East Turkestan

East Turkestan
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese:	東突厥斯坦
Simplified Chinese:	东突厥斯坦
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Dōng Tūjuésītăn
alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese:	東土耳其斯坦
Simplified Chinese:	东土耳其斯坦
Transliterations Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin: Dōng Tǔěrqísītǎn
Uyghur name
Uyghur:	شەرقىي تۈركىستان Sherqiy Türkistan ‎

East Turkestan, also known as East Turkistan, Uyghuristan, and Uyghurstan (Uyghur: Sherqiy Türkistan; Uyghuriye), refers to the eastern part of the greater Turkestan region of Central Asia, and is concurrent with the present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. The area is largely inhabited by the 8 million Uyghurs, a Muslim Turkic-speaking people.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Centers of culture 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

History

The area was part various Khanates before it became part of China's Tang Dynasty until the 9th century. The local empire, Kara-Khanid Khanate ruled from 840 to 1212. The region had been ruled as a section of the Chagatai Khanate, from the Mongol invasion of Central Asia of the 13th Century. In the late 17th Century it experienced fragmentation and annexation by Mongol groups. It again became part of China during the Qing Dynasty with the defeat of the Dzungars from 1757 to 1759.

Geography

Greater Turkestan is subdivided into West (former Soviet Union countries) and East Turkestan (administered as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China). The Tian Shan (Tengri Tagh) and Pamir mountain ranges form the rough division between the two Turkestans.

Centers of culture

The area contains some of the great cities of Turkic culture, notably Kashgar, Hotan, Turfan, Yarkand, Ili (Ghulja), Kumul, Aqsu, Kucha and Altay.^[2]

References

See also

First East Turkestan Republic Second East Turkestan Republic East Turkestan independence movement

Dzungars History of Xinjiang Moghulistan/Mughalistan

External links

• Ansari, Fahad The Plight of the Uighurs: China’s Muslims Suffering As Much As the Tibetans Islamicawakening.com (Retrieved on 04/08/2008)
• El-Kaissouni, Azizudin East Turkistan: China’s Forgotten Muslims IslamOnline.net (Retrieved on 04/08/2008)
• MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
• East Turkestan Islamic Movement (China, separatists), Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) background information, Updated November 2005
• East Turkestan - Arabic

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