History of the Yugur

 

Turkic peoples are first mentioned in Chinese annals of the 6th century. They were nomadic peoples, organized in confederations in the steppes of present-day Mongolia. The oldest of these historic confederations was that of the Kök Turks or Celestial Turks (kök blue, sky). The Kök Turks were ousted by the Uygur in 744, who in their turn were ousted by the Kyrgyz in 840 A.D. After the collapse of their empire, the Uygur fled southwards to present-day Xinjiang and Gansù.
      The Western Yugur are considered to be the descendants of these 9th century Uygur refugees who fled to Gansù. They settled near cities like Ganzhou and Sùzhou. In the annals of the Chinese Northern Sòng dynasty (960-1127), the Uygur of the Gansù area were called Huángtóu Huíhe or Yellow-head Uygur.
      In the 11th century, the Gansù area became part of the buddhist Hsi-Hsia empire (1038-1227) of the Tangut, a people speaking a Tibeto-Burman language, and many Uygur fled southwards to Tibet. The Hsi-Hsia empire was eventually conquered by the Mongols in 1227. It is in this context that the Yugur are first mentioned by their current name in a Chinese annal of the Mongol Yuán dynasty (1271-1368): in 1226, Sübütei, a Mongol general, attacks the so-called Sali Wèiwùér and conquers them. Sali Wèiwùér is assumed to be a rendering of Sarïgh Uyghur or Sarïgh Yoghïr.
      The Eastern Yugur are probably the descendants of one of the Mongolic speaking groups invading northern China during these conquests.
      During the Mongol Yuán dynasty, a further number of Uygur apparently migrated from the area of Xinjiang to Gansù.
      After the collapse of the Mongol Yuán dynasty in 1368, the Sali Wèiwùér are again mentioned in the annals of the Chinese Míng dynasty (1368-1644) as a people leading a nomadic existence in the border area of Gansù and Tsaidam, south of Jiayùguan and Dunhuáng and as far west as Lop Nor. This area was divived into four military districts, called Han-dong, An-dìng, A-duan, and Qu-xian. These fiefs payed tribute to the Míng in the form of horses in exchange for tea (so-called chàma, tea horses), but they were largely independent otherwise. In 1479, the Left Military District of Han-dong was established which was headed by a certain An-chang, whose name seems to live on as a bone clan name among the Yugur, Anjañ.
      In the early 16th century, the people of this district were forced eastwards by the muslim armies of Turfan, who were fighting a holy war against the buddhist Sali Wèiwùér. The latter took refuge within the borders of the Chinese Míng empire, and in 1529 they were settled near Sùzhou and Ganzhou.
      The Erdeni-yin tobchi, a Mongol chronicle written in 1662, reports that the Eastern Mongols, when they went to war against Tibet in the late 16th century, also conquered a people called Shira Uyghur, which must be a Mongolian rendering of Sarïgh Yoghïr.
      In the late 17th century, parts of Qinghai and Gansù were invaded by the Jungar, a Western Mongol confederation. Annals of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911) mention the existence of two tribes near Ganzhou who were conquered by the Jungar: the Xiláguer Huangfan and the Xiláguer Heifan, or the Xiláguer Yellow Barbarians and the Xiláguer Black Barbarians. Xiláguer is assumed to be a Chinese rendering of Shira Uyghur.
      Both Xiláguer tribes were eventually incorporated in the Chinese Qing empire in the late 1690s, during the reign of the Manchu emperor Kangxi (1661/62-1722/23). They were commonly called Huangfan, Yellow Barbarians, and Heifan, Black Barbarians. According to an 18th century annal, the Heifan were 'a kind of the Tangut' who used to live in black tents, while the Huangfan used to live in white tents.
      The Huangfan were located in two areas: in the plains near Sùzhou and in the mountains near Ganzhou. Those living near Sùzhou were mainly farmers, and those living near Ganzhou cattle and horse breeders.
      Information on the Yugur remains sparse in the Chinese annals and is not always consistent.

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Historical legends and traditions

The administrative system

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