Early history The
Pamiri peoples are believed to be the descendants of the
Saka-Scythians who inhabited modern-day
Xinjiang. The town of
Tashkurgan was the capital of the
Sarikol Kingdom () in the Pamir Mountains. Xinjiang and its
eastern Iranian-speaking peoples underwent gradual
Turkification following the region's conquests and
settlements by Turkic peoples such as the
Uyghurs and
Qarakhanids. By the
Mongol period, most of these eastern Iranian peoples had assimilated into the Turkic community. The Tajiks claim to be descended from the remaining eastern Iranians who still resided in the Pamir Mountains of Xinjiang. This claim is supported by medieval Chinese literature, documents and modern archaeological evidence. The Tajiks practiced slavery, selling some of their own as a punishment. Submissive slaves were given wives and settled with the Tajiks. They were considered property and could be sold anytime. Their slaves came from numerous sources; for example,
Sunni captives such as the
Kyrgyz were enslaved in retaliation for Kyrgyz slave raids against the Tajiks. Sunni slaves were also brought from
Hunza (also known as Khujund),
Gilgit, and
Chitral. Slaves from Chitral and Hunza passed through the Pamir Mountains on their way to
Bukhara, present-day
Uzbekistan. The Tajiks were labelled "Rafidites" by the Sunnis, who did not consider them Muslims as
enslaving fellow Muslims is contrary to
Sharia law. There were hundreds of slaves sold by Tajiks. Most foreign slaves in Xinjiang were Tajiks; they were referred to by the Sunni Muslim Turkic
Uyghurs as "Ghalcha". Tajiks made up the majority of slave trafficked and sold in Xinjiang to the Sunni Muslim Turkic inhabitants and they were seen as foreigners and strangers. Serfs were treated in a "wretched" manner. Following
Ya'qub Beg's conquest of
Yettishar, in 1870 he ordered the en masse deportation of all Sarikolis to
Kashgar. They remained there for 2 years before they were allowed to return to the
Tashkurgan region. An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officialsthree Cossacks and a Russian courierinvited local
Uyghur prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in
Kashgar. This caused a massive brawl between several
Russians and local
Uyghurs, the latter acting on the pretense of protecting Muslim women. Qing officials quickly dispersed the crowd and sought to end tensions immediately to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade Xinjiang. After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Tashkurghan and demanded that local postal services be placed under Russian supervision. The Russians attempted to negotiate with the Begs of Tashkurgan, but the Begs feared that the Russians would not stop at their demands of the postal services and would aim to seize the entire area from the Qing. Tashkurgan officials even went as far as to petition the Amban of
Yarkand to evacuate the local population to Yarkand so they could avoid being harassed by the Russians.
Republic of China In the mid-1940s around 9,000 Tajiks lived in Xinjiang, while others moved to other Central Asian countries and provinces of China. During the
Ili Rebellion from 1944 to 1949, Uyghur forces butchered the livestock of the Tajiks as they advanced south. Uyghur rebels who were backed by the Soviets destroyed Tajik crops and acted violently against Tajiks and Kyrgyz. ==Distribution==