The Uighurs (Uiγurs) are a nomadic people belonging to the eastern branch of the Turkish tribes (or Tölöš Turks), called Huige 回紇 until 788 (also called Yuange 袁紇, Weige 韋紇, Wuge 烏紇, later Huigu 回鶻, Weiwur [Weiwu'er] 畏兀兒 or Uihur, today Weiwur [Weiwu'er] 維吾爾), and probably related to the peoples of the old Gaoche 高車 federation. The problem of their relationship to the Nine Oghuzes (Toquz Oγuz, Chinese: jiuxing Wugusi 九姓烏古斯) is not solved, but it might be that an Uighur federation (Chinese: zhubu 諸部) was also divided into nine branches, hence the term "Nine Uighurs" and "Nine Tölöš". Ancestor of the Uighurs is said to be a leader (khan, khaghan, or qaγan, Chinese: kehan 可汗) called "Bu Khan 卜可汗". During the Northern Wei (Beiwei) 北魏 period the Huige 回紇 federation migrated to south of the Gobi desert from where they rebelled against the Northern Wei dominion of these territories in modern Gansu and northern Shaanxi provinces. Leader of the federation of that time was a khan called "Shuzhe 樹者". Somewhat later, during the Sui 隋 period, the Huige again moved north to the area of the Selenga River (modern northern Mongolia) and became subject of the federation of the Turks (Tujue 突厥), together with the Syr Tarduš (Chinese: Xueyantuo 薛延陀), "Pugu 僕骨 (僕固)", "Tongluo 同羅" and the "Xiebi 契苾", all tribes of the Tölöš federation. In the year 627, after a period of subservience to the Turks/Türküt, the Huige leader "Pusa 菩薩" forged an alliance with the Syr Tarduš and defeated the Eastern Turks (Chinese: Dong Tujue 東突厥). With the help of the Tang 唐 armies, the Huige khan could get rid of the domination of the Syr Tarduš. Their territory north of the Gansu corridor far into modern Mongolia was from now on administered as protectorates (duhufu 都護府) of the Tang empire. The leader of the Huige federation (Uighurian: iltäbär), "Tumidu 吐迷度" was still khan, but at the same time acted as protector of his own territory, as official of the Tang empire. This kind of goverment for remote territories was used until the Qing 清 period and was called "governing with loose reins" (jimi 羈縻). Under the pressure of the Second or Later Turk/Türküt (Chinese: Hou Tujue 後突厥) realm that was founded in 682, the Huige, "Xiebi", "Hun 渾", and "Sijie 思結" migrated more to the west into the area of modern Gansu, passing some areas that were already for hundreds of years inhabited by Chinese, and thereby these tribes adopted some customs and habits of the Chinese with them, especially the economic activities as sedentary people. The Uighur Khanate In 742 finally a chance for rebellion was created by the inner quarrels of the Türküt khans. Together with the Qarluqs (Karluks, Chinese: Geluolu 葛邏祿) and the Bašmıl (Chinese: Baximi 拔悉密), the Huige finally defeated the Eastern Turks and established their own khanate. The chieftain of the Bašmıl became khan ("Jiedieyishi Khan 頡跌伊施可汗"), with representants of the two other tribes as vice-khans. But only two years later the Huige leader "Gulipeiluo 骨力裴羅" allied with the other vice-khan and proclaimed himself the highest leader of the Huige khanate, with the title of Qutlugh Bilgä köl Qaghan (Chinese: Guduolu Piqie Que Kehan 骨咄祿毗伽闕可汗), his seat being the old Turkic capital of Qara-Balghasun in modern Inner Mongolia on the Orkhon River. The new khan was acknowledged by the Tang empire and was bestowed the Chinese title of Huairen Khan 懷仁可汗, "the Pityful-Human". The empire of the Huige lasted until 840. The state administration of the Huige khanate was patterned both after the old model of the Türküt with two vice-khans (Uighurian: šad, Chinese: sha 殺 or she 設), tribal administrators (Uighurian: yabγu, Chinese: yehu 葉護), and 28 lower ranks of administrators, and the Tang model, with chancellors (zaixiang 宰相), commissioners (dudu 都督), generals (jiangjun 將軍), and so on. Under the power of the Huige khan, many peoples or tribes (buluo 部落) were incorporated into the Huige federation, the Huige themselves were divided into nine "families" (jiuxing 九姓), Bašmıl and Qarluqs had the right to constitute two separate "families". The Huige khanate was thus a mixture of various, but mostly Tölöš, tribes like "Pugu", "Tongluo", "Hun", "Sijie", "Bayegu 拔野古", "Xiebi", and so on, with the Huige as dominant head of this federation. The Huigu themselves likewise were constituted by nine dynastic lines (the "inner nine families", Chinese: nei jiuxing 內九姓) that were relatives of the khan's family. Trade and political relations to the Tang court were very intensive, and Huige troops supported the Tang emperor in subduing the rebellion of An Lushan 安祿山 in 755. The Huige khans were rewarded with imperial princesses of the Tang court, like Princess Ningguo 寧國公主 and Princes Xian'an 咸安公主. Instead of pursuing their old nomadic customs, khans and aristocracy of the Huige federation had their fixed palace with the necessary administrative staff and entourage. With the Tang empire and the border cities, an intensive trade took place, and while silk left China, the Huige merchants sold horses to the Chinese. At the same time, the Persian religion of Manicheism became widespread among the Huige. The last decades of the Huige khanate are characterized by frequant wars with the Tibetian Tubo (Tubo [Tufan] 吐蕃) kingdom. The Tang empire, concerned with problems in its inner political and financial administration, could not but leave the Huige khans alone with their problems in Central Asia. In 795 a clansman from another tribe usurped the "throne" of the khanate. In the 820es the whole federation moved more the the west, into the region of modern Uzbekistan. Last contacts to the Tang court were made in 821 but the federation of the Huige soon disintegrated when some Kirgizes (Chinese: Xiajiasi 黠戛斯) murdered the Huige khan. A small group under Wujie khan 烏介可汗 remigrated to the east but soon disappeared as an ethnic unity, other groups submitted to the Tibetians. The Ganzhou and Shazhou Uighurs The Huige 回紇 (from now on rather called Huigu 回鶻) migrating into the area of the Gansu corridor (Xihe zoulang 西河走廊) occupied an area that was long inhabited by Chinese and Non-Chinese peoples and had for some decades been dominated by the kings of Tubo (modern Tibet) and descendants of the Tuyuhun [Tuguhun] 吐谷渾 khanate. From the 890es on, when the powers of the Tubo kingdom, the Chinese empires (see Five Dynasties), and local Chinese potentates vanished, the Huigu tribes in the Ganzhou area 甘州 (modern Gansu) founded a new small khanate . In the 10th century the Ganzhou Huigu had quite good relations with the new-founded Song 宋 empire as they controlled the trade routes to the west, but with the uprise of the Western Xia (Xixia) 西夏 realm, the Huigu in that area suffered under the warfare between the Song, the Western Xia and the Liao 遼 empires, and several times changed side in this conflict. In 1026 finally the Western Xia empire occupied the region of Ganzhou, the Ganzhou khanate disintegrated, and some of the Huigu migrated more to the west, into the region of Shazhou 沙州 (Dunhuang 敦煌/Gansu) where they founded several small khanates as "kings" (wang 王) that were subservient to both the Western Xia and the Liao empires and presented their tributes to these mighty neighbors in the east. Without totally abandoning their independence, the Huigu in these regions all had their own regional polities. The Silkroad or Xizhou Uighurs Other tribes of the Huige migrated more to the west, founding small khanates in the citystates along the old Silkroad (a region during the Tang period administered as Anxi 安西 protectorate, hence also called the Anxi Uighurs), like Yanqi 焉耆, Qiuci 龜茲, and Gaochang 高昌, and, their polities are known as that of the Xizhou Uighurs 西州回鶻 in the Tarim Basin and around. From that time on the old names of the citystates were gradually replaced by Uighurian names, like Karashahr (Qarašar) for Yanqi, Kucha (Kuqa) for Qiuci, and Kocho (Koqo) or Turpan (Turfan) for Gaochang. In Turpan the tribal leader "Pangteqin" 龐特勤 founded a khanate that even had relations to the late Tang court in 857, and with the early Song court. In 981 the ruler of Turpan adopted the title of Lion khan (Arslan Khan), and the old title of idqut "leader". Capital of the Turpan khanate was the city of Beiting 北庭 (late Beshbalik 別失八里, modern Jimsar 吉木薩兒), Turpan served as secondary capital.The Uighur territory was an important stage in the east-west trade, and the population of this area had contact with many religions, like Buddhism, Manicheism, Nestorian Christianty. Togheter with these religions, the Soghdian script was transmitted to the Huigu khanate, and the Uighurs there developed their own alphabetic script that should later be of great importance for the Uighurs when they took over administrative tasks for the Mongol empire. In the 1120es when scions of the ruling house of the Liao Dynasty left their homeland and fled to the west, the Liao prince Yelü Dashi 耶呂大石 was able to subdue the Uighurian khan in Gaochang and made them subservient to his Western Liao (Xiliao) 西遼 empire. In 1209 the Xizhou Uighurs became subject to the Mongols. To the southeast of the Xizhou Uighurs lived the so-called Yellow Head Uighurs (Huangtou Huihe 黃頭回紇) in the Qaidam Basin and around Lake Lop Noor 羅布泊. The Uighurs of Kucha are often seen as a branch of the Gaochang Uighurs but had their own polity with an own "Lion Khan" and were not subservient to their northern neighborn in Gaochang. From the Yuan period Yuan 元 period on the different Uighurs are called Weiwur 畏兀兒. Their most important economical and cultural centers are the Turfan oasis that is famous not only for the average agricultural products, but especially for cotton, sesame, melons and grapes. Turfan is also known for the rich work in printing products in several languages and scripts, like Syrian, Mongolian, Tibetian, Chinese, and Tangutian. The Uighurs only became Muslims during the Ming period, but their traditional name Huige/Huigu is still a part of the denomination of the Muslim minority in whole China (huizu 回族) - and thus survives. During the Ming and Qing periods the Uighur polities in "Eastern Turkestan", as the region their lived in was called, were quite autonomous and often rebelled against attempts of the Chinese central government in Beijing to tame them. Two great wars in the 18th and the 19th centuries made an end to their independance. Even today, it is not easy for the Communist government to take a solid grip on the Uighur communities in Xinjiang: The modern descendants of the Huigu is the officially acknowledge minority of the Uyghurs (Weiwuerzu 維吾爾族) in Xinjiang.

The Uighur Qaγans imperial title (Chinese version) personal name (Chinese version) 5th cent. ("Bu Khan 卜可汗") 6th cent. ("Shuzhe 樹者") begin 7th cent. ("Pusa 菩薩") 7th cent. ("Tumidu 吐迷度") Qutlugh Bilgä köl Qaghan ("Guduolu Piqie Que 骨咄祿毗伽闕可汗") Huairen Qaghan 懷仁可汗 744-754 "Gulipeiluo 骨力裴羅" "Gele 葛勒可汗" "Moyanchuo 磨延啜" "Moyu 牟羽可汗" Usurper Huaixin Qaghan 懷信可汗 795- Chongde Qaghan 崇德可汗 821-