Little about the Uyghurs

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

Islamic mainly, the Uyghur people have a solid religious identification which usually, in specific, permitted them to maintain a solid difference in opposition to the Chinese enemy. Definitely, the Uyghur Empire of Mongolia knew a amazing civilization, until its absorption by the Mongolian Empire in the XIIIth century.

During their historical past, the Uyghur People successively adopted Shamanism, Manicheism, Buddhism and the Nestorianism before finally converting to Islam when the Arab conquerors beat the Chinese in year 751 BC., as a result beginning the way to the Islamization of the whole Central Asia.

Under the influence of the beliefs which they taken on, Uyghur People taken successively, and at times in a competing way, a large number of written forms (turco-runic, brahmi, tokharien, soghdien) before developing their own unique graphic system.

The entrance of Islam was a great modification mainly because it was followed by the assimilation of the Uyghur land in the enormous Turco-Mongolian and Islamic Empire. Thus, the descendants of Genghis Khan progressively replaced their writing by a Arabo-Persan alphabet, still used presently.

If their own writing, their language and their religion mark a real big difference with the culture of Chinese Han, the Uyghurs also are different from their aspect, so characteristic of Central Asia's people. A matt skin, eyes representing a whole pallet of colors, from black to deep blue, features pointing out to the Mongolian, Turkish or Uzbek origins of these men and these women.

For a few years, China has integrated the proper identity of these remote people, though they represent only eight million inhabitants - a trifle for this specific immense region. Therefore, Uyghur people are now part of the fifty six racial minority groups having been well-known in an official way by the People's Republic of China.

This law allows these people a few rights in a country where their big difference is very often repressed. Therefore, Uyghur people 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 really illusory. The presence of all-natural resources in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and its closeness with nations well-known as very sensitive, clearly urged the government to increase the sinicization of this area. Million of Han thus came to settle in this new Chinese eldorado, monopolizing the larger responsibility work opportunities.

In response 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 flexibility, but specially the acceptance of their true identity, this movement was severely repressed by the power authorities in place Xinjiang.

The situations 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 population continues today to proudly maintain their identification and their traditions , despite the fact that they become a minority on their own land.

For more information and facts about the Uyghurs, you can visit a Uyghur website called Uyghur News at http://www.uyghurnews.com