Xinjiang: Early History to 1949

Xinjiang has had a turbulent history. Some of the earliest known inhabitants, from c.4,000 years ago, have been found mummified in the region's deserts and appear to be of Caucasoid origin, possibly ancient Tokharians. Xinjiang first passed under Chinese rule in the 1st cent. b.c., when the emperor Wu Ti sent a Chinese army to defeat the Huns and occupy the region. In the 2d cent. a.d., China lost Xinjiang to the Uzbek Confederation but reoccupied it in the mid-7th cent. It was conquered (8th cent.) by the Tibetans, overrun by the Uigurs, who established a kingdom there, and subsequently invaded (10th cent.) by the Arabs. Xinjiang passed to the Mongols in the 13th cent. An anarchic period followed until the Manchus established (1756) loose control.

The subsequent relations between China and Xinjiang were marked by cultural and religious conflict, bloody rebellions, and tribal dissensions. In the 19th cent., this unrest was encouraged by Great Britain and czarist Russia to protect India and Siberia, respectively. Xinjiang became a Chinese province in 1881, but even as late as the establishment of the Chinese republic in 1912 it remained more or less independent of the central government. Rebellions in 1936, 1937, and 1944 further eased Chinese rule.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Chinese Communist Rule
• Early History to 1949
• Economy
• Land and People

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