Tatars in China
ethnic group
Tatars (Chinese: 塔塔尔族; pinyin: Tǎtǎ'ěrzú; Tatar: татарлар, romanized: tatarlar) are the smallest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Chinese government. They are a Turkic people who mostly live in northern Xinjiang, around the Dzungarian Basin (Dzungaria). As of 2020, there are 3,544 Tatars in China, concentrated in the cities of Yining (Ghulja), Tacheng (Qoqek), Altay, and Ürümqi, as well as the herding areas of Burqin County and Qitai County. The Daquan Tatar Ethnic Township in Qitai County, which sits on the edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert, is the only subdivision designated for Tatars.
History
The Tatars in China are descendants of Volga Tatars who migrated to Xinjiang from their native Idel-Ural region in modern-day Russia. The Tatars have traditionally acted as mediators between the Russians and the native Muslim peoples of Xinjiang. The first wave of permanent Tatar settlement in Xinjiang began in 1851, primarily in cities such as Ghulja (Yining). Tatars brought progressive ideas and new institutions into Xinjiang, where they cemented themselves in the cultural and political fabric of the region. Jadid schools (including institutions for girls), mosques, and libraries catering to the Tatar community were opened in the second half of the 19th century and in the first decades of the 20th century. During this period, many intellectuals were brought from Tatarstan to staff the schools and colleges.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tatars in China” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.