SINKIANG, UYGUR AUTONOMOUS REGION OF

Uygur also spelled Uighur, Chinese (Wade-Giles) Hsin-chiang Wei-wu-erh Tzu-chih-ch', (Pinyin) Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu, autonomous region occupying the northwestern corner of China. It is bordered by Mongolia to the northeast, Russia to the north, Kazakstan to the northwest, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the west, Afghanistan and the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir to the southwest, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the southeast, and the Chinese provinces of Tsinghai and Kansu to the east. China's largest political unit, it covers about 617,800 square miles (1,600,000 square kilometres). The capital is at Wu-lu-mu-ch'i (Urumchi). Known to the Chinese as Hsi-y (Western Regions) for centuries, the area became Sinkiang (New Borders) upon its annexation under the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty in the 18th century. Westerners long called it Chinese Turkistan to distinguish it from Russian Turkistan. Sinkiang is an area of lonely, rugged mountains and vast desert basins. Its indigenous population of agriculturalists and pastoralists inhabit oases strung out along the mountain foothills or wander the arid plains in search of pasturage. Since the establishment of firm Chinese control in 1949, serious efforts have been made to integrate the regional economy into that of the nation. Despite the great increase in the Han (Chinese) population, the ethnic groups are officially encouraged to develop their own cultures. History Far to the northwest of the heartland of Chinese civilization, the Sinkiang region was thinly populated by herdsmen and oasis farmers organized into small kingdoms and tribal alliances. Southern Sinkiang came under the loose control of the Western Han dynasty in about 100 BC, when an extension of the Great Wall was built 300 miles west of the present Kansu-Sinkiang border. The Han capital of Ch'ang-an, near modern Sian in Shensi Province, came into contact with the Roman Empire over a trade route that passed through a series of oasis settlements south of the Tien Shan. Known as the Silk Road, this route carried Chinese silk to the Roman world in exchange for precious metals, glassware, and woolen cloth. With the decline of Han power in the 3rd century AD, the area passed under the control of local Uighur leaders. The resurgence of Imperial power during the T'ang period (618907) increased Chinese influence in the region, though many elements of western Asian culture were transmitted along the trade routes. The subsequent decrease of T'ang power resulted in an increase in Arab influence, and Islam gained many converts. The Turkic language came to be spoken in the oases, while Mongolian remained the language of the steppes. Sinkiang was again incorporated into the Chinese empire when it was conquered by the Mongol leader Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Ch'ing, or Manchu, dynasty (16441911/12) successfully asserted control over the Sinkiang region, defeating the resistance of stubborn tribes in the north and sending loyal Muslims from Kansu to settle in the oases of northern Sinkiang in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1884 the Ch'ing government created a new Sinkiang province. After the revolution of 191112 Yang Tseng-hsin, a Han commander of native Turkic troops, seized control of Sinkiang and was later appointed governor by the Peking government. He maintained control until his assassination in 1928, which was followed by a series of rulers and shifting allegiances. After the Communist victory in 1949, the central government implemented moderate policies toward the local minorities, and Sinkiang was established as an autonomous region in 1955. Radical policies established elsewhere in China during the Great Leap Forward (195860) and the Cultural Revolution (196676) were also implemented in Sinkiang, however. This resulted in a mass exodus of Kazak people in 1962 into Kazakstan (which then was part of the Soviet Union), massive political instability, and heightened ethnic tensions. After the Cultural Revolution, political and economic policies were moderated, leading to widespread improvement in the livelihood of farmers and pastoralists and to relative stability and economic growth. Victor C. Falkenheim