The Uyghurs were first documented in the 4th century as members of the Tiele confederation of Turkic tribes. Later, under Göktürk dominion, the Uyghurs led a group of nine Tiele clans called Toquz Oghuz, or “nine clans.” In 640, Yaglakar Tumidu adopted the title of khagan, also used by the Göktürks.
By the mid-8th century, the Göktürks had retaken control of Mongolia from Tang China. In 744, the Toquz Oghuz rebelled against them along with the Basmyl and Karluk Turks. The alliance was victorious, but the Toquz Oghuz then established their own Uyghur Khaganate and turned against the others.
From 744 to 755, the Uyghurs consolidated their control over Mongolia. They drove many of the Karluks westward to modern-day Kazakhstan, where they would establish the Kara-Khanid Khanate. The Uyghurs also took control of Beshbalik, a major oasis town of the Tarim Basin along the Silk Road.
Despite their nomadic roots, the Uyghurs built large cities modeled after those of Tang China. Their capital of Ordu-Baliq enjoyed a “lively urban and commercial scene” (Brose, 2017). The Uyghurs were also influenced by the Sogdians to their southwest, adopting their religion of Manichaeism.
The Uyghurs took advantage of Tang in the wake of the devastating An Lushan Rebellion of 755, intervening on behalf of Tang in exchange for tribute. They repeated this process for future rebellions in China. Meanwhile, they competed with and bested the Tibetan Empire over the Tarim Basin.
After suffering a famine, the Uyghur Khaganate was swiftly destroyed at the hands of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, a rival Turkic group to their north, in 840. The Uyghurs scattered; some settled within the Shiwei confederation of the northeast, while others headed for the Tarim Basin to establish the Qocho kingdom.
The Uyghurs of Qocho moved further away from nomadism as they adapted to life in the Tarim Basin. Metalworking, art, and the Silk Road trade supported the Qocho economy. Soon, “Uyghur craftsmen and artists gained a reputation as highly skilled producers of luxury items” (Brose, 2017).
In 893, a branch of the Yaglakar clan, the original ruling clan of the Uyghurs, established the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom along the Hexi Corridor, a section of the Silk Road between the Tarim Basin and China Proper. It subdued the Guiyi Circuit, a breakaway Chinese regime, when it invaded Qocho.
The Guiyi Circuit had a significant population of Sogdians, who also comprised a large portion of Qocho along with Uyghurs and Tocharians. The three groups had been friendly since the days of the khaganate. The Qocho Uyghurs derived a new Old Uyghur alphabet from the Sogdian alphabet.
Indeed, occupying such a crucial part of the Silk Road, Qocho was diverse in language, ethnicity, and religion. While Manichaeism remained dominant at first, Nestorian Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and shamanism were also present. In the end, Qocho chose Chinese Buddhism over Manichaeism.
Accommodating its diverse population, Qocho’s administrative system borrowed from Iranian and Chinese customs, on top of Uyghur Turkic tradition. The royal title of idiqut was borrowed from the Basmyls (Brose, 2017). Meanwhile, the Ganzhou Uyghurs also abandoned Manichaeism for Buddhism in 980.
The Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom was destroyed by the Tangut people in 1028. Many Uyghurs fled to the Guiyi Circuit, but it, too, was conquered by the Tanguts in 1036. The Ganzhou Uyghurs became subjects of the Western Xia dynasty of the Tanguts, which would last for two centuries.
Descended from the Ganzhou Uyghurs are the Yugur people, who now live in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County just south of Ganzhou—both are now part of the city of Zhangye. They primarily practice Tibetan Buddhism, and their Western Yugur language is descended from the Old Uyghur language.
Even under Western Xia rule, the Yugurs continued to independently pay tribute to the Song dynasty of China, as well as the Liao dynasty to its north. Liao was founded by the Khitans, cousins of the Shiwei, and had taken over Mongolia and northern China decades after the Uyghur Khaganate’s collapse.
In 1125, however, the Khitans themselves were defeated by invading Jurchens. The Yugurs continued their tributary relationship with the Jurchens’ Jin dynasty. Many of the Khitans fled westward to Kyrgyzstan and established Qara Khitai, also known as Western Liao, and subjugated Qocho.
Qocho initially retained much autonomy under Qara Khitai suzerainty. Though Qocho was required to pay tribute and send its princes to the Qara Khitai capital of Balasagun, there were no Qara Khitai overseers in Qocho’s capitals (Brose, 2017). This situation lasted until the late 12th century.
It was at that time that the Khitans began sending representatives to the Uyghur capitals and demanding more tribute. This led to Uyghur resentment. In 1209, a “particularly ruthless overseer” was dispatched by the Khitans; the Qocho idiqut had him assassinated (Brose, 2017).
Qocho then submitted to the Mongol Empire. Founded by the Mongols, originally a Shiwei tribe, the empire destroyed Qara Khitai in 1218 and expanded quickly throughout Eurasia. Due to their early submission, the Uyghurs were treated favorably in the empire, ranking just below the Mongols.
When the Mongol Empire eventually fractured, Qocho was left under the dominion of the Chagatai Khanate. One of its capitals, Beshbalik, was left in ruins from a Mongol civil war. With the death of Negüril Tigin Idiqut in 1318, Qocho was effectively defunct, though idiquts continued to rule in symbolic capacity.
The language and religion of the Karluks’ Kara-Khanid Khanate, previously vanquished by the Khitans, shaped the Chagatai Khanate and its successor, Moghulistan. The Chagatai language was descended from the Karluk language, while Sunni Islam grew to be the dominant faith.
Although Qocho was completely extinguished by the mid-14th century, there remained Uyghurs who continued to speak Old Uyghur and practice Buddhism. They, along with a Mongol ruling class, established the Kara Del kingdom in 1389. Ming China and the Mongolic Oirats competed to control it.
In the end, Kara Del was reconquered by Moghulistan in 1513. Its Uyghurs mixed with other Moghulistanis to give rise to a Chagatai-speaking Muslim ethnic group called the Turki. The Turki would once again adopt the name “Uyghur” in 1921. The modern Uyghur language is derived from Chagatai.