Last modified: 2020-07-31 by ian macdonald
Keywords: china | soviet union | uighuristan | turkestan | xinjiang |
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Originally a large undefined area in central Asia, Turkestan covered
an area of 1.6 million square miles from the Caspian Sea into Xinjiang.
Along the Silk Road connecting China to the Mediterranean, the area has
been conquered numerous times over the centuries, first by the Persians,
Chinese and Mongols. In the mid-1800s, the western portion was conquered
by Russia, and the area divided into Uzbek, Tadzhik and Kirgiz, and portions
into Kazakh from which the modern day nations of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan were erected.
In 1876, Eastern Turkestan was occupied by the Manchu rulers and in
1884 annexed as Xinjiang. Today, East Turkestan is an autonomous region
of China.
I was surprised hat the republic of Turkestan in Russia was classified as
Chinese. The republic of Turkestan was the successor state of the imperial
province of Turkestan, mainly the modern Turkmenistan and Kazakhastan and part
of Kazakhastan and is unrelated with China.
Jaume Ollé, 04 April 2013
You are right, of course. Turkestan have no relations with China. May be
authors mean "Eastern Turkestan"? People's Republic of Eastern Turkestan was
proclaimed in 1943 and in 1949 became part of China.
Victor Lomantsov, 04 April 2013
