The Turkic-speaking Yugurs are considered to be the descendants of a group of Old Uyghurs who fled from
Mongolia southwards to Gansu after the collapse of the
Uyghur Khaganate in 840, where they established the prosperous
Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom (870-1036) with capital near present
Zhangye at the base of the
Qilian Mountains in the valley of the
Ruo Shui.[5]
In 1037, the Yugur came under
Tangut domination.[6] As a result of
Khizr Khoja’s invasion of
Qumul, many residents who rejected conversion escaped to nearby
Dunhuang and
Hunan in China proper. These became the ancestors of the modern Yellow Uyghurs, who have remained
Buddhists to the present day.[7]
In 1893, Russian explorer
Grigory Potanin, the first Western scientist to study the Yugur, published a small glossary of Yugur words, along with notes on their administration and geographical situation.[8]
Language
About 4,600 Yugurs speak Western Yugur (a Turkic language) and about 2,800 Eastern Yugur (a Mongolic language). Western Yugur has preserved many archaisms of
Old Uyghur.[9][10]
Both Yugur languages are now unwritten, although the
Old Uyghur alphabet was in use in some Yugur communities until end of 19th century.[11]
1 Central Asian (i.e.
Turkmeni,
Afghani and
Iranian)
Turkmens, distinct from Levantine (i.e.
Iraqi and
Syrian) Turkmen/Turkoman minorities, who mostly adhere to an Ottoman-Turkish heritage and identity.
2 In traditional areas of Turkish settlement (i.e. former
Ottoman territories).