The largest ethnic group in East Turkistan are, as noted, the Uighurs -- a Turkic people whose history reaches back more than 2,000 years. During the eighth and ninth cena steppe. Eventually, after their defeat in 840 A.D. by the turies the Uighur Empire dominated the MongoliKirghiz, the Uighurs moved south -- settling in East Turkistan and becoming part Karakhanid Empire. (Other Uighurs settled inof the Turkic what is now China’s Gansu province. Though they speak Chinese, they still see themselves as descending from the Uighur people.)
The Mongol Empire swept into East Turkistan early in the 13th century, and for the next 500 years East Turkistan was part of what became know as the Turkic - Mongol Empire. One of the striking aspects of this period was the extent to which the Mongols adopted Turkic culture: militarily triumphant they rapidly became assimilated.
The Manchus, having conquered China, invaded East Turkistan in 1759, dominating it until 1862. During this period the Turkic people of Eastern Turkistan rebelled 42 times. In 1863, with the help of the Ottoman Empire, East Turkistanis expelled the Manchus, founding the independent state of East Turkistan, under the leadership of Yaqup Beg Bidowlet.
The new state established diplomatic relations with the Ottoman, British and Russian Empires; however, the maneuverings among the Great Powers led to a new Chinese invasion in 1876 -- this time with the support of the British who feared the expansion of Russia. China regained control of East Turkistan the next year and formally annexed the province in 1884 -- giving it the name Xinjiang.
East Turkistan was under the rule of Yang-zen-shen between 1911 and 1927.
Nationalist Chinese, under the leadership of Sun Yat Sen, overthrew the Manchu Empire in 1911, establishing the Republic of China. Encouraged by the turmoil inside China, East Turkistanis again rebelled.
A rebellion under the leadership of Mohammed Amin Bughra, the Amir of Khotan in 1933.
In 1933 they were able, briefly, to establish an independent East Turkistan Islamic Republic headquartered in the city of Kashgar.
The leaders of the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan, 1933, Kashgar. Second from right, Sawut Damollam, the Prime Minister. Ghoja Niyaz aji, the President of the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan.
In 1944, their rebellion had greater permanence: the East Turkistan Republic set up in that year in three of the provinces districts (centered on the Ili Valley) lasted until 1949 when the Soviet Union supported the newly victorious Communist rulers of China in reacquiring total control. In 1955, Beijing renamed the province Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
From left to right, Hilihan Tore and Akhmetjan Qasim, the leaders of Republic of East Turkistan, 1944 - 1948.
SHERQI TÜRKISTAN JUMHURIYITI SÜRGÜNDIKI HOKUMITI
P. O. Box 3505 Fairfax, VA 22038-3505 U.S.A. E-mail: info@eastturkistangovernmentinexile.us hokumet@eastturkistangovernmentinexile.us Phone: 571-344-3886
