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...on the Takla Makan Desert, is bounded on the north by the Tien Shan, on the west by the Pamirs, on the south by the Kunlun Mountains, and on the northeast by the Junggar Basin. Often referred to as Kashgaria, from its principal urban centre, Kashgar (Kashi), the region is characterized by small oasis settlements lying between the desert and the surrounding ranges, such as Hotan, Yarkand,...
Turkistan may be said to have entered history with the conquest of Kashgaria by the Huns at the beginning of the 2nd century bc. After the breakup of the Hun empire, East Turkistan was annexed by the Chinese. About ad 400 the Hephthalites created an empire in West Turkistan. During the 6th century the Turks first appeared and established themselves in Transoxiana, consisting of the lands...
inheritance of Chagatai
the second son of Genghis Khan who, at his father’s death, received Kashgaria (now the southern part of Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China) and most of Transoxania between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya (ancient Oxus and Jaxartes rivers, respectively) as his vassal kingdom. His capital was at Almarikh near present-day Kuldja (Yining), in western Xinjiang. Chagatai appears to have been...
role of Yakub Beg
...China in 1864 and through a series of military and political maneuvers took advantage of the anti-Chinese uprisings of its Muslim inhabitants to establish himself as head of the kingdom of Kashgaria (centred at Kashgar). Expanding northward in the area of present-day Xinjiang, he attracted the attention of the Ottoman sultan, who made Yakub the emir of Kashgaria.