doi-access=free}}</ref> possibly in 762 or 763. Ancient Uyghurs also practiced [[Buddhism in Central Asia|Buddhism]] after they moved to Qocho, and some believed in [[Church of the East]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:回鶻觀音信仰考 |website=tanghistory.net |title=A Review of Guanyin Faith |access-date=28 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322065047/http://www.tanghistory.net/data/articles/d02/621.html |archive-date=22 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93572.htm |language=zh-hant  |script-title=zh:回鶻彌勒信仰考 |publisher=Ccbs.ntu.edu.tw |access-date=3 March 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313160638/http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93572.htm |archive-date=13 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Ben Westcott and Yong Xiong|date=22 July 2019|title=Xinjiang's Uyghurs didn't choose to be Muslim, new Chinese report says|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghur-muslim-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=24 March 2021|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Uighur Buddhism|url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0197.xml|access-date=14 February 2022|website=obo|language=en}}</ref>

People in the Western Tarim Basin region began their conversion to Islam early in the Kara-Khanid Khanate period.<ref name="sinor"/> Some pre-Islamic practices continued under Muslim rule; for example, while the Quran dictated many rules on marriage and divorce, other pre-Islamic principles based on Zoroastrianism also helped shape the laws of the land.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Starr|first=S. Frederick|title=Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-691-15773-3|page=96}}</ref> There had been [[Christianity in Xinjiang|Christian]] conversions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these were suppressed by the [[First East Turkestan Republic]] government agents.<ref name="UhalleyWu2015">{{cite book|author1=Stephen Uhalley|author2=Xiaoxin Wu|title=China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful Future|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPnqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA274|date=4 March 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47501-9|pages=274–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880-1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA59|year=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-16675-2|pages=59–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edward Laird Mills|title=Christian Advocate -: Pacific Edition ..|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vgtAQAAIAAJ&q=swedish+missionaries+1933+persecution|year=1938|page=986}}</ref> Because of persecution, the churches were destroyed and the believers were scattered.<ref name="Millward27">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA179|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3|page=179|author=James A. Millward}}</ref> According to the national census, 0.5% or 1,142 [[Uyghurs in Kazakhstan]] were [[Christians]] in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title= kk:Қазақстан Республикасындағы ұлттық құрам, діни наным және тілдерді меңгеру |title= Nationality, religious beliefs and language skills in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Census 2009) |page= 329 |url= https://stat.gov.kz/census/national/2009/general |website= Republic of Kazakhstan Bureau of National Statistics |access-date= 10 March 2021 |location= Astana |date= 2011 |archive-date= 20 June 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210620060742/https://stat.gov.kz/census/national/2009/general }}</ref>

Modern Uyghurs are primarily [[Muslims|Muslim]] and they are the second-largest predominantly Muslim ethnicity in China after the [[Hui people|Hui]].<ref name="Palmer">{{Cite book|title=Chinese Religious Life|first1=David|last1=Palmer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFaLDKFZpFgC&pg=PA62|first2=Glenn|last2=Shive|first3=Philip|last3=Wickeri|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|pages=61–62|isbn=978-0-19-973138-1|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=dFaLDKFZpFgC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The majority of modern Uyghurs are [[Sunni Islam|Sunnis]], although additional conflicts exist between Sufi and non-Sufi religious orders.<ref name="Palmer"/> While modern Uyghurs consider Islam to be part of their identity, religious observance varies between different regions. In general, Muslims in the southern region, Kashgar in particular, are more conservative. For example, women wearing the veil (a piece of cloth covering the head completely) are more common in Kashgar than some other cities.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA153|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author=Justin Jon Rudelson|year=1997|page=153|publisher=Columbia University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-231-10787-0|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The veil, however, has been banned in cities such as [[Ürümqi]] since 2014 after it became more popular there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-30435691 |title=China Uighurs: Xinjiang city of Urumqi to ban Islamic veil |date=11 December 2014 |work=BBC}}</ref>

While the vast majority of Uyghur Muslims had been Sunni, there had been some Shia Uyghurs, mostly Ismaili with a Twelver minority. Ismaili dawah networks were known to have reached Uyghur regions in Xinjiang via Badakhshan and the Pamirs, where pockets of Nizari and Tayyibi Shia Islam were already present among Iranic and Turkic mountain communities.<ref>Daftary, Farhad. The Ismaʿilis: Their History and Doctrines. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 238–241.</ref><ref>Bregel, Yuri. An Historical Atlas of Central Asia. Leiden: Brill, 2003, p. 88.</ref> A minority of Uyghur Shias were Twelver.<ref>Daftary, Farhad. A Short History of the Ismailis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998, pp. 203–205.</ref> In the early 20th century, some Uyghurs had studied in Twelver Shia seminaries in Najaf and Qom and later returned to Xinjiang as Twelver Shia Muslims.<ref name="auto2">Millward, James A. Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007, p. 196.</ref> During the Republican and Maoist eras in China, Shia Muslims were marginalized both nationally by the Han Chinese authorities, and regionally by Sunni Uyghur religious elites.<ref name="auto2"/> Twelver Shia Islam was historically associated with Persians or Tajiks, limiting its adoption among Uyghurs. Nevertheless, many Uyghurs historically converted to Shia Islam.<ref>Fazeli, Nematollah. Politics of Culture in Iran: Anthropology, Politics and Society in the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge, 2006, pp. 114–116.</ref>

There is an ethnic split between the Uyghurs and the Hui Muslims in Xinjiang and they generally worship in different mosques.<ref>{{cite book |title=Xinjiang, China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=Chapter 13 – Islam in Xinjiang |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA331 |author1=Graham E. Fuller |author2=Jonathan N. Lipman |name-list-style=amp |editor=S. Frederick Starr |pages=331–332 |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 |date=15 March 2004 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe }}</ref> The Chinese government discourages religious worship among the Uyghurs,<ref name="nyt2016">{{cite news |last=Jacob |first=Andrew |date=2 January 2016 |title=Xinjiang Seethes Under Chinese Crackdown |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/asia/xinjiang-seethes-under-chinese-crackdown.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103033831/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/asia/xinjiang-seethes-under-chinese-crackdown.html |archive-date=3 January 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> and there is evidence of thousands of Uyghur mosques including historic ones being destroyed.<ref name="lily">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/revealed-new-evidence-of-chinas-mission-to-raze-the-mosques-of-xinjiang |title=Revealed: new evidence of China's mission to raze the mosques of Xinjiang |first=Lily |last=Kuo |date=7 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |access-date=7 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507100720/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/revealed-new-evidence-of-chinas-mission-to-raze-the-mosques-of-xinjiang |archive-date=7 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2020 [[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]] report, Chinese authorities since 2017 have destroyed or damaged 16,000 mosques in Xinjiang.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|date=25 September 2020|title=Thousands of Xinjiang mosques destroyed or damaged, report finds|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/thousands-of-xinjiang-mosques-destroyed-damaged-china-report-finds|access-date=26 September 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Skopeliti|first=Clea|date=25 September 2020|title=China: Nearly two-thirds of Xinjiang mosques damaged or demolished, new report shows|work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/xinjiang-mosques-destroyed-damaged-china-uighurs-b597919.html|access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref>

In the early 21st century, a new trend of Islam, [[Salafi movement|Salafism]], emerged in Xinjiang, mostly among the Turkic population including Uyghurs, although there are Hui Salafis. These Salafis tended to demonstrate [[pan-Islamism]] and abandoned nationalism in favor of a caliphate to rule Xinjiang in the event of independence from China.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263064251 |title=Revisiting the Salafi-jihadist Threat in Xinjiang |last=Kuo |first=Kendrick |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=32 |number=4 |date=December 2012 |pages=528–544 |doi=10.1080/13602004.2012.744172|s2cid=143745128 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mesbar.org/salafism-china-jihadist-takfiri-strains/|title=Salafism in China and its Jihadist-Takfiri strains|date=18 January 2018|access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref> Many Uyghur Salafis have allied themselves with the [[Turkistan Islamic Party]] in response to growing repression of Uyghurs by China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gurcan |first=Metin |date=19 January 2015 |title=Oppressed by China, Uighurs drawn to Salafist ideas |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/turkey-china-uyghurs-to-salafist-oppressive.html |access-date=24 July 2020 |website=[[Al-Monitor]]}}</ref>

===Language===
{{Main|Uyghur language}}

[[File:Map of language areas of Xinjiang.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Map of language families in Xinjiang]]

The ancient people of the Tarim Basin originally spoke different languages, such as [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]], [[Saka language|Saka]] (Khotanese), and [[Gāndhārī language|Gandhari]]. The Turkic people who moved into the region in the 9th century brought with them their languages, which slowly supplanted the original tongues of the local inhabitants. In the 11th century, [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]] noted that the Uyghurs (of Qocho) spoke a pure Turkic language, but they also still spoke another language among themselves and had two different scripts. He also noted that the people of Khotan did not know Turkic well and had their own language and script ([[Saka language|Khotanese]]).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAX5ohFkcVgC&pg=PA72 |title=slamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources |author1=Scott Cameron Levi |author2=Ron Sela |page=72 |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-253-35385-6 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=SAX5ohFkcVgC&pg=PA72 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Writers of the Karakhanid period, Al-Kashgari and [[Yusuf Balasagun]], referred to their Turkic language as ''Khāqāniyya'' (meaning royal) or the "language of Kashgar" or simply Turkic.<ref>{{cite book|author3-link=Robert Dankoff|author1=Mehmet Fuat Köprülü|author2=Gary Leiser|author3=Robert Dankoff|title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&pg=PA158|year=2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-36686-1|pages=158–|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC&pg=PA158|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edmund Herzig|title=The Age of the Seljuqs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ML2bBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|date=30 November 2014|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-947-9|pages=23–|access-date=22 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=ML2bBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

The modern Uyghur language is classified under the [[Karluk languages|Karluk]] branch of the [[Turkic languages|Turkic language family]]. It is closely related to [[Äynu language|Äynu]], [[Lop language|Lop]], [[Ili Turki language|Ili Turki]] and [[Chagatay language|Chagatay]] (the East Karluk languages) and slightly less closely to [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]] (which is West Karluk). The Uyghur language is an [[agglutinative language]] and has a [[subject-object-verb]] word order. It has [[vowel harmony]] like other Turkic languages and has noun and verb [[Grammatical case|cases]] but lacks distinction of gender forms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~celcar/pamphlets/Uyghur.pdf |title=Uyghur |work=Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region |publisher=Indiana University |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607223811/http://www.indiana.edu/~celcar/pamphlets/uyghur.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2015 }}</ref>

Modern Uyghurs have adopted a number of scripts for their language. The [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic script]], known as the [[Chagatay alphabet]], was adopted along with Islam. This alphabet is known as Kona Yëziq (old script). Political changes in the 20th century led to numerous reforms of the scripts, for example the [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]-based [[Uyghur Cyrillic alphabet]], a Latin [[Uyghur New Script]] and later a reformed [[Uyghur Arabic alphabet]], which represents all vowels, unlike Kona Yëziq. A new Latin version, the [[Uyghur Latin alphabet]], was also devised in the 21st century.

In the 1990s, many Uyghurs in parts of Xinjiang could not speak [[Mandarin Chinese]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/china00pete/page/304|title=China the Silk Routes|author=Peter Neville-Hadley|series=[[Cadogan Guides]]|publisher=[[Globe Pequot Press]]|page=304|year=1997|isbn=978-1-86011-052-8|quote=Travelling east from Khotan{...}Many Uighurs speak no Chinese at all, and most hotels are even less likely to have English speakers than those elsewhere in China.}}</ref>

===Literature===
{{main|Uyghur literature}}

[[File:Manicheans.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Leaf from a [[Uyghur Khaganate|Uyghur]]-[[Chinese Manichaeism|Manichaean]] version of the ''[[Arzhang]]'']]

The literary works of the ancient Uyghurs were mostly translations of Buddhist and Manichaean religious texts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hk.plm.org.cn/e_book/xz-11348.pdf |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:西域、 敦煌文獻所見回鵲之佛經翻譯 |website=hk.plm.org.cn |access-date=28 July 2013 }}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> but there were also narrative, poetic and epic works apparently original to the Uyghurs. However it is the literature of the Kara-Khanid period that is considered by modern Uyghurs to be the important part of their literary traditions. Among these are Islamic religious texts and histories of [[Turkic peoples]], and important works surviving from that era are ''[[Kutadgu Bilig]]'', "Wisdom of Royal Glory" by [[Yusuf Khass Hajib]] (1069–70), [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]'s ''Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk'', "A Dictionary of Turkic Dialects" (1072) and Ehmed Yükneki's ''Etebetulheqayiq''. Modern Uyghur religious literature includes the [[Tadhkirah (Ahmadiyya)|Taẕkirah]], biographies of Islamic religious figures and saints.<ref name="Thum2014 2">{{cite book|author=Rian Thum|title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pP6EBAAAQBAJ&q=tazkirah&pg=PA113|date=13 October 2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-59855-3|pages=113–}}</ref><ref name=Thum2012>{{cite journal |last1=Thum |first1=Rian |title=Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |date=August 2012 |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=627–653 |doi=10.1017/S0021911812000629 |s2cid=162917965 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Shaw|title=A Sketch of the Turki Language: As Spoken in Eastern Turkistan ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA102|year=1878|pages=102–109|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821113649/https://books.google.com/books?id=dw7gAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA102|archive-date=21 August 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India)|title=Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0G0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325|year=1877|pages=325–347|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109085728/https://books.google.com/books?id=0G0yAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|url=https://archive.org/details/journalasiatics03benggoog|year=1877|publisher=G.H. Rouse, Baptist Mission Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/journalasiatics03benggoog/page/n334 325]–347|access-date=26 July 2016}}{{cite book|author=Robert Shaw|title=A Sketch of the Túrkí Language as Spoken in Eastern Túrkistán (Káshgar & Yarkand) Together with a Collection of Extracts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlpIAQAAMAAJ&q=nucta+rashid|year=1875|publisher=Printed at the Central jail Press|pages=i–xxix}}</ref> The Turki language ''Tadhkirah i Khwajagan'' was written by M. Sadiq Kashghari.<ref name="Storey2002">{{cite book|author=C. A. Storey|title=Persian Literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VleM1pOXgdQC&q=Semyonov+chahars&pg=PA1026|date=February 2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-947593-38-4|pages=1026–}}</ref> Between the 1600s and 1900s many Turki-language tazkirah manuscripts devoted to stories of local sultans, martyrs and saints were written.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/review/xinjiang-stories-nile-green-rian-thum-sacred-routes-uyghur-history|title=Xinjiang Stories – Los Angeles Review of Books|date=3 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406002413/https://lareviewofbooks.org/review/xinjiang-stories-nile-green-rian-thum-sacred-routes-uyghur-history|archive-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> Perhaps the most famous and best-loved pieces of modern Uyghur literature are [[Abdurehim Ötkür]]'s ''Iz'', ''Oyghanghan Zimin'', [[Zordun Sabir]]'s ''Anayurt'' and [[Ziya Samedi]]'s novels ''Mayimkhan'' and ''Mystery of the years''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

Exiled Uyghur writers and poets, such as [[Muyesser Abdul'ehed]], use literature to highlight the issues facing their community.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Freeman|first=Joshua L.|title=Uighur Poets on Repression and Exile|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/08/13/uighur-poets-on-repression-and-exile/|access-date=9 November 2020|website=The New York Review of Books|date=13 August 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

===Music===
[[File:Uyghur Meshrep.jpg|thumb|Uyghur Meshrep musicians in Yarkand]]
{{Listen
| filename     = Chirayliq.ogg
| title        = Uyghur folk music with modern influence
| description  = An example of modern Uyghur music
}}

[[Muqam]] is the classical musical style. The '''12 Muqams''' are the national oral epic of the Uyghurs. The muqam system was developed among the Uyghur in northwestern China and Central Asia over approximately the last 1500 years from the Arabic [[maqama]]t [[Mode (music)|modal]] system that has led to many musical genres among peoples of [[Eurasia]] and [[North Africa]]. Uyghurs have local muqam systems named after the oasis towns of [[Xinjiang]], such as [[Dolan people|Dolan]], [[Yining|Ili]], [[Hami|Kumul]] and [[Turpan]]. The most fully developed at this point is the Western [[Tarim Basin|Tarim]] region's 12 muqams, which are now a large canon of music and songs recorded by the traditional performers [[Turdi Akhun]] and [[Omar Akhun]] among others in the 1950s and edited into a more systematic system. Although the folk performers probably improvized their songs, as in Turkish [[Taqsim|taksim]] performances, the present institutional canon is performed as fixed compositions by ensembles.

The Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang has been designated by [[UNESCO]] as part of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=21 |title=UNESCO Culture Sector – Intangible Heritage – 2003 Convention |publisher=Unesco.org |access-date=28 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514084005/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?RL=21 |archive-date=14 May 2011 }}</ref>

[[Amannisa Khan]], sometimes called Amanni Shahan (1526–1560), is credited with collecting and thereby preserving the Twelve Muqam.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kashi.gov.cn/English/Tourism/Customs/12muqams.htm |title=Kashgar Welcome You! |publisher=Kashi.gov.cn |access-date=28 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181818/http://www.kashi.gov.cn/English/Tourism/Customs/12muqams.htm |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> 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|duttar]]".

Uzbek composer [[Shakhida Shaimardanova]] uses themes from Uyghur folk music in her compositions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic |url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Uzbek+Soviet+Socialist+Republic |access-date=2 August 2022 |website=TheFreeDictionary.com}}</ref>

===Dance===

[[Sanam (dance)|Sanam]] is a popular folk dance among the Uyghur people.<ref>{{cite book|title=Imagined Differences: Hatred and the Construction of Identity|editor1-first=Günther|editor1-last=Schlee|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2002|chapter=Temperamental Neighbours: Uighur-Han Relations in Xinjiang, Northwest China|last=Bellér-Hann|first=Ildikó|page=66|quote=The fact that many young girls hope to pursue careers as folk dancers is perhaps another indication that the stereotype promoted by the Chinese authorities of the colourful, exotic minorities who dance and sing is not a pure Chinese invention: the Uighur themselves regard this as an important expression of their identity.}}</ref> It is commonly danced by people at weddings, festive occasions, and parties.<ref name="abliz">{{cite web|url=http://people.cs.pitt.edu/~mehmud/uyghur/music_dance.html|title=Uyghur Music|author=Mehmud Abliz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228164528/http://people.cs.pitt.edu/~mehmud/uyghur/music_dance.html|archive-date=28 February 2014|access-date=28 September 2013}}</ref> The dance may be performed with singing and musical accompaniment. Sama is a form of group dance for [[Newruz]] (New Year) and other festivals.<ref name="abliz"/> Other dances include the Dolan dances, Shadiyane, and Nazirkom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oqya.5u.com/catalog.html|title=Brief Introduction of Uyghur Dances work – Uyghur Music Dance and Songs Online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030203232734/http://www.oqya.5u.com/catalog.html|archive-date=3 February 2003}}</ref> Some dances may alternate between singing and dancing, and Uyghur hand-drums called ''[[dap (drum)|dap]]'' are commonly used as accompaniment for Uyghur dances.

===Art===
[[File:Turpan-bezeklik-pinturas-d02.jpg|thumb|Wall painting at [[Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves|Bezeklik caves]] in Flaming Mountains, Turpan Depression]]
[[File:Khotan-fabrica-alfombras-d09.jpg|thumb|Xinjiang carpet factory]]

During the late-19th and early-20th centuries, scientific and archaeological expeditions to the region of Xinjiang's [[Silk Road]] discovered numerous cave temples, monastery ruins, and wall paintings, as well as miniatures, books, and documents. There are 77 [[Rock cut architecture|rock-cut]] caves at the site. Most have rectangular spaces with [[round arch]] ceilings often divided into four sections, each with a [[mural]] of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]. The effect is of an entire ceiling covered with hundreds of Buddha murals. Some ceilings are painted with a large Buddha surrounded by other figures, including Indians, [[Persians]] and Europeans. The quality of the murals vary with some being artistically naïve while others are masterpieces of religious art.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.showcaves.com/english/cn/misc/Bezeklik.html |title= Bizaklik Thousand Buddha Caves |website= www.showcaves.com |access-date= 21 September 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103033/http://www.showcaves.com/english/cn/misc/Bezeklik.html |archive-date= 29 September 2007 }}</ref>

===Education===
Historically, the education level of Old Uyghur people was higher than the other ethnicities around them. The Buddhist Uyghurs of Qocho became the civil servants of Mongol Empire and Old Uyghur Buddhists enjoyed a high status in the Mongol empire. They also introduced the written [[Mongolian script|script]] for the [[Mongolian language]]. In the Islamic era, education was provided by the mosques and [[Madrasa|madrassas]]. During the Qing era, Chinese Confucian schools were also set up in Xinjiang<ref name="Millward PA142">{{harvnb|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA142 142–148]}}</ref> and in the late 19th century Christian missionary schools.<ref name="benson"/>

In the late nineteenth and early 20th century, schools were often located in mosques and madrassas. Mosques ran informal schools, known as [[Maktab (education)|mektep]] or ''maktab'', attached to the mosques,<ref>{{cite book|author=S. Frederick Starr|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA192|date=15 March 2004|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-3192-3|pages=192–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109081722/https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA192#v=onepage&q=schools&f=false|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''maktab'' provided most of the education and its curriculum was primarily religious and oral.{{sfn|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA146 145–147]}} Boys and girls might be taught in separate schools, some of which offered modern secular subjects in the early 20th century.<ref name="Millward PA142"/><ref name="benson"/><ref>{{Cite book|title = East Turkestan history|last = Muhammad emin|first = Bughra|year = 1941|location = Kabul|page = 155}}</ref> In madrasas, poetry, logic, Arabic grammar and [[Islamic Law|Islamic law]] were taught.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rian Thum|title=The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63|date=13 October 2014|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-96702-1|pages=63–|access-date=15 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109065008/https://books.google.com/books?id=QqOmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 20th century, the [[Jadid]]ists Turkic Muslims from Russia spread new ideas on education<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew D. W. Forbes|title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA17 |date=9 October 1986|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-25514-1|pages=17–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA166|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=166–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109091416/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA166#v=onepage&q=schools&f=false|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ondřej Klimeš|title=Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|date=8 January 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28809-6|pages=80–|access-date=28 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109085604/https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcuBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Ibrahim.pdf |title=Ibrahim's story |author=William Clark |journal=Asian Ethnicity |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=203–219 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119004309/http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/Ibrahim.pdf |archive-date=19 November 2015 |doi=10.1080/14631369.2010.510877 |year=2011 |s2cid=145009760 }}</ref> and popularized the identity of "Turkestani".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/uyghur|title=What Is a Uyghur? |work=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=26 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403153046/https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/uyghur|archive-date=3 April 2016 }}</ref>

In more recent times, religious education is highly restricted in Xinjiang and the Chinese authority had sought to eradicate any religious school they considered illegal.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA168 |title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|page=168}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages |url=https://archive.org/details/madrasaasiapolit00noor |url-access=limited |editor1= Farish A. Noor |editor2=Yoginder Sikand |editor3=Martin van Bruinessen |author=Jackie Amijo |chapter=Chapter 6 – Muslim Education in China |pages=[https://archive.org/details/madrasaasiapolit00noor/page/n185 185]–186 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year= 2008 |isbn=978-90-5356-710-4 }}</ref> Although Islamic private schools (Sino-Arabic schools ({{lang-zh|first=s|s=中阿學校|t=中阿學校|labels=no}})) have been supported and permitted by the Chinese government in Hui Muslim areas since the 1980s, this policy does not extend to schools in Xinjiang due to fear of separatism.<ref name="VersteeghEid2005">{{cite book|author1=Kees Versteegh|author2=Mushira Eid|title=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics: A-Ed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuNiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383|year=2005|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-14473-6|pages=383–|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109043648/https://books.google.com/books?id=SuNiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf ALLÈS & CHÉRIF-CHEBBI & HALFON 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429210144/http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf |date=29 April 2016 }}, p. 14.</ref><ref name="Relations2005">{{cite book|author=Senate (U S ) Committee on Foreign Relations|title=Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, 2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04dlwzB2SvcC&pg=PA159|date=August 2005|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-072552-4|pages=159–|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108235844/https://books.google.com/books?id=04dlwzB2SvcC&pg=PA159|archive-date=8 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beginning in the early 20th century, secular education became more widespread. Early in the communist era, Uyghurs had a choice of two separate secular school systems, one conducted in their own language and one offering instructions only in Chinese.<ref>{{Cite book|title = English language education across greater China|last = Anwei|first = Feng|page = 262}}</ref> Many Uyghurs linked the preservation of their cultural and religious identity with the language of instruction in schools and therefore preferred Uyghur language schools.<ref name="benson">{{cite book |title=Xinjiang, China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=Chapter 7 – Education and Social Mobility among Minority Populations in Xinjiang |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA191|author=Linda Benson |date=15 March 2004 |editor=S. Frederick Starr |pages=190–215 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1318-9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA128|title=Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road|author=Justin Jon Rudelson|year=1997|pages=127–129|publisher=Columbia University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-231-10787-0|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> However, from the mid-1980s onward, the Chinese government began to reduce teaching in Uyghur and starting mid-1990s also began to merge some schools from the two systems. By 2002, [[Xinjiang University]], originally a bilingual institution, had ceased offering courses in the Uyghur language. From 2004 onward, the government policy has been that classes should be conducted in Chinese as much as possible and in some selected regions, instruction in Chinese began in the first grade.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse |url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |author=Arienne M. Dwyer |publisher=East-West Center Washington |year=2005 |pages=34–41 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101342/https://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |archive-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> A special senior-secondary [[boarding school]] program for Uyghurs, the Xinjiang Class, with course work conducted entirely in Chinese was also established in 2000.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLPhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA158|title=Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang |editor1= Joanne Smith Finley |editor2=Xiaowei Zang |pages= 158–159|isbn= 978-1-315-72658-8|date=2015 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Many schools also moved toward bilingual Chinese-Uyghur education from 2012,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200724-fears-for-uighur-culture-as-scholars-vanish-in-china-crackdown |title=Fears for Uighur culture as scholars vanish in China crackdown |work=[[France 24]] via [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] |date=24 July 2020 |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref> with teaching in the Uyghur language limited to only a few hours a week.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2015/06/27/tongue-tied |title=Tongue-tied |newspaper=The Economist |date=27 June 2015 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The level of educational attainment among Uyghurs is generally lower than that of the Han Chinese; this may be due to the cost of education, the lack of proficiency in the Chinese language (now the main medium of instruction) among many Uyghurs, and poorer employment prospects for Uyghur graduates due to job discrimination in favor of Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grose |first1=Timothy A. |title=The Xinjiang Class: Education, Integration, and the Uyghurs |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |date=March 2010 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=97–109 |doi=10.1080/13602001003650648 |s2cid=38299716 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLPhCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA165|title=Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang |editor1= Joanne Smith Finley |editor2=Xiaowei Zang |pages= 165–166|isbn= 978-1-315-72658-8|date=2015 |publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Uyghurs in China, unlike the [[Hui people|Hui]] and [[Salar people|Salar]] who are also mostly Muslim, generally do not oppose [[coeducation]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRSOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|title=China's universities, 1895–1995: a century of cultural conflict|author=Ruth Hayhoe|year=1996|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=202|isbn=0-8153-1859-6|access-date=29 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRSOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|archive-date=1 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> however girls may be withdrawn from school earlier than boys.<ref name="benson"/>

===Traditional medicine===
Uyghur traditional medicine is known as [[Unani]] (طب یونانی), as historically used in the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Justin Jon Rudelson |author2=Justin Ben-Adam Rudelson |title=Oasis Identities: Uyghur Nationalism Along China's Silk Road |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&q=rudelson+unani&pg=PA84 |year=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10786-0 |pages=84–}}</ref> Sir [[Percy Sykes]] described the medicine as "based on the ancient Greek theory" and mentioned how ailments and sicknesses were treated in ''Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5yAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA318 Sykes & Sykes 1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5yAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA318 |date=1 January 2016 }}, p. 317-321.</ref> Today, traditional 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 modern medical science and medicine and applied evidence-based pharmaceutical technology to traditional medicines. Historically, Uyghur medical knowledge has contributed to Chinese medicine in terms of medical treatments, medicinal materials and ingredients and symptom detection.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA81 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=81– |access-date=20 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109084148/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA81 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Cuisine===
{{Main|Uyghur cuisine}}

[[File:Uyghur polu closeup.JPG|thumb|Uyghur ''[[Pilaf|polu]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|پولۇ}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|полу}})]]
Uyghur food shows both [[Central Asian cuisine|Central Asian]] and [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese]] elements. A typical Uyghur dish is ''polu'' (or [[pilaf]]), a dish found throughout Central Asia. In a common version of the Uyghur ''polu'', carrots and mutton (or chicken) are first fried in oil with onions, then rice and water are added and the whole dish is steamed. Raisins and dried apricots may also be added. ''Kawaplar'' ({{langx|ug|Каваплар}}) or ''[[chuanr]]'' (i.e., [[kebab]]s or grilled meat) are also found here. Another common Uyghur dish is ''[[leghmen]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|لەغمەن}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|ләғмән}}), a noodle dish with a stir-fried topping (''säy'', from Chinese ''cai'', {{lang|zh|{{linktext|菜}}}}) usually made from mutton and vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, green bell peppers, chili peppers and cabbage. This dish is likely to have originated from the Chinese ''[[lamian]]'', but its flavor and preparation method are distinctively Uyghur.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA190 |title=Situating the Uyghurs between China and Central Asia|chapter= Chapter 10, ''Polo'', ''läghmän'', ''So Säy'': Situating Uyghur Food Between Central Asia and China|author=M Critina Cesàro|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=185–202|access-date=30 July 2010}}</ref>

Uyghur food ({{lang|ug-Latn|Uyghur Yemekliri}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Уйғур Йәмәклири}}) is characterized by [[Lamb and mutton|mutton]], [[beef]], [[Camel meat|camel]] (solely [[Bactrian camel|bactrian]]), [[Chicken (food)|chicken]], [[goose]], [[carrot]]s, [[tomato]]es, [[onion]]s, [[Capsicum|peppers]], [[eggplant]], [[celery]], various [[Dairy product|dairy foods]] and fruits.

A Uyghur-style breakfast consists of [[tea]] with home-baked bread, [[hardened yogurt]], [[olive]]s, [[honey]], [[raisin]]s and [[almond]]s. Uyghurs like to treat guests with tea, [[naan]] and fruit before the main dishes are ready.

''[[Sangza]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|ساڭزا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Саңза}}) are crispy fried [[wheat flour]] dough twists, a holiday specialty. ''[[Samsa (food)|Samsa]]'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|سامسا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Самса}}) are lamb [[pie]]s baked in a special brick oven. ''[[Youtazi]]'' is steamed multi-layer bread. ''Göshnan'' ({{lang|ug-Arab|گۆشنان}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Гөшнан}}) are pan-grilled lamb pies. ''[[Pamirdin]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Памирдин}}) are baked pies stuffed with lamb, carrots and onions. ''[[Chorba|Shorpa]]'' is lamb [[soup]] ({{lang|ug-Arab|شۇرپا}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|Шорпа}}). Other dishes include ''[[Tohax|Toghach]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Тоғач}}) (a type of [[tandoor bread]]) and ''[[Doner kebab|Tunurkawab]]'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Тунуркаваб}}). ''Girde'' ({{lang|ug-Cyrl|Гирде}}) is also a very popular [[bagel]]-like bread with a hard and crispy crust that is soft inside.

A cake sold by Uyghurs is the traditional Uyghur nut cake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://offbeatchina.com/an-unbelievably-expensive-piece-of-xinjiang-nut-cake-and-what-it-tells-about-the-ethnic-policy-in-china |title=An unbelievably expensive piece of Xinjiang nut cake and what it tells about the ethnic policy in China |date=4 December 2012 |work=Offbeat China |access-date=19 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915171022/http://offbeatchina.com/an-unbelievably-expensive-piece-of-xinjiang-nut-cake-and-what-it-tells-about-the-ethnic-policy-in-china |archive-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://world.time.com/2012/12/05/dont-let-them-eat-cake-how-ethnic-tensions-in-china-explode-on-the-streets/ |title= Don't Let Them Eat Cake: How Ethnic Tensions in China Explode on the Streets |author= Austin Ramzy |date= 5 December 2012 |magazine= Time |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121212194419/http://world.time.com/2012/12/05/dont-let-them-eat-cake-how-ethnic-tensions-in-china-explode-on-the-streets/ |archive-date= 12 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/xinjiang-nut-cake-scandal-in-china-2012-12 |title=Chinese Racial Tensions Flare Over An Overpriced Nut Cake |author=Adam Taylor |date=4 December 2012 |work=Business Insider |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821152730/http://www.businessinsider.com/xinjiang-nut-cake-scandal-in-china-2012-12 |archive-date=21 August 2016 }}</ref>

===Clothing===
[[File:Uyghur-Dopa-Maker.jpg|thumb|upright|Doppa maker, traditional Uyghur hats, Kashgar]]

[[Chapan]], a coat, and [[doppa]], a type of hat for men, is commonly worn by Uyghurs. Another type of headwear, salwa [[telpek]] (''salwa tälpäk'', салва тәлпәк), is also worn by Uyghurs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA91 Friederich 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193741/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA91 |date=1 January 2016 }}, pp.91–92.</ref>

In the early 20th century, face covering veils with velvet caps trimmed with otter fur were worn in the streets by Turki women in public in Xinjiang as witnessed by the adventurer Ahmad Kamal in the 1930s.<ref name="Kamal2000">{{cite book|author=Ahmad Kamal|title=Land Without Laughter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM2fGu9nnPUC&pg=PA110|date=1 August 2000|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-01005-9|pages=110–|access-date=19 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109075816/https://books.google.com/books?id=bM2fGu9nnPUC&pg=PA110|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Travelers of the period Sir [[Percy Sykes]] and Ella Sykes wrote that in Kashghar women went into the bazar "transacting business with their veils thrown back" but mullahs tried to enforce veil wearing and were "in the habit of beating those who show their face in the Great Bazar".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.11941 |title=Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia |publisher=Macmillan |author1=Ella Constance Sykes |author2=Percy Molesworth Sykes |year=1920 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.11941/page/n71 61] |access-date=1 December 2015 }}</ref> In that period, belonging to different social statuses meant a difference in how rigorously the veil was worn.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 2">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA193 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=193– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109075533/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA193 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Qoy Baziri (198247507).jpeg|thumb|left|Uyghur man having his head shaved in a bazaar. Shaving of the head is now seen mostly among the older generations.]]
[[File:Uyghur-redhead.jpg|thumb|upright|Uyghur girl in clothing made of fabric with design distinctive to the Uyghurs]]
Muslim Turkestani men traditionally cut all the hair off their head.<ref name="CrossleySiu2006">{{cite book|author1=Pamela Kyle Crossley|author2=Helen F. Siu|author3=Donald S. Sutton|title=Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtNVMUx9qIIC&pg=PA127|date=January 2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-23015-6|pages=127–|access-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109082522/https://books.google.com/books?id=EtNVMUx9qIIC&pg=PA127|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Sir [[Aurel Stein]] observed that the "Turki Muhammadan, accustomed to shelter this shaven head under a substantial fur-cap when the temperature is so low as it was just then".<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 3">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA80 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=80– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109081249/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA80 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> No hair cutting for men took place on the ''ajuz ayyam'', days of the year that were considered inauspicious.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2008 4">{{cite book |author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann |title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880–1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA397 |year=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16675-2 |pages=397– |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109133217/https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA397 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Traditional handicrafts===
[[Yengisar County|Yengisar]] is famous for manufacturing Uyghur handcrafted knives.<ref name="Witness">{{Cite book|title=China|publisher=Eye Witness Travel Guides|page=514}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.china.com.cn/aboutchina/txt/2009-07/09/content_18103305.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219070822/http://www.china.com.cn/aboutchina/txt/2009-07/09/content_18103305.htm |archive-date=19 December 2013 |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:新疆的英吉沙小刀(組圖) |publisher=china.com.cn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.e56.com.cn/minzu_eng/weiwuerzu.asp |title=The Uyghur Nationality |work=Oriental Nationalities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520075916/http://www.e56.com.cn/minzu_eng/weiwuerzu.asp |archive-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> The Uyghur word for knife is pichaq ({{lang|ug-Arab|پىچاق}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|пичақ}}) and the word for knifemaking (cutler) is pichaqchiliq ({{lang|ug-Arab|پىچاقچىلىقى}}, {{lang|ug-Cyrl|пичақчилиқ}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uy.ts.cn/dihan/2013-11/06/content_312722.htm|language=ug|script-title=ug:شىنجاڭ دېھقانلار تورى|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208072440/http://uy.ts.cn/dihan/2013-11/06/content_312722.htm|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=5 December 2015}}</ref> Uyghur artisan craftsmen in Yengisar are known for their knife manufacture. Uyghur men carry such knives as part of their culture to demonstrate the masculinity of the wearer,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sinobuy.cn/theme/longLock/yjshd.html |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:英吉沙小刀|publisher=sinobuy.cn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109204518/http://www.sinobuy.cn/theme/longLock/yjshd.html|archive-date=9 November 2015}}</ref> but it has also led to ethnic tension.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/strangers |title=The Strangers: Blood and Fear in Xinjiang |first=James |last=Palmer |date=25 September 2013 |work=China File |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226015816/http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/strangers |archive-date=26 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/china/kunming-attack-further-frays-ties-between-han-and-uighurs |title=Kunming attack further frays ties between Han and Uighurs |date=5 March 2014 |work=Today |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013095751/http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/china/kunming-attack-further-frays-ties-between-han-and-uighurs |archive-date=13 October 2016 }}</ref> Limitations were placed on knife vending due to concerns over terrorism and violent assaults.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-china-uighur-knives-20140917-story.html |title=For China's Uighurs, Knifings Taint An Ancient Craft |author=Julie Makinen |work=Los Angeles Times |date=17 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716135226/http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-china-uighur-knives-20140917-story.html |archive-date=16 July 2016 }}</ref>

=== Livelihood ===
[[File:Uyghur women on their way to work, Kashgar. 2011.jpg|thumb|Uyghur women on their way to work in Kashgar, 2011]]

Most Uyghurs are agriculturists.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} Cultivating crops in an arid region has made the Uyghurs excel in irrigation techniques. This includes the construction and maintenance of underground channels called ''karez'' that brings water from the mountains to their fields. A few of the well-known agricultural goods include apples (especially from [[Yining|Ghulja]]), sweet melons (from [[Hami]]), and grapes from [[Turpan]]. However, many Uyghurs are also employed in the mining, manufacturing, cotton, and petrochemical industries. Local handicrafts like rug-weaving and jade-carving are also important to the cottage industry of the Uyghurs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human: The Definitive Visual Guide|publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]]|year=2004|isbn=0-7566-0520-2|editor-last=Winston|editor-first=Robert|location=New York|page=447|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Dr. Don E.}}</ref>

Some Uyghurs have been given jobs through Chinese government affirmative action programs.<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Affirmative Action, Economic Reforms, and Han-Uyghur Variation in Job Attainment in the State Sector in Urumchi.| journal= China Quarterly |edition= no. 2022010: 344–61. |author=Zang, Xiaowei. |date= June 2010| volume= 202 | issue= 202 | pages= 344–361 | doi= 10.1017/S0305741010000275 | jstor= 20749382 | s2cid= 155040095 }}</ref> Uyghurs may also have difficulty receiving non-interest loans (per Islamic beliefs).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cao |first1=Chunfang |last2=Chan |first2=Kam C. |last3=Hou |first3=Wenxuan |last4=Jia |first4=Fansheng |date=3 October 2019 |title=Does religion matter to informal finance? Evidence from trade credit in China |url=https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/files/78769132/CaoEtalRN2019DoesReligionMatter.pdf |journal=[[Regional Studies (journal)|Regional Studies]] |publication-place=[[University of Edinburgh]] |volume=53 |issue=10 |pages=1410–1420 |doi=10.1080/00343404.2019.1575506 |bibcode=2019RegSt..53.1410C |hdl-access=free |s2cid=158546228 |hdl=20.500.11820/004e1138-77cb-40a3-bf73-76caa787e700}}</ref> The general lack of Uyghur proficiency in Mandarin Chinese also creates a barrier to access private and public sector jobs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harlan |first1=Tyler |last2=Webber |first2=Michael |title=New corporate Uyghur entrepreneurs in Urumqi, China |journal=Central Asian Survey |date=June 2012 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=175–191 |doi=10.1080/02634937.2012.671993 |s2cid=143826394 }}</ref>

===Names===
Since the arrival of Islam, most Uyghurs have used "Arabic names", but traditional Uyghur names and names of other origin are still used by some.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 5">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA113|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=113–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109080823/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA113|archive-date=9 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> After the establishment of the Soviet Union, many Uyghurs who studied in Soviet Central Asia added Russian suffixes to Russify their surnames.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 6">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA115|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=115–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822111347/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA115|archive-date=22 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Names from Russia and Europe are used in Qaramay and Ürümqi by part of the population of city-dwelling Uyghurs. Others use names with hard-to-understand etymologies, with the majority dating from the Islamic era and being of Arabic or Persian derivation.<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 7">{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA117|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7041-4|pages=117–|access-date=31 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822014537/https://books.google.com/books?id=NKCU3BdeBbEC&pg=PA117|archive-date=22 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Some pre-Islamic Uyghur names are preserved in [[Turpan]] and [[Qumul]].<ref name="Bellér-Hann2007 5"/> The government has banned some two dozen Islamic names.<ref name=nyt2016 />

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
*[[Eretnids]]
*[[Islam in China#Hui-Uyghur tension|Hui-Uyghur tension]]
*[[List of Uyghurs]]
*[[Meshrep]]
*[[Tibetan Muslims]]
*[[Uyghur timeline]]
*[[Uyghurs in Beijing]]
*[[Xinjiang conflict]]
{{div col end}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=== General and cited sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Austin|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Austin (linguist)|title=One Thousand Languages: Living, Endangered, and Lost|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3tAqIU0dPsC|year=2008|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25560-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Coene|first=Frederik|title=The Caucasus - An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqFMmVbfRfEC|year=2009|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-87071-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Dillon|first=Michael|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Far Northwest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWj9NreO9zYC|year=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-16664-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Drompp|first=Michael Robert|title=Tang China And The Collapse Of The Uighur Empire: A Documentary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NB6DEdAxLOsC|year=2005|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-14129-2}}
* {{cite book|last1=Fairbank|first1=John King|author-link1=John K. Fairbank|last2=Chʻen|first2=Ta-tuan|title=The Chinese world order: traditional China's foreign relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1jlAAAAIAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-19-626425-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Golden|first=Peter B|title=An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples: Ethnogenesis and State-formation in Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia and the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5B6xMQEACAAJ|date=1 January 1992|publisher=O. Harrassowitz|isbn=978-3-447-03274-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Güzel|first=Hasan Celal|author-link=Hasan Celal Güzel|title=The Turks: Early ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGBtAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Yeni Türkiye|isbn=978-975-6782-56-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Hahn|first=Reinhard F.|title=Spoken Uyghur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icZf7TNgnuIC|year=2006|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98651-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Köprülü|first1=Mehmet Fuat |author-link1=Mehmet Fuat Köprülü|last2=Leiser|first2=Gary|last3=Dankoff|first3=Robert|title=Early Mystics in Turkish Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_v6IWkCLnEwC|year=2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-36686-1}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Lattimore|first1=Owen|author-link1=Owen Lattimore|title=Return to China's Northern Frontier|journal=The Geographical Journal|date=1973|volume=139|issue=2|pages=233–242|doi=10.2307/1796091|jstor=1796091|bibcode=1973GeogJ.139..233L }}
* {{cite book|last=Mackerras|first=Colin|title=The Uighur Empire (744-840): According to the T'ang Dynastic Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zOWrnQEACAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Centre of Oriental Studies, Australien National Univ.}}
* {{cite book|last=Mair|first=Victor H|author-link=Victor H. Mair|title=Contact And Exchange in the Ancient World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-OilJCX1moC&pg=PA138|year=2006|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-2884-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Millward|first=James A.|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|year=2007 |publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC}}
* {{cite book|last=Özoğlu|first=Hakan|author-link=Hakan Özoğlu|title=Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p032TMrEI5oC|year=2004|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-5994-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Russell-Smith|first=Lilla|title=Uygur Patronage In Dunhuang: Regional Art Centres On The Northern Silk Road In The Tenth and Eleventh Centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hzsnT67gykkC&pg=PA33|year=2005|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-14241-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Tetley|first=G. E. |title=The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks: Poetry as a Source for Iranian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qs0Wy-Z2VkC|date=17 October 2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-89409-5}}
* {{cite book|last1=Walcott|first1=Susan M.|last2=Johnson|first2=Corey|title=Eurasian Corridors of Interconnection: From the South China to the Caspian Sea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkAVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65|date=12 November 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-07875-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Wei|first1=C. X. George|last2=Liu|first2=Xiaoyuan|title=Exploring Nationalisms of China: Themes and Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qz3vdkxBt4AC|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-31512-1}}

; Attribution
* {{PD-old-text|title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia: Commercial, Industrial and Scientific, Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures|year=1885|author=Edward Balfour}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Library resources box}}
{{refbegin}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160325074637/http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/chinethn.html Chinese Cultural Studies: Ethnography of China: Brief Guide acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu]
* [[Beckwith, Christopher I.]] (2009). ''Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-691-13589-2}}.
* {{cite book |last=Berlie |first=Jean A. |author-link=Jean Berlie |title=Islam in China: Hui and Uyghurs Between Modernization and Sinicization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEyVQAAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=White Lotus Press |isbn=978-974-480-062-6}}
* {{cite book |first=Gardner |last=Bovingdon |title=The Uyghurs: Strangers in Their Own Land |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=TfwmgPFddv8C}} |year=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-0-231-14758-3}}
* {{cite book |first=David |last=Brophy |title=Uyghur Nation: Reform and Revolution on the Russia-China Frontier |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=O5G-CwAAQBAJ}} |year=2016 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-66037-3}}
* {{cite book |first=Jeff |last=Eden |title=Warrior Saints of the Silk Road: Legends of the Qarakhanids |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Wnl_DwAAQBAJ}} |year=2018 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-38427-9}}
* Findley, Carter Vaughn. 2005. ''The Turks in World History''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-516770-8}}, {{ISBN|0-19-517726-6}} (pbk.)
* {{cite book |first=Timothy |last=Grose |title=Negotiating Inseparability in China: The Xinjiang Class and the Dynamics of Uyghur Identity |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=QxPIDwAAQBAJ}} |year=2020 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=978-988-8528-09-7}}
* Hessler, Peter. ''Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China''. New York: Harper Perennial, 2006.
* {{cite journal |last1=Hierman |first1=Brent |title=The Pacification of Xinjiang: ''Uighur Protest and the Chinese State, 1988-2002'' |journal=Problems of Post-Communism |date=June 2007 |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=48–62 |doi=10.2753/PPC1075-8216540304 |s2cid=154942905}}
* Human Rights in China: ''China, Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions'', London, Minority Rights Group International, 2007
* {{cite book |last=Kaltman |first=Blaine |title=Under the Heel of the Dragon: Islam, Racism, Crime, and the Uighur in China |year=2007 |publisher=[[Ohio University Press]] |location=Athens |isbn=978-0-89680-254-4}}
* Kamberi, Dolkun. 2005. ''Uyghurs and Uyghur identity''. Sino-Platonic papers, no. 150. Philadelphia, PA: Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
* Millward, James A. and Nabijan Tursun, (2004) "Political History and Strategies of Control, 1884–1978" in ''Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland'', ed. S. Frederick Starr. Published by M. E. Sharpe. {{ISBN|978-0-7656-1318-9}}.
* Rall, Ted. ''Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?'' New York: NBM Publishing, 2006.
* {{cite book |first=Sean |last=Roberts |title=The War on the Uyghurs: China's Internal Campaign Against a Muslim Minority |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=z8vADwAAQBAJ}} |year=2020 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-20221-1}}
* Rudelson, Justin Ben-Adam, ''Oasis identities: Uyghur nationalism along China's Silk Road'', New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
* {{cite book |last1=Shimin |first1=Geng |title=On the Fusion of Nationalities in the Tarim Basin and the Formation of the Modern Uighur Nationality |publisher=Central Asian Survey 3.4 (1984): 1-14 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/On_the_Fusion_of_Nationalities_in_the_Ta/UN3foAEACAAJ}}
* Thum, Rian. ''The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History'' (Harvard University Press; 2014) 323 pages
* Tyler, Christian. (2003). ''Wild West China: The Untold Story of a Frontier Land''. John Murray, London. {{ISBN|0-7195-6341-0}}.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|Uyghurs}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193742/http://www.360doc.com/content/12/0813/22/276037_230028707.shtml Map share of ethnic by county of China] (archived 1 January 2016)
* [https://archive.org/details/xinjiang-video-project/Xinjiang-Uyghurs-michael-dillon-documentary-2008.mp4 Xinjiang Video Project] on [[Internet Archive]]

{{Turkic peoples}}
{{Ethnic groups in China}}
{{Xinjiang topics}}
{{East Asian topics}}
{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Uyghurs| ]]
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[[Category:Ethnic groups officially recognized by China]]
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[[Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan]]
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