THE UZBEK RACE OF SINKIANG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200410005-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 16, 2013
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: January 19, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/16 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200410005-8
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
SECURITY INFO ON
-CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY -China (Sinkiang)
SUBJECT The Uzbek Race of Sinkiang
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF INFORMATION
DATE
ACQUIRED
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(LISTED BELOW) ,
AMS
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
50X1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. Number in Sinkiang: The Uzbek race of Sinkiang is also referred to, both in
Sinkiang and in English language texts on that province., as Uzbeg and 7Y tzu
pieh-kto. According to a 1943. survey they numbered 7,966, or slightly over50X1
.21% of the total population of Sinkiang.
2. Origin of the Name: The Uzbeks are a mountain people of Turkio-Ui1r.Lr
Their tribal name was formed by combining the words Uz (self) and dek
(masters or chief) v to Mean "Master of Himself". True to their nave, they
are proudo willful and generally ambitious. The Uzbeks, like the Taters, are
extremely clanish and never marry outside of their own race. Their tribal
motto is, "We bear hunger, thirst, torture and death, but never a master".
History of ' g: The l zbek nation as a whole is now composed of two mra.ti.
ethnic layers. The old Iranian groups which inhabited the southern lamer
Asian oasis region and the Turkish tribes of the so-called "Uzbek coni`e3eration1,
which in the sixteenth century conquered this region. Under the of
the culture of the Iranian agricultural oasis dwellers, the Uzbeks soon
abandoned their nomadic economy and went over to a settled, a ricult.ral
economy. They absorbed many elements of the higher Iranian culture which
they had conquered, to such a degree that for a time Persian was the only
language in which literature was written and in which the courts functioned.
In the nineteenth century, most of the territory of the Uzbeks was conquered
by the Russians. Several Khanates remained nominally independent, but were
actually in a vassal relationship to Russia. After the Soviet Revolution,
the Uzbeks first formed part of the Turkistan Soviet Republic and later were
reorganized into the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. The Uzbeks comprise
the majority of the-population in their own Republic. They live also, in
scattered groups, in the Tadjik, Kazakh and Kirghiz Soviet 3oeialist Reoublics
and in northern Afghanistan, as well as in Sinkiang.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/16 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200410005-8
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/16 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200410005-8
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CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
LaRgUage: As mentioned before, for a time Persian was the only language in which
Uzbek literature was written and in which their courts functioned. At the present
the Turkic Uzbek language prevails over Iranian as the language of
however
time
,
,
the common people. The Uzbek city dwellers generally still use the Iranicized
version of the Uzbek. language, whereas the Uzbeks who live in the country use the
purer Turkic tongue.
5. Religion: The Uzbeks belong to the Sunni order of the Islamic faith. They, however,
consider the mystical teachings of the Sufis important in their religious development.
6. _?neentrations: The Uzbeks in Sinkiang, who are refugees from Soviet oppression,
f th
em are
reside for the most part in the cities. More than three-quarters o
located in the cities of Kashgar (Shufu), Kuldja (Ining) and Ghuguchak (Tahcheng).
Oc nations: Up to the sixteenth century the Uzbeks were nomads and made their
living by herding cattle and sheep. After that time they settled down and went
over to a settled agricultural economy. In Sinkiang, the majority are city
dwellers and have become either merchants or traders.
CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr2013/05/16 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200410005-8