Uigurs

*Population estimates for 1994

The Uigurs (or Uighurs) are one of the most numerous Turkic-speaking peoples in Central Asia. They live in parts of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Anthropologically, the Uigurs belong to the European race with minor Mongolian mixtures. The nomadic tribes of Northern Turkestan, who were the ancestors of the Uigurs, played an important role in the Hun tribal union. In written records, the Uigurs had been mentioned since the third century AD. During the fifth to eighth centuries, they belonged to the Zhuzhan Kaganate and later to Turkic Kaganate. The process of ethnic consolidation of the Uigurs completed in the eighth century after the break of the Turkic Kaganate and the formation of the early feudal Uigur state on the Orkhon River. Later, the Uigurs were conquered by other peoples several times. Long conqueror’s rule, territorial parceling, and some other reasons accounted for the fact that the ethnonym “Uigurs” was out of use. However, the Uigurs have preserved their national self-consciousness and language. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Uigurs rounded their state in East Turkestan. By 1760, it was conquered by the Manchurian Chinese tribes. In the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, because of strong Chinese oppression, the Uigurs moved from Kashgaria to Central Asia.

For centuries, the Uigurs had been on the joint of three civilizations: Middle Asian, Indian, and Chinese. This influenced the consolidation of the culture and formation of the nation.

The traditional Uigur clothing is much like the Uzbek. They are characterized by warm winter fur hats for men and short straight cut skirts with widened sleeves toward the bottom for women.

The Uigurs have created a rich and versatile culture: monumental cult architecture with musical and literal masterpieces that influenced the cultures of many oriental countries.

The Uigurs were always engaged in agriculture and different household trades. They are famous for their carpets, embroidery, and bone and stone carving.

The Uigur music is very specific. Public festivals and family holidays are always accompanied by music and dance. The most popular Uigur musical instrument is the dutar (domra). They also play the rib (resonator wall) and flute, striking the kettledrum for rhythm.

The Uigur believers followed Islam in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Then supplanted Shamanism, Christianity, and Buddhism. The majority of Uigur believers are now of the Islam-Sunnite faith.