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History

The story of a land where East and West met along the oases of the Silk Road.

1 / Themes

Highlights.

تارىخ

Uyghur history through its scripts

The languages of the Uyghurs have been written in different scripts over time: the Old Uyghur script, derived from Sogdian; the Arabic script that came with Islam; and the present alphabet reformed in the 20th century.

History ／ تارىخ

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2 ／ From the steppe to the oases

01From a nomadic state to kingdoms

In the mid-8th century the Uyghur Khaganate, a nomadic state, arose on the Mongolian Plateau. After it collapsed in 840, some of its people moved south and founded kingdoms near today’s Turpan and in Gansu.

02The oases and Islam

In the oases of the Tarim Basin, Islam spread gradually from the 10th century, and by the 16th century most of the people were Muslim. Under the Kara-Khanids and the Yarkent Khanate, Kashgar and Yarkent served as capitals.

03Old and present-day Uyghurs

Sources describe the link between the old Uyghurs and the Uyghurs of today in different ways. One account describes modern Uyghurs as descended from several peoples, including the Uyghurs who came from the Mongolian Plateau and those who lived in the Tarim Basin before them.

Sources (8)
  1. [1]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur Khaganate」
  2. [2]Wikipedia（日本語版）「回鶻」
  3. [3]Wikipedia（英語版）「Qocho」
  4. [4]Wikipedia（英語版）「Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom」
  5. [5]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghurs」
  6. [6]Wikipedia（英語版）「Kara-Khanid Khanate」
  7. [7]Wikipedia（英語版）「Yarkent Khanate」
  8. [8]Wikipedia（日本語版）「ウイグル語」
3

Timeline

The history of the dynasties and how the scripts they used changed (8th century to today)

Which script, which era?How the script changed

States and dynasties

Events and writings

Scripts in use

Hatched: only the century is known, or sources give different years

Uyghur Khaganate

Period
744–840
Capital / base
Ordu-Baliq (Mongolian Plateau)
Script
Old Turkic script (inscriptions)

A nomadic state centred on the Mongolian Plateau that flourished for about 100 years. In the later 8th century the khagan took up Manichaeism, which later became the state religion. In 840 a Kyrgyz invasion took the capital and the state fell; its people then moved to the oasis lands to the west.

Sources (22)
  1. [1]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur Khaganate」
  2. [2]Wikipedia（日本語版）「回鶻」
  3. [3]Wikipedia（英語版）「Old Uyghur script」
  4. [4]Wikipedia（英語版）「Qocho」
  5. [5]Wikipedia（日本語版）「天山ウイグル王国」
  6. [6]Wikipedia（日本語版）「甘州ウイグル王国」
  7. [7]Wikipedia（英語版）「Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom」
  8. [8]Wikipedia（英語版）「Kara-Khanid Khanate」
  9. [9]Wikipedia（日本語版）「カラハン朝」
  10. [10]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur alphabets」
  11. [11]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghurs」
  12. [12]Wikipedia（日本語版）「ヤルカンド・ハン国」
  13. [13]Wikipedia（英語版）「Yarkent Khanate」
  14. [14]Wikipedia（英語版）「Amannisa Khan」
  15. [15]Wikipedia（日本語）「クタドゥグ・ビリグ」
  16. [16]Wikipedia (en)「Kutadgu Bilig」
  17. [17]Britannica「Kutudgu bilig」
  18. [18]Wikipedia（日本語）「マフムード・カーシュガリー」
  19. [19]Wikipedia (en)「Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk」
  20. [20]Wikipedia（英語版）「Dzungar conquest of Altishahr」
  21. [21]Wikipedia（英語版）「Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas」
  22. [22]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur Arabic alphabet」
4

How the script changed

Sources (9)
  1. [1]Wikipedia（英語版）「Old Uyghur script」
  2. [2]Wikipedia（日本語版）「古ウイグル文字」
  3. [3]Wikipedia（英語版）「Old Turkic script」
  4. [4]Wikipedia（日本語版）「突厥文字」
  5. [5]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur Arabic alphabet」
  6. [6]Wikipedia（英語版）「Uyghur alphabets」
  7. [7]Wikipedia（英語版）「Chagatai language」
  8. [8]Wikipedia（日本語版）「ウイグル語」
  9. [9]ئۇيغۇر تىلىنىڭ ئىزاھلىق لۇغىتى（ug.wikipedia 転載）見出し語「يېزىق」
5 / Glossary

Words of this field

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