Kashgar
Kashgar, is an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. In 1999, the population was given as 205,056.
Geography
Kashgar is sited west of the Taklamakan desert at the feet of the Tian Shan mountain range. Its coordinates are 39° 24’ 26” N.; 76° 6’ 47” E. It is 1,290 m/4,232 ft above sea level.
Situated at the junction of routes from the valley of the Oxus, from Khokand and Samarkand, Almati, Aksu, and Khotan, the last two leading from China and India, Kashgar has been noted from very early times as a political and commercial centre.
The Kashgar oasis is where both the northern and southern routes from China around the Taklamakan desert converge. It is also almost directly north of Tashkurgan through which traffic passed from Gandhara, in what is now northern Pakistan, and Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.
About 200 km west of the present city, just past the present border with Kyrgyztan, the main Silk Route crossed into the head of the Alai Valley from where relatively easy routes led southwest to Balkh or northwest to Ferghana. The present main road now travels northwest through the Torugart pass.
The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass.
History of the Site
Previously the city consisted of two towns, Kona Sheher or "old city", and Yengi Sheher or "new city", about 5 miles (8 km) apart, separated from one another by the Kyzyl Su (literally: "Red River"), a tributary of the Tarim river. The division is now less distinct.
Kona Sheher is a small fortified city on high ground overlooking the Tuman river. Its walls are lofty and supported by buttress bastions with loopholed turrets at intervals; the fortifications, however, are but of hard clay and are much out of repair. The city contains about 2,500 houses. Beyond the bridge, a little way off, are the ruins of ancient Kashgar, which once covered a large extent of country on both sides of the Tuman, and the walls of which even now (in 1911) are 12 feet (3.7m) wide at the top and twice that in height. This city - Aski Shahr (Old Town) as it is now called - was destroyed in 1514 by Mirza Ababakar (Abubekr) on the approach of Sultan Said Khan's army.
About two miles to the north beyond the river is the shrine of Hazrat Afak, the saint king of the country, who died and was buried here in 1693. It is a handsome mausoleum faced with blue and white glazed tiles, standing under the shade of some magnificent silver poplars. Around it Yakub Beg erected a commodious college, mosque and monastery, the whole being surrounded by rich orchards, fruit gardens and vineyards.
The Yengi Sheher of Kashgar was, as its name implies, relatively modern, having been built in 1838. It was of oblong shape running north and south, and was entered by a single gateway. The walls were about 10 metres (33 ft) high, of adobe brick and topped by turrets, while on each side was a projecting bastion. The walls were reportedly wide enough at the top for a two-wheeled cart. The whole was surrounded by a deep and wide ditch, which could be filled from the river, at the risk, however, of bringing down the whole structure, for the walls were of mud, and standing upon a porous sandy soil. When the Communists took power they destroyed the walls.
Before Yakub Beg's seized power from the Chinese, Yengi Sheher held a garrison of 6,000 men, and was the residence of the amban or governor. Yakub erected his orda or palace on the site of the amban's residence, and two hundred ladies of his harem occupied a commodious enclosure nearby.
The population of Kashgar was estimated (not long before 1911) at 60,000 in the Kona Sheher and only 2,000 in the Yengi Sheher.
Name
Kashgar, or Qäshqär, is said to mean variegated houses. The modern Chinese name is Kāshí 喀什, a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used 喀什噶爾. A former Chinese name was 疏勒, variously romanized as Su-leh, Sulei, Shule, Shu-le, She-le, Shu-lo or Sha-le, which perhaps represents either an original Solek or Sorak, or the Sanskrit name Śrīkrīrāti, meaning "fortunate hospitality". Alternate romanizations include Cascar.
Demographics
Kashgar is home to an important Muslim community (Uighurs). The area does not have the same high level of Han Chinese immigration as does Ürümchi, Xinjiang's largest city, which is strongly industrial.
Economics & Society
The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers pour in from the surrounding fertile lands with an amazing variety of superb fruit and vegetables. Kashgar's livestock market is also very lively.
Silk and carpets made in Hotan are sold at bazaars, as well as local crafts, such as copper teapots and wooden jewelry boxes.