Little about the Uyghur People

In the center of the desert landscapes of Taklamakan, in the north-western part of China, the province of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is the least populated province whereas it covers near to a sixth with the nation's territory. Getting resisted during centuries the chinese domination, Xinjiang, or Old East Turkestan, fell into within the Chinese Han control in 1949. From then, its population is mainly Uyghur People and Turkish - speaking System.

Muslim most importantly, the Uyghurs have a very good religious identity that, in particular, enabled them to keep a strong difference in opposition to the Chinese enemy. In fact, the Uyghur Kingdom of Mongolia knew a excellent civilization, until its absorption by the Mongolian Empire in the XIIIth century.

While in their historical past, the Uyghur People successively taken on Shamanism, Manicheism, Buddhism and the Nestorianism before finally moving to Islam when the Arab conquerors beat the Chinese in year 751 BC., therefore opening the way to the Islamization of the complete Central Asia.

Under the effect of the beliefs which they adopted, Uyghur People used successively, and sometimes in a competing way, a great number of written forms (turco-runic, brahmi, tokharien, soghdien) before developing their own unique graphic system.

The coming of Islam was a great modification because it was followed by the absorption of the Uyghur land in the immense Turco-Mongolian and Islamic Kingdom. Thus, the descendants of Genghis Khan slowly replaced their writing by a Arabo-Persan alphabet, still used presently.

If their writing, their language and their religion mark a real big difference with the tradition of Chinese Han, Uyghur People also are different from their characteristic, so characteristic of Central Asia's people. A shiny skin, eyes representing a whole pallet of colors, from black to deep blue, features directing out to the Mongolian, Turkish or Uzbek roots of these men and these women.

For a few years, China has included the proper identity of these remote people, although they represent only 9 million people - a little for this specific great country. So, the Uyghurs are now part of the 56 racial minority groups having been recognized in an official way by China.

This law will allow them a few privileges in a country exactly where their difference is very often repressed. Thus, Uyghur families escape the "single child policy" and their language is accepted as the second official language in Xinjiang.

The integration of the Uyghur people and their culture in the People's Republic of China, however, looks very illusory. The presence of all natural sources in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and its proximity with countries recognized as sensitive, highly urged the government to speed up the sinicization of this area. Million of Han thus came to settle in this new Chinese eldorado, monopolizing the more significant responsibility jobs.

In reaction to this true will to assimilate the Uyghurs into the Chinese culture, an independent party like East Turkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM) was born in the early 1990.

Saying more freedom, but specially the recognition of their true identity, this movement was seriously repressed by the power authorities in place Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The events of September 11, 2001, were the perfect occasion for the Chinese government to justify true reprisals: they declared the "Uyghur freedom fighters" as dangerous terrorists linked to Al Quaida because of their Muslim origins and their proximity with Pakistan and Afghanistan... However, the terrible repression which followed did not calm down the anger. The Uyghur peoples population continues today to proudly continue to keep their identity and their tradition , despite the fact that they become a minority on their own territory.

To get more detailed information and facts about Uyghur people, you can visit a Uyghur website called Uyghur News at http://www.uyghurnews.com