Tajiks of China

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A Pamiri Tajike

The Tajiks of China (Chinese: 塔吉克 族; Pinyin : Tǎjíkèzú), also called Sarikoli or Ghalcha , are one of the 56 official peoples of China . They live in the Tajik Autonomous County of Tashkorgan in the Kashgar administrative district of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the south of China's western border . They are also called "Selekuer Tajiks". "Selekuer" is a place name and means "high mountains" or highlands. Despite their name, they do not use Tajik , which is close to Persian , but rather the more distant south- east Iranian languages ​​of the Pamir branch (Iranian mountain languages ​​in the Pamirs ) Sariqoli and Wakhi , which possibly go back to the ancient Saki language or a closely related language form. Iranian-speaking groups east of the Pamirs were otherwise assimilated into today's Uighur majority population in the Middle Ages and modern times . In contrast to the official name Tajiks in China, the speakers of Wakhi in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan are also ethnically referred to as Wakhi , the few speakers of Sariqoli in Pakistani Kashmir near the Chinese border are ethnically referred to as Sarikoli .

In 2003, about 40,900 Tajiks lived in Xinjiang, 0.21% of the total population but about 60% of the total population of southwestern Xinjiang (their Tashkurgan autonomous region). In the 2010 census, 51,075 Tajiks were counted across China.

Spread of the Tajiks in China

Distribution at the provincial level according to the data of the 2010 census (reference date November 1, 2010)

area number proportion of
People's Republic of China 51,075 100.00%
Xinjiang 47,261 092.53%
Zhejiang 03,368 006.59%
Guangdong 00 165 000.32%
Jiangxi 000 33 000.065%
Shandong 000 32 000.063%
Henan 000 23 000.045%
Sichuan 000 23 000.045%
Beijing 000 21st 000.041%
Fujian 000 19th 000.037%
Jiangsu 000 17th 000.033%
Shanghai 000 14th 000.027%
Gansu 000 13 000.025%
Tianjin 000 11 000.022%
Liaoning 000 10 000.020%
Heilongjiang 0000 9 000.018%
Hubei 0000 9 000.018%
Hebei 0000 8th 000.016%
Yunnan 0000 7th 000.014%
Inner Mongolia 0000 6th 000.012%
VBA 0000 6th 000.012%
Anhui 0000 3 000.006%
Hunan 0000 3 000.006%
Shaanxi 0000 3 000.006%
Qinghai 0000 3 000.006%
Jilin 0000 2 000.004%
Guangxi 0000 2 000.004%
Chongqing 0000 2 000.004%
Shanxi 0000 1 000.002%
Ningxia 0000 1 000.002%
Hainan 0000 0 000.00%
Guizhou 0000 0 000.00%
Tibet 0000 0 000.00%

Distribution at district level according to data from the 2000 census

Only values ​​from 0.5% were taken into account here. AG = autonomous area; AB = Autonomous District; AK = autonomous district; RB = administrative district.

superior provincial level superior district level District, city, municipality Number of Tajiks % of all Tajiks in China
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Kashgar Tajik AK Tashkorgan 25,843 62.99%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation Kyrgyz AB Kizilsu Akto district 4,628 11.28%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Kashgar Poskam district 3,412 8.32%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Kashgar circle Yarkant 2,220 5.41%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Kashgar Kargilik district 1,851 4.51%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Hotan Guma district 824 2.01%
Xinjiang Uighur Corporation RB Kashgar City of Kashgar 253 0.62%
Rest of China 1.997 4.87%

language

The Tajiks of China have their own language, but they have not developed their own script. The language belongs to the Pamir language branch of the Iranian language family and it is mostly the Wakhi and Sarikoli dialects that are spoken. The Tajik nationality prevails in the Tashkorgan Autonomous Okrug . The Sarikoli dialect is predominantly spoken here, with a small minority speaking the Wakhi dialect. At present, 60 percent of Tajiks also speak the Uighur language .

religion

The Tajiks used to profess Zoroastrianism or Buddhism , and in the second half of the 11th century they became followers of Islam . For the most part, they belong to the Nizarites , a Shiite - Ismaili movement, today considered to be relatively liberal , today under the leadership of Karim Aga Khan IV.

See also

source

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saidula, Amier (2011). "The Nizari Ismailis of China in Modern Times". In Daftary, Farhad (ed.). A Modern History of the Ismailis: Continuity and Change in a Muslim Community . London: IB Tauris. pp. 77-91. ISBN9781845117177.
  2. ↑ A Journey of Geographical and Archarological Exploration in Chinese Turkestan A Stein - 1904 - [sn] ... 15,800 feet above the sea, into Chinese territory on the Taghdumbash Pamir, using the yaks of the Sarikoli herdsmen ...