It was formerly named oriental turkestan or chinese turkestan, spelled also as turkistan. A history of xinjiang james millward besides separatist concerns, xinjiang s energy resources, strategic position, and rapid development have gained it international attention in recent decades. At the end of the qing dynasty, the government set up gansu and xinjiang province in this region and appointed dihua as its capital. The last qing dynasty governor yuan dahua fled and handed over his resignation to yang zengxin because he could not handle fighting the revolutionaries and did not want to work for the republic of china. Strategic framework xinjiang has identified wfd as a priority and established a high degree of coherence between wfd strategy and concomitant policies.
The incorporation of xinjiang into the peoples republic of china in 1949, known in chinese historiography as the peaceful liberation of xinjiang, refers to the takeover of the republic of chinas xinjiang province by the chinese communists and the peoples liberation army, largely through political means, in the waning days of the chinese civil war. That this is the first book of its kind is testament. Eastern turkestan, now known as xinjiang or the new territory, makes up a sixth of chinas land mass. The prc official line is that xinjiang has been a part of china for two millennia and that the uighurs are not autochthonous. The subjects hometown is ha mi, or qumul in uyghur, an oasis city close to xinjiangs eastern border with gansu. Xinjiang and chinas rise in central asia a history. Absorbed by the qing in the 1880s and reconquered by mao in 1949, this turkicmuslim region of chinas remote northwest borders on formerly soviet central asia, afghanistan, kashmir, mongolia, and tibet, will xinjiang participate in chinas twentyfirst century ascendancy, or will nascent. Out west in china is xinjiang where you can still travel the crisscrossing ancient trade and caravans routes and believe it or not you can discover buried ruins just by following the famous ancient silk road, starting in europe from rome through the mediterranean at constantinople istanbul, turkey the ancient caravans traveled. Here is a look at one of the most complex and fascinating historical narratives in asia. The ili revolutionaries and the gelaohui were then suppressed by yang. The history and development of the xinjiang production and construction corps xinhua 12. If you have any interest in the history of xinjiang and the chinese silk road, this is a gre. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. The first inhabitants of xinjiang entered from central asia to the west by 1,800 b.
Millwardeurasian crossroads a history of xinjiangcolumbia university press new york. You can support us by purchasing something through our amazonurl, thanks. Stability in the region continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing the chinese leadership. First, as the author shows uyghur is not some ancient indigenous race but an identity emerging in the last few hundred years. Chinas integration of xinjiang with central asia core. Incorporation of xinjiang into the peoples republic of.
Xinjiang lies at the heart of the ancient silk road and at the intersection of china and the middle east. The english accent here is much closer to that of many of the jiangsu samples than it is to any of the other samples from xinjiang. The guardians lily kuo visits the region where authorities are expanding the camps and increasing. As such, dihua become the political center of the xinjiang region from then on. Inspired by a popular charity activity in western countries where.
Read it and you will be as competent as most on the history of xinjiang and the uyghurs. It is well known in china as the home of the famously sweet hami melons. Xinjiang, autonomous region of china, occupying the northwestern corner of the country. The recorded history of xinjiang dates to the 2000 bc. Eurasian crossroads is the first comprehensive history of easy chess tactics pdf xinjiang, the vast central eurasian. Eurasian crossroads is the first comprehensive history of xinjiang, the vast central eurasian region bordering india, pakistan, afghanistan, tajikistan, kyrgyzstan, kazakhstan, russia, and mongolia. The first was designed to produce a single collaborate volume that would provide educated nonspecialists in many countries with an authoritative introduction to the territory and its people, past and present. In eurasian crossroads millward traces this from prehistory, through struggles between chinese and turks and arabs, islamisation, and incorporation. Pdf the problems of writing a history of chinas arid westernmost and largest province begin with what to what to call it. One theme is xinjiangs cultural and political multiplicity as a conduit and melting pot for the transfer of arts, technologies, ideologies, and trade items across. The xinjiang problem 2 the xinjiang project was conceived as a twopart exercise. They were renamed xinjiang in 1884, meaning new frontier, when both regions were reconquered by the chinese qing. Forming onesixth of the peoples republic of china prc, xinjiang stands at the crossroads between china, india, the mediterranean, and russia.
Up to a million muslims are being held in detention camps in the chinese province of xinjiang. During the later han dynasty 25220 ce, the area repeatedly changed hands between the chinese and the xiongnu peoples of mongolia and western manchuria. Eurasian crossroads is the first comprehensive history of xinjiang, the vast central eurasian. Reviews overall, clarke has done a wonderful job of piecing together a political history of xinjiangs strategic importance for chinese policy in central asia. Pdf china, xinjiang and the internationalisation of the. The natural resource curse in xinjiang abstract natural resource abundance may have political and economic consequences. History of uighurs in xinjiang and uighur identity the unrest in xinjiang is undoubtedly ethnic in nature. Free books enlighten xinjiang minds china chinadaily. Some argue that natural resource abundance can have a negative effect on democratic transition and the consolidation of democracy, the socalled natural resource curse in political aspect. Questions of ancient human settlements in xinjiang and the. Yang appointed ma fuxing as military commander of 2,000 chinese muslim troops, to crush yangs rivals.
The xinjiang conflict is a conflict in chinas farnorthwest autonomous region of xinjiang. Eurasian crossroads a history of xinjiang free ebook download as pdf file. History, transition and crossborder interaction into the 21st century also published by routledge. A history of xinjiang for free in a convenient format epub, pdf, fb2, mobi. Domestic and international sources of uyghurs conflict with the. It is three times the size of france and larger than california, oregon, washington, nevada, montana, arizona, and idaho combined. Xinjiang history china tour, china tours, china tourism.
He is the coeditor of china, xinjiang and central asia. It is bordered by the chinese provinces of qinghai and gansu to the east, the tibet autonomous region to the south, afghanistan and the disputed territory of kashmir to the southwest, kyrgyzstan and tajikistan. Sixteen bookstores in the xinjiang uygur autonomous region are donating books to the poor as part of an ongoing charity drive. There have been many empires, primarily han, turkic, and mongolic, that have ruled over the region. But the renewed spate of public protests and deadly clashes in the region over the last quarter century are not simply contemporary manifestations of an enduring. The 2009 riots and its aftermath e 4 and linkages with people across the border all add layers of complexity and worry the chinese leadership about internationalisation of the issue. Eurasian crossroads a history of xinjiang pdf eurasia. Central asia to the agricultural civilizations of the eurasian periphery.
Xinjiang consists of two main geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct regions with different historical names, dzungaria north of the tianshan mountains and the tari. Exploring chinas new frontier, reporter han bin interviews a urumqibased blogger and entrepreneur, whos lived a decade there with his family. Media in category history of xinjiang the following 27 files are in this category, out of 27 total. Xinjiang history, history of xinjiang, xinjiang travel. Forming onesixth of the peoples republic of china prc, xinjiang stands at the crossroads between china, india, the mediterranean, and russia and has, since the bronze age. Grose abstract in 2000, the chinese communist party established the xinjiang class xinjiang neidi gaozhong ban, a program that funds middle schoolaged students from xinjiang, mostly ethnic uyghur, to attend school in predominately han populated cities located throughout. Interesting facts about xinjiang a knowledge archive. Forming onesixth of the peoples republic of china prc, xinjiang stands at the crossroads between china, india, the mediterranean, and russia and has, since the bronze age, played a pivotal role. Since 1800 bc, xinjiang served as the backyard of central asia, as well as the frontier of east asia. Reviewed by morgan liu published on hsoyuz october, 2008 commissioned by johanna k. Pages in category history of xinjiang the following 146 pages are in this category, out of 146 total. The history of the region has become highly politicized, with both chinese and nationalist uyghur historians.
Xinjiang only seems to make the news when uyghurhan relations deteriorate to the point of violence, but the region is one of the crossroads of the world, with a fascinating geography and history. The chinese claim, however, that anyone possessed the territory as a coherent unit before the eighteenth century. The uyghur people residing in xinjiang, a territory located in the far west of china and crossed by the silk road, are a key ethnic group for understanding the history of human dispersion in eurasia. Jan romgard, ancient human settlements in xinjiang and the early silk road trade sinoplatonic papers, 185 november, 2008 6 insights into other peoples history and their cultural backgrounds, we can better understand and deal with what is happening today. A chinese campaign to forcibly assimilate ethnic uyghurs in its northwestern province of xinjiang in a bid to erase nationalist sentiment, counter militancy, and create an uyghur islam with. A brief history of xinjiang the xinjiang uyghur autonomous region encompasses onesixth of the land mass of the peoples republic of china. The history of xinjiang concerns two main geographically, historically, and ethnically distinct regions with different historical names. Nowadays, as the capital city of the xinjiang uygur autonomous region, urumqi includes five districts and the urumqi county. Troubled today, chinas xinjiang has a long history the. Xinjiang was previously known as xiyu, under the han dynasty 206bc 220ad, which drove the xiongnu empire out of the region in 60bc in an effort to secure the profitable silk road, but. Xinjiang province workforce development saber country report 2014 dimensions status 1. Early interactions with xinjiang chinese control of xinjiang literally new frontier has waxed and waned over the centuries, and from the moment the chinese first asserted control over the area, xinjiang has been a difficult place to rule. Han nationalist imperatives and uyghur discontent the modern political history of the region today known as xinjiang has been tumultuous and often violent. Xinjiang is a small province approximately the size of iran located in the western region of china, sharing borders with the soviet states of central asia and other countries like.