Uyghurs

The Uyghurs, alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs, or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. They speak Uyghur, a Karluk language that shares the same origin with Uzbek. The Uyghurs are recognized as the titular nationality of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. They are one of China's 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. The Uyghurs are genetically related to West Eurasians, East Asians, Siberians, South Asians and can trace their ancestry to various peoples and cultures, such as the Tocharians, Uyghur Khanate, Qocho, Kara-Khanid Khanate, and Qara Khitai, that had inhabited or migrated to the region. They were historically influenced and often ruled by neighboring Chinese, Mongol, Tibetan, and Turkic civilizations. Originally followers of many belief systems, inhabitants of the region were gradually converted to Islam after the 10th century, especially under the Chagatai Khanate. By the 16th century, most of them identified as Muslims and no longer recognized symbols of their Buddhist past. Islam continues to play an important role in Uyghur culture and identity. Prior to the 20th century, the Uyghurs did not have a common unifying ethnonym. The name "Uyghur" was used to refer to the non-Muslim inhabitants of Qocho, mainly Buddhists, who resisted conversion to Islam until the 16th century. The name fell out of use afterward and the region inhabited by the modern Uyghur people came under the rule of the Qing dynasty following the Dzungar–Qing Wars in the 18th century. Settlers of various ethnicities were relocated to Dzungaria, which was later combined with the Tarim Basin to the south to become Xinjiang Province. Until 1921, the inhabitants of the Tarim Basin identified themselves by terms such as yerlik ("locals"), Musulman khalq ("Muslim people"), or by regional designations including Kashgarlik...