HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE UYGHUR TURKS

Abstract

The article examines the history, life, craft and processes of ethnogenesis of the Turkic-speaking and Turkic-Uyghur peoples. It is known that this people is an indigenous people of the aboriginal population of Turkic origin from East Turkestan, modern Siniizyan, who lived in the Uyghur Autonomous Region (SUAR) in the China.
The name Uyghurs has been mentioned in written sources since the 3rd century AD. The process of forming the ethnic unity of the Uyghur people was completed after the collapse of the Turkic Kalanat in the 8th century and the formation of the early Uyghur feudal state on the banks of the Orkhon River.
The Uyghurs are a people who have a common language, historical traditions, culture and Muslim faith. The peoples of Central Asia called them Kashgars, the Mongols called them Khotons, and the Chinese called them Chantou.
Turkologist Malov S.E. notes that “the Uighurs in ancient times were a civilized people of Central Asia with a highly developed urban life.”
The traditional occupations of the Uyghurs were trade, agriculture, various types of crafts, cattle breeding, fishing and hunting - typical occupations of the Lop Nor Uyghurs, they created a rich and diverse culture (monumental religious architecture, musical and literary works, fresco painting and miniatures).
Despite the various hypotheses put forward by scholars in their works, as well as in the works of Russian and Western European Uyghurologists, the manuscripts present irrefutable evidence that the Uyghurs have been an autochthonous (local, rooted) people in the territory of former Turkestan since ancient times. Sources also indicate that the Uyghurs have a rich cultural heritage and an ancient tradition of statehood. This is confirmed not only by written sources, but also by the results of archaeological research.