ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the ongoing violence in Xinjiang, and begins with the 2009 disturbances in Urumqi, is only the most recent phase of a protracted conflict that has deep historical roots. It is not simply a clash between contemporary Muslim Uyghurs and the Chinese Communist Party; neither is it a conflict created or stimulated purely by hostile external forces in an otherwise peaceful Xinjiang, which is how it is portrayed by the government in Beijing. In Kasghar, as the influence of Sufism evolved, the Sufi masters acquired power in a system that has been called ishanat and is a model of religious authority that is particular, although far from unique to, Central Asia. The numbers involved in the violent resistance in Khotan, Karakash, Lop and other parts of southern Xinjiang were relatively small. The military conquest of the eastern part of Turkestan by the Sufis and political leaders associated with them consolidated the political authority of Islam.
