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Kazakhs in China

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Kazakhs are a Turkic ethnic group and one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. There is one Kazakh autonomous prefecture – IliinXinjiang – and three Kazakh autonomous counties – AksayinGansu, and Barkol and Mori in Xinjiang.

History[edit]

During the fall of the Dzungar Khanate in the mid-18th century, the Manchus massacred the native Dzungar Oirat MongolsofDzungaria (northern Xinjiang Province) in the Dzungar genocide, and afterwards colonized the depopulated area with immigrants from many parts of their empire. Among the peoples who moved into the depopulated Dzungaria were the Kazakhs from the Kazakh Khanates.^[1]

In the 19th century, the advance of the Russian Empire troops pushed the Kazakhs to neighboring countries. Russian settlers on traditional Kazakh land drove many over the border to China, causing their population to increase in China.^[2]

During the Russian Revolution, when Muslims faced conscription, Xinjiang again became a sanctuary for Kazakhs fleeing Russia.^[3] During the 1920s, hundreds of thousands of Kazakh nomads moved from Soviet Kazakhstan to Xinjiang to escape Soviet persecution, famine,^{[note 1]} violence, and forced sedentarization.^[4] Kazakhs that moved to China fought for the Soviet Communist-backed Uyghur Second East Turkestan Republic in the Ili Rebellion (1944–1949).

Toops^[who?] estimated that 326,000 Kazakhs, 65,000 Kirghiz, 92,000 Hui, 187,000 Han, and 2,984,000 Uyghur (totaling 3,730,000) lived in Xinjiang in 1941. Hoppe^[who?] estimated that 4,334,000 people lived in Xinjiang in 1949.^[5]

In 1936, after Sheng Shicai expelled 30,000 Kazakhs from Xinjiang to Qinghai, Hui Chinese led by General Ma Bufang massacred Kazakhs, until there were only 135 of them left.^[6]

Kazakh claims against other ethnic groups[edit]

From 1934 to 1938, Qumil Elisqan led about 18,000 Kerey Kazakhs to migrate to Gansu and Qinghai.^[7] Over the span of 2 years of battles, 5,000 Kazakhs were killed by Hui Muslim Chinese and Tibetans in Gansu. Led by Eliskhan Batur Elifuglu (1919–1943), the 13,000 survivors fled towards India in September 1940.^[8]

Tibetan troops robbed and killed Kazakhs 400 miles east of Lhasa at Chamdo when the Kazakhs were entering Tibet.^[9][8] To stop the migrants, a Tibetan cavalry numbering 1,000 attacked and fought the Kazakhs for three days in north Tibet, but ultimately lost.^[8] Afterwards, the Tibetan government sent the Kazakhs to the Ladakh region of Kashmir in British India.^[10] When they arrived at the Kashmir border, many Kazakhs died when the British ordered Indian guards to shoot. Once it was realized that they were civilians, the 3,039 surviving Kazakhs were let into India via Chuchul checkpoint in September 1941. Over these 3 years, 15,000 Kazakhs were killed.^[8]

Upon crossing the border, however, the Kazakhs were unwelcome in Kashmir, and were confined to an open mountainous camp on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad. Due to poor living conditions and the monsoon rains, more Kazakhs and their livestock died daily. In April 1942, with the help of local Muslims, the Kazakhs were allowed to move to Gari Habibullah, and then Ternova village, where Indian Muslims hosted them. Nevertheless, additional Kazakhs died from illness, poor diet, and the warm climate. The remaining Kazakhs were granted residence permits, and with the help of regional nawabs, resettled elsewhere, with most eventually ending up in Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947.^[8]

Distribution[edit]

By province[edit]

By county[edit]

(Only includes counties or county-equivalents containing >1% of county population.)

Culture[edit]

Some Kazakhs are nomadic herders and raise sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. These nomadic Kazakhs migrate seasonally in search of pasture for their animals. During the summer the Kazakhs live in yurts, while in winter they settle and live in modest houses made of adobe or cement blocks. Others live in urban areas and tend to be highly educated and hold much influence in integrated communities. The Islam practiced by the Kazakhs in China contains many elements of shamanism, ancestor worship, and other traditional beliefs and practices.^[11]

Notable people[edit]

• Osman Batur (1899–1951) – Kazakh chieftain who fought both for and against the Nationalist Chinese government in the 1940s and early 1950s
• Dalelkhan Sugirbayev (1906–1949) – Kazakh chieftain who fought against the Nationalist Chinese government and sought to join the Chinese Communists in 1949
• Qazhyghumar Shabdanuly (Kazakh: Қажығұмар Шабданұлы) (1925–2011) – Kazakh Chinese political activist and author writing in Kazakh language. For more than forty years, Shabdanuly was imprisoned by the People's Republic of China for his political views.
• Ashat Kerimbay (Асхат Керімбай) – Chinese politician
• Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed (Мұхтар Абрарұлы Құл-Мұхаммед) – politician and public figure of Kazakhstan; First Deputy Chairman of "Nur Otan" party
• Janabil Jänäbil Smağululı (Жәнәбіл Смағұлұлы) – Chinese politician
• Mayra Muhammad-kyzy (Kazakh: Maıra Muhamedqyzy; Maira Kerey) – opera singer. She was the first Kazakh at the Parisian Grand Opera, and is an Honored Artist of the Republic.
• Mamer – folk singer
• Rayzha Alimjan (Риза Әлімжан; رايزا ٴالىمجان) – Kazakh Chinese actress and model
• Xiakaini Aerchenghazi (Шакен Аршынғазы) – speed skater who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Rehanbai Talabuhan – speed skater who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Adake Ahenaer (Ақнар Адаққызы) – speed skater
• Yeljan Shinar (Елжан Шынар) – footballer currently playing as a defender for Shenzhen
• Yerjet Yerzat – Chinese footballer for Chongqing Dangdai Lifan FC
• Yeerlanbieke Katai (Ерланбек Кәтейұлы) – freestyle wrestler; bronze medals winner at the 2014 Asian Games, and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics
• Jumabieke Tuerxun – mixed martial arts fighter; he previously fought as a Bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship^[12]
• Kanat Islam – boxer who won bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Championships, and the 2006 Asian Games
• Yushan Nijiati – amateur boxer; bronze medal winner at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships in the 91 kg division
• Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan (Тоқтарбек Танатхан) – amateur boxer; competed in the men's middleweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Walihan Sailike (Уалихан Сайлық) – Greco-Roman wrestler; bronze medal winner in the 60 kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships, and bronze medal winner in the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Nazaerbieke Bieken – pro cyclist

See also[edit]

• Kazakh exodus from Xinjiang
• Kyrgyz in China
• 2020 Dungan–Kazakh ethnic clashes

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Map of Kazakh share by county