by Rian Thum
Harvard University Press
may be a scholarly book about the manuscripts of Uygur history and not politics, but it is timely. Beijing is facing the most serious armed threat to its rule in Xinjiang since the 1950s, especially in the southern areas. In recent weeks dozens of people have been killed, including the chief imam of a major mosque in Kashgar.
This book will help the general reader understand the Uygurs' version of their history - that of a distinct people who have occupied their region for many centuries. These manuscripts, written in their own language, contain the stories and personalities that constitute their historical memory.
For Beijing, however, Xinjiang has always been a part of the nation and the Uygurs one of its many minorities. It denies their national identity and distinct history.
To describe the region, author Rian Thum does not use the term "Xinjiang", which means "New Territories", nor "East Turkestan", the state that existed in 1933-34 and 1944-49 and is used by those who want a separate state. Instead, he uses "Altishahr" , a politically neutral word that means "six cities" and covers the area traditionally inhabited by those who now call themselves Uygurs. The story he tells stretches from the 17th century to the present.
Until the 1930s, the Uygur cultural world was dominated by manuscripts, especially , which were read out to audiences at the tombs of local saints. "Surviving shrine graffiti demonstrate that pilgrims criss-crossed Altishahr, binding the inhabitants of the various oases together through a network of travel and spreading local historical narratives - recited at the shrines - across the region," Thum writes.
