History of Xinjiang

The History of Xinjiang concerns two main geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct regions with different historical names: Dzungaria north of the Tianshan Mountains; and the Tarim Basin south of the Tianshan Mountains, currently mainly inhabited by the Uyghurs. They were renamed Xinjiang (新疆) in 1884, meaning "new frontier," when both regions were reconquered by the Chinese Qing dynasty after the Dungan revolt (1862 - 1877).

The first inhabitants came from the west.The oldest Tarim mummies, found in the Tarim Basin, are dated to the 2nd millennium BCE, when the Indo-European Tocharians inhabited the Tarim Basin. In the first millennium BCE the Tarim Basin was inhabited by the Indo-European Yuezhi nomads. In the second century BCE the region became part of the Xiongnu empire, a confederation of nomads centered on present-day Mongolia.

The Tarim Basin was first referred to as "Xiyu" (Chinese: 襠域) under the Han dynasty, which drove the Xiongnu out of the Tarim Basin in 60 BCE (Han - Xiongnu War) in an effort to build and secure the profitable Silk Road,[2] maintaining a variable military presence until the early 3rd century CE. From the 2nd to the 5th century local rulers controlled the region. In the 6th century, the Turkic Khaganate was established. In the 7th-8th century Tang, Turks and Tibetans warred for control, and the Tang dynasty established the Anxi Protectorate of Xinjiang and Central Asia.

This was followed by the Uyghur Khaganate in the 8th-9th century. Uyghur power declined, and three main regional kingdoms vied for power around Xinjiang, namely the Buddhist Uyghur Kara-Khoja, the Turkic Muslim Kara-Khanid, and the Iranian Buddhist Khotan. Eventually, the Turkic Muslim Kara-Khanids prevailed and Islamized the region. In the 13th century it was part of the Mongol Empire. After that, the Turkic people prevailed again.

In the 18th century, the area was conquered by the Chinese Qing dynasty. In 1884, after the Dungan Revolt (1862 - 77), the area was renamed Xinjiang. It is now a part of the People's Republic of China, despite resistance of the local population.