Chinese Turkestan: Difference between revisions

'''Chinese Turkestan''', also spelled '''Chinese Turkistan''',<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/A_Short_History_of_Chinese_Turkistan/Y9lwAAAAMAAJ |title=A Short History of Chinese Turkistan |publisher=Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir |year=1981 }}</ref> is a geographical term corresponding to the region of the [[Tarim Basin]] or southern [[Xinjiang]] (south of the [[Tian Shan]] mountain range) or sometimes Xinjiang as a whole<ref>{{cite web |title=Xinjiang – China’s new territory or East Turkestan? |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/xinjiang-chinas-new-territory-or-east-turkestan/ |website=The Times of India |access-date=August 22, 2023}}</ref> under the rule of the [[Qing dynasty]] of China. It is considered a part of the [[Chinese Tartary]] that covered the [[Inner Asia]]n regions ruled by the Qing dynasty. The Europeans commonly used this term especially during the period of the Qing dynasty to denote the division of [[Turkestan]] into territories controlled by the Chinese and the Russians, with the latter controlling [[Russian Turkestan]] in the west.

The Turkic people [[Uzbeks]] and [[Uyghurs]] conquered the [[Persian language|Persian]]-speaking [[Tajiks]] and established several small principalities in [[Central Asia]], giving their name [[Turkestan]] (or Turkistan). They then ruled over the region (later fell under the [[protectorate]] of the [[Mongols]] including the [[Dzungar Khanate]]) until they were subjugated by the Chinese [[Qing dynasty]] during the final phase of the [[Dzungar–Qing Wars]] in the 1750s. Thence the European name of Chinese Turkestan (or Chinese Turkistan),<ref>{{cite book | title = History of the World from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Volume 1 | year = 1871 | pages = 16 | url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=At3YtG4Gbx8C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16 |access-date=August 22, 2023 }}</ref> similar to the name [[Russian Turkestan]] which was controlled by the [[Russian Empire]].

The term “Chinese Turkestan” or “Chinese Turkistan” was commonly used by Europeans during the period of the Qing dynasty to specifically refer to the region (as part of [[Chinese Tartary]] that was ruled by Qing China), while the Chinese called this region ''[[Tian Shan]] Nan Lu'' (Chinese: 天山南路), meaning the area in [[Xinjiang]] south of the Tian Shan Mountains, although the term "Chinese Turkestan" (or "Chinese Turkistan") was also occasionally used by Qing officials in English-language writings. The term sometimes also referred to Xinjiang as a whole. It gradually lost popularity in the 20th century worldwide after the fall of the Qing dynasty, although it was still being used in various publications during the eras when the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] and the [[People's Republic of China]] ruled the region.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Annexation of Chinese Turkestan | year = 1935 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4203088 |access-date=August 22, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Bazaars of Chinese Turkestan | year = 1997 | url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Bazaars_of_Chinese_Turkestan/v5IMAQAAMAAJ |access-date=August 22, 2023 }}</ref> During the 20th century, Uyghur separatists and their supporters used [[East Turkestan]] as an appellation for the whole of Xinjiang (the [[Tarim Basin]] and [[Dzungaria]]) or for a future independent state in present-day [[Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region]], whereas others typically use the name "Xinjiang" to refer to the [[Autonomous regions of China|autonomous region]] of China, so the term "Chinese Turkestan" (or "Chinese Turkistan") has largely been replaced by other terms nowadays.