Chinese uygurs or Mountain tajiks in China (Sarikoli: [tudʒik], Tujik; Chinese: 塔吉克族; pinyin: Tǎjíkè Zú), including Sarikolis (majority) and Wakhis (minority) in China, are an extension of the Pamiri ethnic group that lives in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. They are Mountain Tajiks, unlike Plain Tajiks in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. They are one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by the government of China.
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Name
Despite the name by which they are known in China, the Tajiks of Xinjiang are not the same as the Tajik people (who speak a Persian dialect, known as Tajik in Tajikistan or Dari in Afghanistan). The Tajiks in Xinjiang of China, are an extension of the Pamiri people, a different Iranic group who speak the Eastern Iranic Pamiri languages. Though most Tajiks in China also speak Persian as well.
History
Tashkurgan Town became the capital of the Sarikol kingdom (色勒库尔), a kingdom of the Pamir Mountains.
Qing dynasty
During the Qing dynasty, the Tajiks were administered by a system of Begs like the rest of Xinjiang. During the Qing dynasty the Chinese claimed suzerainty over the Taghdumbash Pamir in the south west of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County but permitted the Mir of Hunza to administer the region in return for a tribute.
The Tajiks of Xinjiang practiced slavery, selling some of their own as a punishment. Submissive slaves were given wives and settled with the Tajiks. They were considered property and could be sold anytime. Their slaves came from numerous sources, enslaving Sunni captives such as Kirghiz in retaliation for Kirghiz slave raids, or from Kunjud, Gilgit, Chitral. The Tajiks also sold some slaves to Bukhara. The Sunnis called them Rafidites and did not consider them Muslim.
Most foreign slaves in Xinjiang were Shia Mountain Tajiks, they were referred to by Sunni Turkic Muslims as Ghalcha.
An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officials, 3 Cossacks and a Russian courier invited local Turki Muslim (Uyghur) prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in Kashgar, this caused a massive brawl by the inflamed local Turki Muslim populace against the Russians on the pretense of protecting Muslim women because there was anti-Russian sentiment being built up, even though morality was not strict in Kashgar, the local Turki Muslims violently clashed with the Russians before they were dispersed, the Chinese sought an end to tensions to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade.
After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Sarikol in Tashkurghan and demanded that the Sarikol postal services be placed under Russian supervision, the locals of Sarikol believed that the Russians would seize the entire district from the Chinese and send more soldiers even after the Russians tried to negotiate with the Begs of Sarikol and sway them to their side, they failed since the Sarikoli officials and authorities demanded in a petition to the Amban of Yarkand that they be evacuated to Yarkand to avoid being harassed by the Russians and objected to the Russian presence in Sarikol, the Sarikolis did not believe the Russian claim that they would leave them alone and only involved themselves in the mail service.
Republic of China
In the 1940s around 9,000 Tajiks lived in Xinjiang.
During the Ili Rebellion, Uyghur forces butchered the livestock of the Tajiks as they advanced south. The Soviet backed insurgents destroyed Tajik crops and acted aggressively against the Tajiks and Kirghiz of China.
Distribution
The population of Tajiks in China numbers 41,028 (2000). They are located in China's western Xinjiang region with 60% living in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County. Despite the name "Tajik" that is used to refer to them, the Tajiks of China do not speak the Tajik language. Early 20th-century travelers to the region referred to them as Sarikoli, "Mountain Tajiks," or Ghalcha.
Language
In China, the languages of the Tajik people have no official written form. The great majority speak the Sarikoli language, which has been heavily influenced by Uyghur, Chinese, and Wakhi. A small proportion speak Wakhi language. Sarikoli and Wakhi are Iranian languages, commonly classified in the Pamir or Eastern Iranian areal groups.
Religion
The Mountain Tajiks in China are adherents of the Aga Khani Nizari Ismaili sect of Shia Islam, and are still a little isolated from the rest of the worldwide Ismaili community, though their communication with other Pamiri (Ismaili) peoples has never stopped. The Chinese authorities allow a few Ismaili religious buildings to function in Xinjiang's Tajik Autonomous District, whose clerics were appointed by the Chinese secular authorities. Restrictions by the Chinese government bars foreign Ismaili preachers from openly working among the Tajiks in China; and the religious leader of the Nizari Ismaili sect, the Aga Khan, was once barred from business with the China's Ismailis. But recently, the Aga Khan has begun to communicate with China more.
From 2–4 April 2012, His Highness the Aga Khan (Aga Khan IV), paid an official visit to Ürümqi, China, at the invitation of the Governor of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Mr Nur Bekri, to discuss collaboration between the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the autonomous government of Xinjiang. His Highness and Governor Bekri held constructive talks in the meeting and agreed to collaborate in several thematic areas of mutual interest, including poverty alleviation, education, tourism investment, and financial services. The Aga Khan IV had last visited China in 1981.