article

The ethnogenesis of the Uighur

Central Asian survey9 (1) • Published In 1990 • Pages: 1-28

By: Gladney, Dru C..

Abstract
The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking, Muslim, oasis-dwelling people who claim to have lived in Tarim Basin area since time immemorial. Historically, a seventh century Uyghur Kingdom rose in the Outer Mongolian area, alongside the Han Chinese Empire of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Islamization began in the tenth century. Despite conquest by the Qing Dynasty in the mid-eighteenth century, the Xinjiang region was only fully incorporated into the empire during the next century through encouragement of Han resettlement. In the 1940s, the Soviet Union and China began to refer to the oasis people of the region as "Uyghurs." The author discusses the multiple, shifting markers of identity in the region, based on differences in religion, territory, language, class, and politics. The incorporation of the region into a modern socialist state has had a unifying effect on Uyghur identity and ethnicity.
Subjects
History
Cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis
Cultural identity and pride
Provinces
External relations
Theological systems
culture
Uyghur
HRAF PubDate
2023
Region
Asia
Sub Region
Central Asia
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard; 2014
Field Date
1987
Coverage Date
745-1988
Coverage Place
Inner Asia
Notes
Dru C. Gladney
Uyghur relationship to Han Chinese and China is variously indexed by ocm's for "International relations" (648), "Provinces" (635), "Dependencies" (636), and "Inter-ethnic relations" (629).
Includes bibliographical references (p. 24-28)
LCCN
86641151
LCSH
Uighur (Turkic people)