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D'une construction remarquable, bien qu'effectuée à différentes époques, l'église de Polignac est un véritable joyau de l'art roman qui mérite une visite attentive. Le chœur est des Xème et XIème siècles, la nef du XIIème siècle, sauf la dernière travée, qui fut ajouté au siècle dernier. Ses dimensions : 30m de long, 14m de large et 12m de haut (sous voûte) en font un édifice remarquable pour une petite agglomération. L'église est (sauf la dernière travée à l'intérieur) construite en pierre taillée, ocre ou noire, provenant des coulées volcaniques de la Denise. Cette pierre se prêtant mal à la sculpture fine, a été remplacée pour la plupart des chapiteaux par la pierre blanche des carrières de Blavozy.
Le bâtiment comporte une nef centrale, deux nefs latérales et un transept incomplet. Les piliers massifs, en forme de croix, sont agrémentés dans les angles, par de belles colonnettes en fuseau, qui ornent également le pourtour de l'église.
L’existence de l’église Saint Martin est attestée dès 1062. Des chanoines y célèbrent la messe, jusqu’à ce que le vicomte de Polignac s’en empare. En 1128, l’évêque rétablit l’ordre des choses. En 1588 l’église est cédée sous la contrainte au Collège des Jésuites et rétrocédée en 1597. Mais en 1603 le Parlement Toulousain confirme le droit des Jésuites. Les villageois refusent alors de payer la dîme jusqu’en Juillet 1617, où le parlement Bordelais fait signer une transaction. L’intérieur de cette église romane, construite à partir de brèches volcaniques, mérite l’attention des visiteurs. Des fresques murales ont été mises à jour en 1923 et restaurées quelques années plus tard. La plus impressionnante demeure le jugement dernier à travers des tableaux de l’Enfer et du Paradis. Imposante par sa taille, l'église a été régulièrement restaurée dès le début du XIXème siècle.
Un grand merci pour vos favoris, commentaires, encouragements et critiques toujours très appréciés.
Many thanks for your much appreciated favorites and comments
Des mains d'agriculteur! Cette photo va être imprimée sur une très grande bâche à l'entrée d'un village d'Occitanie pour la période estivale. Fière.
Oui, toutes les fenêtres offrent une vue imprenable sur le port de Port-Vendres.
Non, je n'ai pas de commission sur une éventuelle transaction !
Ma seule motivation est le partage de cette façade que je trouve belle.
The abbey was founded in 1129 by Duke Godfrey, surnamed "Barbatus" ("the Bearded"), who possessed an immense park near Leuven and had invited the Premonstratensians to take possession of a small church he had built there.
Walter, abbot of St Martin's, Laon, brought a colony of his canons and acted as their superior for nearly three years, until the canons, now in sufficient number, elected Simon, another canon of Laon, as their abbot. The canons performed the general work of the ministry in the district of Leuven, in opposition to the heretic Tanchelm.
In 1137 the abbot was able to found Ninove Abbey. Godfrey made the Abbot of the Park and his successors his archchaplains. Simon died on 30 March 1142 and was succeeded by Philip, whose correspondence with Saint Hildegard of Bingen was preserved in the Park Abbey archives. Philip and his successors enlarged the buildings and prepared the land for agriculture. At the time there a canon living in the abbey, Blessed Rabado, whose devotion to the Passion was attested by miracles.
Abbot Gerard van Goetsenhoven (1414–34) had much to do with the establishment of the Catholic University of Leuven, and was also delegated by John IV, Duke of Brabant to transact state affairs with the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy. Abbot van Tulden (1462–94) was successful in his action against commendatory abbots being imposed on religious houses in Belgium. Abbot van den Berghe (1543–58) managed the contributions levied in support of the Belgian theologians present at the resumed Council of Trent.
The abbey seen from across one of the fishponds
The abbey frequently suffered during the wars waged by William of Orange and the Calvinists. Abbots included Loots (1577–1583), van Vlierden (1583–1601), Jan Druys (1601–1634), Maes (1635–1647), De Pape (1648–1682), and van Tuycum (1682–1702). They all favoured higher education at the University of Leuven, and academic study flourished in the abbey.
Under Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, the abbey was confiscated, because Abbot Wauters (died 23 November 1792) refused to send his religious to the general seminary erected by the emperor at Leuven. In the successful revolution against the emperor, the religious returned to their abbey. Wauters was succeeded by Melchior Nysmans (1793–1810).
Under the French Republic the abbey was confiscated again on 1 February 1797. At the request of the people the church was declared to be a parish church and was thus saved. The abbey was bought by a friendly layman who wished to preserve it for the religious, in better times. One of the canons, in the capacity of parish priest, remained in or near the abbey.
When Belgium was made a kingdom and religious freedom was restored, the surviving religious resumed community life and elected Peter Ottoy, then rural dean of Diest, as their superior.
In 1897 the abbey undertook the foundation of a priory in Brazil. (Wikipedia) Leuven, Belgium
Foire aux chameaux de Pushkar, état du Rajasthan, Inde.
Le soleil vient juste de se lever sur les bivouacs des marchands de chameaux de la foire de Pushkar mais il ne fait pas encore très chaud. Encore un peu ensommeillé, l'homme se pelotonne dans sa couverture avant de commencer une nouvelle journée de transactions.
Quelques centaines de marchands de dromadaires mais aussi de chevaux se donnent rendez-vous chaque année en novembre dans la plaine de Pushkar pour une manifestation certes commerciale durant laquelle sont négociés des milliers d'animaux, mais aussi religieuse, dédiée au dieu hindouiste Brahma. A cette occasion, de nombreuses activités commerciales, religieuses et festives animent la ville durant douze jours
L'actuelle église paroissiale Saint-Rémy est l'ancienne abbatiale de l'abbaye bénédictine fondée en 673 par saint Berchaire sur des terres données par le roi Childéric II. A la Révolution, l'ancienne église paroissiale de Montier-en-Der, du vocable de Saint-Rémy, fut détruite. Les paroissiens retrouvèrent un lieu de culte dans l'abbatiale inoccupée qui était alors dédiée à Notre-Dame et où ils continuèrent à célébrer leur ancien patron, saint Rémy.
L'abbé Adson (960-982) entreprit la reconstruction de l'église qui fut consacrée en 998 (il en subsiste les grandes arcades de la nef).
Au cours de la 1ère moitié du 11e siècle, on dota la nef de tribunes et d'un massif antérieur à tours et à la fin 12e on édifia le choeur et la tour de façade qui furent probablement achevés aux alentours de 1200.
Au 14e siècle, l'abbé Ferry éleva la chapelle des fonts au nord du choeur. Au début du 16e siècle, l'abbé commendataire François de Dinteville modifia la partie antérieure de l'église (reconstruction de la façade et destruction de sa tour septentrionale) et remplaça les charpentes des tribunes par des voûtes.
Une transaction fut passée le 6 février 1556 entre le cardinal Charles de Lorraine, archevêque de Reims et abbé commendataire, et Girard de Hault, procureur des habitants dépendants de l'abbaye pour que ces derniers effectuent 600 charrois pour la réparation de l'église (réfection des flèches des deux clochers de l'abbaye et de leur couverture en ardoise), d'autres travaux comme la démolition des corps de logis en bois de l'abbaye (maisons abbatiales, trésorerie, chantrerie, aumônerie, étables, prévôté) et reconstruire le mur de clôture de l'abbaye avec quatre tours à canonnière, un pont-levis et une herse à l'entrée.
En 1773, les bâtiments abbatiaux furent reconstruits puis transformés en haras en 1811 et enfin rasés en 1860.
Sous l'impulsion de Prosper Mérimée, le choeur, la chapelle axiale et le déambulatoire furent restaurés par Emile Boeswillwald entre 1851-1855 et 1860-1863. Son fils, Paul-Louis Boeswillwald, reconstruisit la charpente de la nef, brûlée par un incendie en 1893, et les parties supérieures du clocher entre 1896 et 1901.
L'édifice fut bombardé et incendié le 14 juin 1940 ce qui entraîna un grand chantier de restauration dès 1941 et la reconstruction quasi-totale de la nef sous la direction de Jacques Laurent, architecte en chef des Monuments Historiques. Cette phase de travaux s'acheva au milieu des années 1950 mais la flèche de la tour ne fut posée qu'en 1982
L’édifice Archivo de Indias, Avenida de la Constitución, Séville (Sevilla), Andalousie, Espagne.
Les Archives générales des Indes ont investi en 1785 le vaste bâtiment de style Renaissance de la Casa Lonja, ancien centre de transactions commerciales (ancienne Bourse de commerce) du 16e siècle. On y trouve aujourd’hui des documents concernant la navigation et les explorations entreprises par des Espagnols ainsi que des nombreuses cartes et dessins datant du 15e siècle jusqu’au 19e siècle. Parmi les documents, on compte des lettres de Colomb, de Magellan, Cortés ou encore de Cervantès.
Séville est la capitale de la région de l'Andalousie, au sud de l'Espagne. Elle est réputée pour la danse flamenco, en particulier dans le quartier de Triana. C’est également une ville au passé prestigieux, dotée d'un patrimoine artistique d’une grande richesse, ce qui en fait une des destinations touristiques les plus prisées d’Europe.
Les principaux monuments incluent le palais richement travaillé de l'Alcazar, construit sous la dynastie maure des Almohades, ainsi que les arènes de la Real Maestranza de Caballería, qui datent du 18e siècle. La cathédrale gothique de Séville comprend le tombeau de Christophe Colomb et un minaret transformé en clocher surnommé « la Giralda ». Depuis 1987, la Cathédrale, l'Alcázar et l'Archivo de Indias de Séville sont classés au patrimoine de L’UNESCO (WHL-383bis).
La Lonja de la Seda (Bourse de la Soie) est située au Carrer de la Llotja, 2 de Valence, Espagne.
Dans cette salle dite des Transactions, dédiée au négoce de la soie, les hautes voûtes en ogives des 3 nefs sont supportées par d'élégantes colonnes torsadées de plus de 16 m et éclairées de fenêtres à fins remplages.
Classée à l'Unesco depuis 1996 (WHL-782), cette bourse a été bâtie au 15e siècle à la demande des marchands de soie, l'ancien bâtiment devenant trop exigu face au volume des échanges. Elle se compose de plusieurs édifices qui constituent un chef-d’œuvre du gothique tardif au cachet très espagnol. L'opulente Valence soignait l'architecture de ses édifices ! En effet, au cours des 15e et 16e siècles, Valence fut l'un des grands centres européens du commerce et de la culture. La Bourse de la soie est la somptueuse expression de cet âge d'or. Sa façade principale d'un gothique flamboyant, dominée par une tour du côté ouest, est couronnée d'un faîtage crénelé orné de gargouilles. L'été on peut profiter d'un joli patio ombragé planté d'orangers et orné d'une fontaine. L'édifice accueille désormais des manifestations culturelles telles que concerts et expositions.
Troisième ville d'Espagne, Valence a le tempérament d'une grande cité méditerranéenne, agréable par la douceur de son climat et la lumière qui la baigne. Sur la rive droite du riu Turia s'étendent la vieille-ville située au nord de la Plaça de l'Ajuntament.
This blue glass salt (salt dish) of six centimetres in diameter dates from the early 1920s. It has a beautifully executed intaglio of a classical Roman maiden and a cherub who look like they are about to kiss. The intaglio is designed by Czechoslovakian glass maker Heinrich Hoffman. An intaglio is an engraving or incised figure in stone or other hard material (in this case glass) depressed below the surface so that an impression from the design yields an image in relief.
The theme for “Looking Close… on Friday” on the 5th of February is “blue on a black background”, so I thought this beautiful little blue glass salt would suffice. It has been photographed sitting on a piece of French black velvet.
Heinrich Hoffmann (1875 - 1939) was prominent among glass makers at the luxury level of vanity glass production. Heinrich’s reputation as the specialist for articles made of jet black crystal was established in Paris just prior to the time of Lalique´s venture into glass. Heinrich’s´s vanity pieces followed the Art Deco ethic in shape and subject, but echoed an Art Nouveau stylization late into the 1920s. Production was handled by various Czechoslovakian contract factories and cottage finishers, with jewelled bronze mounting completed in Austria, and sales transacted in Paris. The realistic glass jewels manufactured in Gablonz are legendary and were used also in the thinner brass Czechoslovakian mountings of the 1930s, as well as later in costume jewellry by names such as Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and Hattie Carnegie.
As I’ve recounted in prior postings, the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam which became New York after the war between Great Briton and the Netherlands originated on the southern tip of the island of Manhattan, it is the oldest part of the city. The age of the area which was organized prior to the grid pattern of streets that dominates the rest of the island which really only has Broadway traversing diagonally across the pattern, explain why it streets cross and turn sometimes without logic; remember that Broadway was in fact an original Lenape Indian trail. I enjoy walking this part of the city, without the grid pattern, you end up in a different direction before you know it. It is just east of the aforementioned Broadway at the intersection of Liberty Street and Liberty Place that one encounters 65 Liberty Street what today is the International Commercial Bank of China. However as captured on this image on the buildings restored façade, etched in the stone above its six two story columns are carved “1768 Chamber of Commerce 1901” which reveals the edifice’s original purpose. Opening in 1902 though its cornerstone was actually laid on November 8, 1901 (which is what the 1901 stands for) and it was a designed by James B. Baker during the City Beautiful Movement that spawned the architectural masterpieces such as the majestic entrance to the Manhattan Bridge that I posted previously
[ flic.kr/p/pqXEUq ]. The architect Baker’s design was French Renaissance Eclectic Style. What is captured in this image is the top of the building from Liberty Street, reminiscent of the Paris Opera House with large fluted columns, topped by a gently curved mansard copper clad roof with distinct ornate dormers which contained the the Assembly Hall where most of the gatherings for the Chamber of Commerce of New York State were held during its heyday.
What is the 1768 stand for? That is when a group of twenty New York City merchants met on April 5th at Bolton and Sigel's Tavern (today Fraunces Tavern [ flic.kr/p/CcLpzj ]) to forge a mercantile union that would promote and protect their collective interests, which was initially called ‘The New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry”. Yes, it predated the American Revolutionary War and in 1770 was granted a royal charter from good old King George III himself, incorporating as “the Corporation of the Chamber of Commerce in the City of New York in America.” It survived the British occupation of New York City during the Revolutionary War as it was a divided organization, the Patriots left New York City when the Brits arrived, but the Loyalist remained and continued to hold meetings and transact business in the city. The organization grew, though for its first century it was a gypsy of sorts, moving from location to location. Initially meeting at Bolton and Sigel’s Tavern, in 1770 after receiving their royal charter it moved its home-base to the Royal Exchange. After the British evacuation in 1783, the organization moved to the Merchants' Coffee House building where the following year they received a new charter reincorporating it as "the Corporation of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York." A decade later in 1793 the organization migrated across the street to the Tontine Association. In 1827 the Chamber of Commerce took over the Merchants Exchange Building until the great New York City fire of 1835 found the organization moving to the Merchants Bank located on Wall Street. It was during this time the powerful Chamber of Commerce heavily pushed with it influence the building of the Erie Canal citing the interest of serving regional commerce which greatly contributed to the development of the ever growing New York City. The sphere of influence of the organization was far reaching during most of the 19th Century, expansion of New York City’s water & waste water system, the building of a rapid transit system for the city, even health initiatives like developing measures to protect New York during the cholera outbreaks of the 1890’s were championed by the visionary members of this group.
The organization continued to grow in power and influence at the turn of the 20th Century, and it was actually in 1897 that the Chamber of Commerce began a building fund to build a permanent and proper headquarters. After securing the location at 65 Liberty Street, they chose James B. Baker to design the building. The building would open in November of 1902 with an impressive list of guest attending the opening ceremony including sitting US President Theodore Roosevelt (a New York City native), former president Grover Cleveland (a Caldwell New Jersey native), the French & British Ambassadors, New York City Mayor Seth Low, the Consul Generals of Russia, Germany and Britan as well as several European Royals. The building was not completely finished at the opening; eventually in 1903 three donated statues were placed in the three spans between the fluted columns, statues of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and De Witt Clinton. Then in 1921 architects Helmle & Corbett began a major remodeling which required that the building be closed for six months reopening in January of 1922. The organization remained in the magnificent white Vermont marble building until 1980; it being designated a New York City landmark in 1966 and National Historic Landmark in 1977. The Chamber of Commerce moved in with an affiliate organization, The New York City Partnership in 1980. In 2002 the two organizations merged into The Partnership for New York City and sadly that is where New York Chamber of Commerce ended its existence, which was amongst the oldest merchant organizations in the States.
Before the International Commercial Bank of China completely moved into the historic edifice in this image, extensive restoration was done by Haines Lundberg Waehler in 1991. The damage of acid rain and pollution had deteriorated the white marble façade of the building to the extent that it required 25,000 tons of white Vermont marble to accomplish the restoration. Sadly the three aforementioned statues of Hamilton, Jay and Clinton as well as a statue of Mercury were beyond repair when the restoration was completed in 1992.
Captured on Olympus E-5 using an Olympus Zuiko 12-60MM F2.8-4.0 SWD lens hand held processed with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
Project 365 (one photo per day for 2022 taken on 5x4 large format film)
Event: Project 365
Location: Bedroom at home
Camera: Wista 45VX
Lens(s): Schneider-Kreuznach Apo-Symmar 210mm f/5.6
Film: Ilford Delta 100
Shot ISO: 80
Light Meter: Minolta Spot Meter F
Movements: Rear swing, front swing, front tilt forwards, front rise
Bellows: 240mm (+0.33)
Exposure: 1s @ f/32
Lighting: Vivanco VL300 - 11:45am
Mounting: Tripod - Manfrotto
Firing: Cable release
Developer: Ilford DD-X(1+4)
Scanner: Epson V800
Post: Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop (dust removal)
Concremiers (Indre).
Château de Forges.
Manoir fortifié situé sur la rive sud de l'Anglin, aux frontières du Berry, du Poitou et du Limousin.
Au milieu du XIVe siècle, la seigneurie de Forges entre dans la famille Tyrel de Poix, par héritage*.
Une lettre patente de Charles VII, du 4 mai 1442, donnée à Limoges, octroie à Jehan de Poix échanson du roi, « pour les bons services de notre dict échanson, nous a fait le temps passé, tant en fait de nos guerres que en son dict office », "licence de construire, bastir, fortifier et remparer ledit lieu de Forges et d'y faire fossez, murs tours, paliz, pont levier, barbacanes, guérites et toutes aultres fortifications".
L'analyse dendrochronologique montre que la construction du château, autorisée en 1442, se serait étalée sur une trentaine d'années.
Forges reste près de trois siècles dans le même famille, jusqu’à Marguerite de Poix. Après la mort de Marguerite de Poix, dame de Forges, son mari Antoine de Lage, seigneur de la Palisse, qui lui survécut sans postérité, fit une transaction, le 6 août 1627, avec Pierre de Muzard et Renée de Poix, ses beau-frère et sœur, au sujet de la succession de sa femme. Les descendants des précédents vendront Forges, au marquis de Lussac qui revendra en 1715 à Mathieu Pinsonneau. Ce dernier revend le domaine à la marquise de Parabère, Marie-Madeleine de la Vieuville maîtresse du régent Philippe d'Orléans**.
Marie-Madeleine de la Vieuville, ruinée pas sa vie fastueuse est contrainte de vendre ses terres du Blanc, dont font parties celles de Forges, à Claude Dupin, seigneur de Chenonceau***, financier et conseiller de Louis XV, et qui se trouve être l'arrière grand-père de George Sand.
Après la mort de Claude Dupin, Forges tombe dans les mains de son petit neveu, Claude de Villeneuve qui vend à Léon Chézeau, fermier, qui revendra à un éditeur, Fernand Aubier.
Les descendants de Fernand Aubier**** revendront Forges à la vicomtesse Félix de Poix, dont les descendants sont toujours propriétaires. La boucle est bouclée, et Forges est de nouveau dans la famille de Poix.
* La famille Tyrel possédera les seigneuries de Villemort, de Forges, de Monchemain, de Marécreux, des Carts, de La Noue.
** La mère de Marie-Madeleine, très pieuse, entend la protéger des divertissements de la cour. Par chance, celle-ci meurt en 1715. Son mari, par lequel Marie-Madeleine était devenue Madame de parabère, meurt à son tour, de la petite vérole, en 1716. La jeune veuve de 23 ans est enfin libre. Elle fréquente le salon de Mademoiselle, la duchesse de Berry, dont le père est le régent Philippe d'Orléans. Dès 1716, Marie-Madeleine devient la maîtresse officielle du Régent.
*** Le château de Chenonceau, acheté en 1733 au duc de Bourbon est resté dans la famille Dupin jusqu'en 1864.
**** En 1944, Fernand Aubier vendit le domaine de Montry et fit l'acquisition du château de Forges, à Concremiers (Indre). Romancier, il fondera les éditions Aubiers-Montaigne.
Trézin Christian. Les hourds du château de Forges (Concrémiers, Indre) et leur contexte berrichon. In: Bulletin Monumental,
tome 158, n°3, année 2000. pp. 185-202;
www.chateaudeforges.fr/lechateaufort.html
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Forges#:~:text=Par%...
favoritesroyales.canalblog.com/archives/2011/11/20/227457...
La tour Agbar, est un gratte-ciel de Barcelone en Catalogne, datant du début du xxie siècle. Elle a été dessinée par l'architecte français Jean Nouvel en collaboration avec la société b720 Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos. La tour a ouvert ses portes en juin 2005, et a été inaugurée officiellement par la famille royale d'Espagne le 16 septembre 2005.
Le 16 novembre 2013, il est annoncé que le gratte-ciel a été racheté par la chaîne hôtelière Hyatt et qu'il sera transformé en hotel de luxe. La transaction s'élève à 150 millions d'euros1,2.
Il offre 30 000 m2 de bureaux, 3 210 m2 pour les services techniques et 8 351 m2 destinés à des fonctions diverses, avec notamment un auditorium et des parkings, pour une superficie totale de 50 693 m2. La tour Agbar mesure 145 mètres de haut et comporte 38 étages, dont quatre en sous-sol.
Son design mêle différentes conceptions en matière d'architecture : une structure en béton armé, entièrement recouverte d'une façade de verre, créant plus de 4 400 fenêtres.
Cette tour est devenue l'un des bâtiments les plus remarquables de Barcelone, occupant désormais la troisième place en termes de hauteur, derrière l'Hôtel Arts et la Tour Mapfre, qui culminent tous deux à 154 mètres. Elle est située sur l'avenue Diagonale, près de la Place des Glòries Catalanes. Le bâtiment possède, intégrés à sa façade, plus de 4 000 dispositifs de types DEL qui permettent la création d'images sur les parois extérieures. De plus, des capteurs de température, placés à l'extérieur du gratte-ciel, permettent d'agir sur l'ouverture ou la fermeture des fenêtres, et par là même, de réduire la consommation d'énergie du dispositif d'air conditionné. Ce bâtiment abritera le siège du groupe Aigües de Barcelona, la Société des Eaux de Barcelone.
La tour s'éclaire différemment lors des équinoxes, d'ailleurs, son inauguration a eu lieu quelques jours avant l'équinoxe d'automne (21 septembre).
La Torre Agbar est appelée par les Barcelonais par le joli surnom de « suppositoire » (supositori). Un surnom en verdict populaire qui reste assez réducteur pour qualifier ce projet.
L'ambition délibérée fut de créer une icône pour la ville de Barcelone s'inscrit dans un contexte de profusion architecturale en Asie et dans les pays du Golfe a conduit à choisir l'architecte super-star Jean Nouvel. La Torre Agbar répond doublement à l'architecte super-star anglais Norman Foster, qui a fait sa marque de fabrique la production de "bâtiments symboliques" ("New Symbol...), comme l’exceptionnelle tour de communication de Barcelone justement, ou encore la tour londonienne en forme d'ogive conçue en 2004 appelée le Gherkin, le "cornichon" par les Londoniens. Mais ici pour insérer la Torre Agbar dans la ville de Barcelone, les architectes font appel à l’héritage architectural de Barcelone, et plus précisément à l’œuvre de l'architecte GAUDI selon deux références claires, la forme et la couleur.
1-Le profil de la tour est une parabole (x2) appelée chaine, catène ou caténa par les architectes : La simple suspension d'une chaine permet d'obtenir la courbe d'égale tension, en inversant nous déduisons la courbe d'égale compression, tel fut l’extraordinaire apport de Gaudi, à la pensée constructive et à l'esthétique de la ville ainsi qu'à l'architecture en général. Ici, seule l'enveloppe offre cette expression de catène, on peut regretter que la structure ne l'ai pas suivie (si ici le dogme fonctionnaliste s'applique à cette tour « form follows functions », disait Louis Sullivan, on peut regretter que la forme ne suive pas la structure comme le prônait Gaudi et bien d'autres architectes, on peut se demander quelle fut la part d'innovation structurelle ici? Il semble que ce ne fut pas l'ambition du projet.
2-Les couleurs miroitantes modulables sont aussi une belle interprétation contemporaine des revêtements en céramiques multicolore des façades et cheminées de l’œuvre de Gaudi.
Mais au delà des références symboliques relatives à la ville ou à la concurrence entre architectes ou entre les métropoles, on retrouve dans ce projet une constance de l’œuvre de Jean Nouvel : vouloir rendre les bâtiments vivants, cette ambition poétique est atteinte dans le projet de double peau et elle trouve son apogée quand la ville est plongée dans la nuit ; les jalousies de verre oscillent pour faire passer l'air et les couleurs chatoient.
WIKIPEDIA
Touchay (Cher)
Château de l'Isle-sur-Arnon.
Situé aux rives de l'Arnon en contrebas du village.
La construction du château est attribuée à Jean Dumas (Jean du Mas ou de Mas), conseiller et chambellan de Louis XI en 1480 et enrichi par son fils, évêque de Périgueux en 1494, puis passe aux mains de Jean de Beaufort, prince de Canillac en 1579, mais fut incendié par le prince de Condé en 1650 après avoir perdu une partie de ses défenses en 1591 à la suite d'un siège.
Par une transaction intervenue en 1175 entre Jean II, seigneur de Lignières et Isambert, abbé de Puyferrand, nous savons qu'une seigneurie de l'Isle existait déjà au XIIe siècle.
Au XIIIe siècle plusieurs seigneurs de l'Isle se succéderont. Au XIVe siècle, le domaine est dans la famille du Mas, famille qui tirait son nom du lieu dit le Mas Sarrazin commune de Préveranges (Cher).
Les deux premiers seigneurs de l'Isle du nom de du Mas sont Isambert et Humbault (fin du XIVe siècle). Humbault ou Humbert du Mas était écuyer comme l'indique une quittance de gages du 18 mars 1386. qui lui furent octroyés pour l'indemniser de ses frais pendant la dernière campagne.
A Humbault succéda Pierre du Mas vers 1450, auquel la tradition attribue la construction d'un château féodal. Il mourut le 8 juillet 1456, et fut inhumé dans une chapelle latérale de l'église Saint-Martin de Touchay. De son mariage avec Jacqueline de Chamcour, Pierre du Mas laissa plusieurs fils : Philippe, Gabriel, Pierre et Jean.
Philippe du Mas était seigneur de l'Isle en 1460-1470.
Gabriel entra dans les ordres et sera, peut-être, seigneur du Mas -Sarrazin, la terre d'origine de la famille. Sixte IV nommera Gabriel évêque de Mirepoix en 1475. En 1497, il devient évêque de Périgueux, qu'il administra par l'intermédiaire d'un tiers.
Pierre du Mas se consacra également à l'Eglise, comme moine, et deviendra le trente-cinquième abbé du monastère de Chezal-Benoît. Le couvent était en triste état, ayant été pillé et incendié par les Anglais, et la discipline s'était relâchée. Grâce à la puissante protection de son frère Jean, le monastère put être entièrement reconstruit (il sera de nouveau détruit par un incendie au XVIIIe siècle). Il rétablit également l'ordre intérieur dans le couvent en changeant la règle. La Règle de Pierre du Mas subsista jusqu'à l'époque
de Richelieu.
Jean du Mas hérita de la seignerie de l'Isle et fut conseiller et favori de deux rois de France et d'une régente. Dans sa jeunesse, vers 1463, Jean du Mas batailla, avec quelques compagnons bourguignons, contre Louis XI, mais celui-ci sut se l'attacher par quelques faveurs. Jean de Mas fut de l'expédition contre Jacques d'Armagnac, duc de Nemours, celui-ci ayant participer au complot féodal de la "Ligue du Bien Public" contre le pouvoir royal. Jean de Mas participa à la prise du château de Carlat, possession du duc de Nemours. Jean de Mas fera partie des 17 qui jugeront le duc de Nemours à la décapitation en place publique, à Paris, le 4 août 1477. Les biens de l'accusé furent donnés aux juges, en confirmation de la promesse faite avant le procès. Jean du Mas s'était vu attribuer la seigneurie de Vigouroux et la vicomté de Murat. A la mort de Louis XI, à Amboise, le 30 août 1483, Jean du Mas resta dans les bonnes grâces de la régente Anne de Beauleu (le roi n'avait que 13 ans), puis de Charles VIII. Jean du mas fut le probable maître d'oeuvre du château actuel.
Au XVIe siècle, la terre de l'Isle sortira de la famille du Mas, vers 1578-1579, pour passer dans celle des Beaufort-Montboissier Canillac. A la fin du XVIe siècle, l'Isle était une des places fortes du Berry en faveur du roi. C'est ainsi qu'elle fut assiégée le 5 janvier 1591 par le maréchal de La Châtre, qui avait rompu avec Henri IV, et venait d'échouer dans le siège d'Aubigny. La place était forte, elle était entourée de larges fossés qu'alimentait la rivière l'Arnon, de plus elle avait d'épaisses murailles. La position de la rivière rendant impossible l'établissement de canons devant la porte d'entrée, le château fut prit grâce à un pétard* attaché à la porte par un habitant du village, le nommé Texier, probablement par ruse. M. de la Châtre fit détruire les remparts du château.
Au début du XVIIe siècle, la terre de l'Isle est dans la famille de Varie (ou Varye). René de varie, seigneur de l'Isle, avait pour grand père Guillaume de Varie clerc et bras droit de l'argentier Jacques Coeur. Guillaume fut entraîné dans la chute de Jacques Coeur, ses biens furent vendus et il fut emprisonné en 1453, mais il put bénéficier de la réhabilitation que le roi accorda à la mémoire de Jacques Cœur.
Philippe de Varie, héritier de René, seigneur de l'Isle et de la Brosse, résidait habituellement à l'Isle, sans doute avec ses frères. En 1638, les frères de Varie accordèrent l'hospitalité aux habitants de Linières qui fuyaient la ville infestée par la peste.
Les familles Longueval et Villeneuve Trans succéderont aux Varie dans la possession de la seigneurie de l'Isle.
En 1650, pendant la Fronde, le château de l'Isle, ayant pour seigneur Antoine de Villeneuve marquis de Trans, restait fidèle au roi. La même année, le 13 juillet, les troupes du prince de Condé s'emparèrent de la place. Les assiégeants occupèrent la place pendant huit jours et abattirent une tour d'enceinte et toute la muraille orientale. Les bâtiments furent incendiés**.
Anthoine de Villeneuve mourut en 1672 sans laisser d'enfants et sa veuve*** vendit ou donna l'Isle à Henry de Mousnier, écuyer, seigneur de Meslan. Le fils d'Henry de Mousnier, Louis de Mousnier vendit l'Isle, à son tour, à Georges Goujenot, écuyer conseiller et secrétaire du roi, tuteur onéraire des enfants du régent et plus tard du prince de Condé. Sa famille le conserva jusqu'à la Révolution.
Adrien Gougenot, chevalier des Mousseaux,seigneur de l'Isle, Mallerays et autres lieux, devait être avant la
Révolutionl e dernier châtelain de cette terre. Il partit pour l'émigration en 1792.
Le château, y compris la réserve, fut adjugé le 24 ventôse, an II, au citoyen Étienne Boulié dont la famille l'a gardé jusqu'en 1859.
Au XIXème siècle, des tours menaçant de ruines ont été abattues, dégageant la cour du château. Ce château est actuellement habité et propriété privée.
* Les pétards étaient des petits canons qu'on accrochait aux portes pour les défoncer.
** Une inscription sur le mur intérieur d'une tour en témoigne : "Cette place a été prise le XIII juillet 1650 à
XI heures de nuict et brûlée le XXVI du mesme mois par les Condéistes."
*** Gabrielle du Mas de Castellane qui descendait des du Mas.
(Pour l'essentiel, voir François Deshoulières)
visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre?O=30000004083972&I=2...
maison.omahony.free.fr/ascendants/fiche dumas jean.pdf
nrhp # 75001178- The First Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace took place in the town of Hamilton, June, 1798. At that time Chenango County included what later became Madison County.
First business transacted was the entry of an order that Thomas R. Gold, Joseph Kirkland, Nathan Williams, Stephen O. Runyon, Nathaniel King, Arthur Breese, Peter B. Garnsey and Medad Curtis be admitted to practice as attorneys and counselors of the court.
Second Court was held at Oxford in October of the same year. Subsequently court was held alternately at these two places three times each year.
The first Circuit Court was held July 10, 1798, at the Academy in Oxford.
March 6, 1807 the supervisors selected the site of court house and goal (jail) in the Norwich village, within one mile of the residence of Stephen Steere, (now site of Cole Muffler, 32 North Broad Street, Norwich, NY).
Josiah Dickinson and George Saxton where hired to erect the court house and jail. It was completed in 1809. “A wooden structure, two stories high and substantially built. It was square and well proportioned; but its interior dimensions proved inadequate to the accommodation of the large audiences which congregated when trials of interest took place. Its entire cost was sixty-five hundred dollars”. They were over budget by $1500.
March 24, 1837, an act was passed for erection of a new court house at Norwich (the current one). A tax was levied on the taxable property for $7000, not more than $400 of which was to be levied in any one year. The bond was authorized to draw the entire amount, at six per cent interest, due in 5 years. William Randall, of Norwich, and William Knowlton, of Smithville, were appointed to superintend the construction of the new building; subsequently David Griffing and Alfred Purdy, both of Norwich, were substituted in their place. The new building exceeded the amount originally allowed by $9000.
from co.chenango.ny.us
"The Society Italiana Di Mutuo Soccorso Guglielmo Marconi was founded on December 15, 1912. It was incorporated pursuant to the Ontario Insurance Act on August 22, 1917 as “a friendly Society transacting sick and funeral benefits,” and having its head office at the City of Sault Ste Marie, in the Province of Ontario. Since those dates the Society has evolved and expanded its objects while preserving the original objects." - from society website.
"Sault Ste. Marie (/ˈsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ SOO-seint-ma-REE) is a city on the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada, close to the Canada–US border. It is the seat of the Algoma District and the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants of the area, call this area Baawitigong, meaning "place of the rapids." They used this as a regional meeting place during whitefish season in the St. Mary's Rapids. (The anglicized form of this name, Bawating, is used in institutional and geographic names in the area.)
To the south, across the river, is the United States and the Michigan city of the same name. These two communities were one city until a new treaty after the War of 1812 established the border between Canada and the United States in this area at the St. Mary's River. In the 21st century, the two cities are joined by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 on the Michigan side, and Huron Street (and former Ontario Secondary Highway 550B) on the Ontario side. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the Saint Mary's Rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage that passes through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal.
French colonists referred to the rapids on the river as Les Saults de Ste. Marie and the village name was derived from that. The rapids and cascades of the St. Mary's River descend more than 6 m (20 ft) from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. Hundreds of years ago, this slowed shipping traffic, requiring an overland portage of boats and cargo from one lake to the other. The entire name translates to "Saint Mary's Rapids" or "Saint Mary's Falls". The word sault is pronounced [so] in French, and /suː/ in the English pronunciation of the city name. Residents of the city are called Saultites.
Sault Ste. Marie is bordered to the east by the Rankin and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west by Prince Township. To the north, the city is bordered by an unincorporated portion of Algoma District, which includes the local services boards of Aweres, Batchawana Bay, Goulais and District, Peace Tree and Searchmont. The city's census agglomeration, including the townships of Laird, Prince and Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional and the First Nations reserves of Garden River and Rankin, had a total population of 79,800 in 2011.
Native American settlements, mostly of Ojibwe-speaking peoples, existed here for more than 500 years. In the late 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries established a mission at the First Nations village. This was followed by development of a fur trading post and larger settlement, as traders, trappers and Native Americans were attracted to the community. It was considered one community and part of Canada until after the War of 1812 and settlement of the border between Canada and the US at the Ste. Mary's River. At that time, the US prohibited British traders from any longer operating in its territory, and the areas separated by the river began to develop as two communities, both named Sault Ste. Marie." - info from Wikipedia.
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Kashgar is an oasis city with an approximate population of 350,000. It is the westernmost city in China, located near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar has a rich history of over 2,000 years and served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. Kashgar is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Located historically at the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of an extraordinary number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes.
Now administered as a county-level unit of the People's Republic of China, Kashgar is the administrative centre of its eponymous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 3.5 million. The city's urban area covers 15 km2, though its administrative area extends over 555 km2.
NAME
The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr; Uyghur: قەشقەر). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasi”. Its western and probably indigenous name is the Kāš ("rock"), to which the East Iranian -γar ("mountain"); cf. Pashto and Middle Persian gar/ġar, from Old Persian/Pahlavi girīwa ("hill; ridge (of a mountain)") was attached. Alternative historical Romanizations for "Kashgar" include Cascar and Cashgar.
Non-native names for the city, such as the old Chinese name Shule 疏勒 and Tibetan Śu-lig may have originated as an attempts to transcribe the Sanskrit name for Kashgar, Śrīkrīrāti ("fortunate hospitality")
Variant transcriptions of the official Uyghur: يېڭىشەھەر include: K̂äxk̂är or Kaxgar, as well as Jangi-schahr, Kashgar Yangi Shahr, K’o-shih-ka-erh, K’o-shih-ka-erh-hsin-ch’eng, Ko-shih-ka-erh-hui-ch’eng, K’o-shih-ko-erh-hsin-ch’eng, New Kashgar, Sheleh, Shuleh, Shulen, Shu-lo, Su-lo, Su-lo-chen, Su-lo-hsien, Yangi-shaar, Yangi-shahr, Yangishar, Yéngisheher, Yengixəh̨ər and Еңишәһәр.
HISTORY
HAN DYNASTY
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han dynasty envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.
Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han dynasty), when in 76 BC the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan range.
Ptolemy speaks of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a “Kasia Regio”, probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar and Kashgaria (often applied to the district) are formed. The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam.
In the Book of Han, which covers the period between 125 BC and 23 AD, it is recorded that there were 1,510 households, 18,647 people and 2,000 persons able to bear arms. By the time covered by the Book of the Later Han (roughly 25 to 170 AD), it had grown to 21,000 households and had 3,000 men able to bear arms.
The Book of the Later Han provides a wealth of detail on developments in the region:
"In the period of Emperor Wu [140-87 BC], the Western Regions1 were under the control of the Interior [China]. They numbered thirty-six kingdoms. The Imperial Government established a Colonel [in charge of] Envoys there to direct and protect these countries. Emperor Xuan [73-49 BC] changed this title [in 59 BC] to Protector-General.
Emperor Yuan [40-33 BC] installed two Wuji Colonels to take charge of the agricultural garrisons on the frontiers of the king of Nearer Jushi [Turpan].
During the time of Emperor Ai [6 BC-AD 1] and Emperor Ping [AD 1-5], the principalities of the Western Regions split up and formed fifty-five kingdoms. Wang Mang, after he usurped the Throne [in AD 9], demoted and changed their kings and marquises. Following this, the Western Regions became resentful, and rebelled. They, therefore, broke off all relations with the Interior [China] and, all together, submitted to the Xiongnu again.
The Xiongnu collected oppressively heavy taxes and the kingdoms were not able to support their demands. In the middle of the Jianwu period [AD 25-56], they each [Shanshan and Yarkand in 38, and 18 kingdoms in 45], sent envoys to ask if they could submit to the Interior [China], and to express their desire for a Protector-General. Emperor Guangwu, decided that because the Empire was not yet settled [after a long period of civil war], he had no time for outside affairs, and [therefore] finally refused his consent [in AD 45].
In the meantime, the Xiongnu became weaker. The king of Suoju [Yarkand], named Xian, wiped out several kingdoms. After Xian’s death [c. AD 62], they began to attack and fight each other. Xiao Yuan [Tura], Jingjue [Cadota], Ronglu [Niya], and Qiemo [Cherchen] were annexed by Shanshan [the Lop Nur region]. Qule [south of Keriya] and Pishan [modern Pishan or Guma] were conquered and fully occupied by Yutian [Khotan]. Yuli [Fukang], Danhuan, Guhu [Dawan Cheng], and Wutanzili were destroyed by Jushi [Turpan and Jimasa]. Later these kingdoms were re-established.
During the Yongping period [AD 58-75], the Northern Xiongnu forced several countries to help them plunder the commanderies and districts of Hexi. The gates of the towns stayed shut in broad daylight."
And, more particularly in reference to Kashgar itself, is the following record:
"In the sixteenth Yongping year of Emperor Ming 73, Jian, the king of Qiuci (Kucha), attacked and killed Cheng, the king of Shule (Kashgar). Then he appointed the Qiuci (Kucha) Marquis of the Left, Douti, King of Shule (Kashgar). ‹See TfD›
In winter 73, the Han sent the Major Ban Chao who captured and bound Douti. He appointed Zhong, the son of the elder brother of Cheng, to be king of Shule (Kashgar). Zhong later rebelled. (Ban) Chao attacked and beheaded him."
THE KUSHANS
The Book of the Later Han also gives the only extant historical record of Yuezhi or Kushan involvement in the Kashgar oasis:
"During the Yuanchu period (114-120) in the reign of Emperor, the king of Shule (Kashgar), exiled his maternal uncle Chenpan to the Yuezhi (Kushans) for some offence. The king of the Yuezhi became very fond of him. Later, Anguo died without leaving a son. His mother directed the government of the kingdom. She agreed with the people of the country to put Yifu (lit. “posthumous child”), who was the son of a full younger brother of Chenpan on the throne as king of Shule (Kashgar). Chenpan heard of this and appealed to the Yuezhi (Kushan) king, saying:
"Anguo had no son. His relative (Yifu) is weak. If one wants to put on the throne a member of (Anguo’s) mother’s family, I am Yifu’s paternal uncle, it is I who should be king."
The Yuezhi (Kushans) then sent soldiers to escort him back to Shule (Kashgar). The people had previously respected and been fond of Chenpan. Besides, they dreaded the Yuezhi (Kushans). They immediately took the seal and ribbon from Yifu and went to Chenpan, and made him king. Yifu was given the title of Marquis of the town of Pangao [90 li, or 37 km, from Shule].
‹See TfD›
Then Suoju (Yarkand) continued to resist Yutian (Khotan), and put themselves under Shule (Kashgar). Thus Shule (Kashgar), became powerful and a rival to Qiuci (Kucha) and Yutian (Khotan)."
However, it was not very long before the Chinese began to reassert their authority in the region:
“In the second Yongjian year (127), during Emperor Shun’s reign, Chenpan sent an envoy to respectfully present offerings. The Emperor bestowed on Chenpan the title of Great Commandant-in-Chief for the Han. Chenxun, who was the son of his elder brother, was appointed Temporary Major of the Kingdom. ‹See TfD›
In the fifth year (130), Chenpan sent his son to serve the Emperor and, along with envoys from Dayuan (Ferghana) and Suoju (Yarkand), brought tribute and offerings.”
From an earlier part of the same text comes the following addition:
“In the first Yangjia year (132), Xu You sent the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Yutian (Khotan). He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king [of Jumi] by installing Chengguo from the family of [the previous king] Xing, and then he returned.”[38]
Then the first passage continues:
“In the second Yangjia year (133), Chenpan again made offerings (including) a lion and zebu cattle. ‹See TfD›
Then, during Emperor Ling’s reign, in the first Jianning year, the king of Shule (Kashgar) and Commandant-in-Chief for the Han (i.e. presumably Chenpan), was shot while hunting by the youngest of his paternal uncles, Hede. Hede named himself king.
‹See TfD›
In the third year (170), Meng Tuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, sent the Provincial Officer Ren She, commanding five hundred soldiers from Dunhuang, with the Wuji Major Cao Kuan, and Chief Clerk of the Western Regions, Zhang Yan, brought troops from Yanqi (Karashahr), Qiuci (Kucha), and the Nearer and Further States of Jushi (Turpan and Jimasa), altogether numbering more than 30,000, to punish Shule (Kashgar). They attacked the town of Zhenzhong [Arach − near Maralbashi] but, having stayed for more than forty days without being able to subdue it, they withdrew. Following this, the kings of Shule (Kashgar) killed one another repeatedly while the Imperial Government was unable to prevent it.”
THREE KINGDOMS TO THE SUI
These centuries are marked by a general silence in sources on Kashgar and the Tarim Basin.
The Weilüe, composed in the second third of the 3rd century, mentions a number of states as dependencies of Kashgar: the kingdom of Zhenzhong (Arach?), the kingdom of Suoju (Yarkand), the kingdom of Jieshi, the kingdom of Qusha, the kingdom of Xiye (Khargalik), the kingdom of Yinai (Tashkurghan), the kingdom of Manli (modern Karasul), the kingdom of Yire (Mazar − also known as Tágh Nák and Tokanak), the kingdom of Yuling, the kingdom of Juandu (‘Tax Control’ − near modern Irkeshtam), the kingdom of Xiuxiu (‘Excellent Rest Stop’ − near Karakavak), and the kingdom of Qin.
However, much of the information on the Western Regions contained in the Weilüe seems to have ended roughly about (170), near the end of Han power. So, we can’t be sure that this is a reference to the state of affairs during the Cao Wei (220-265), or whether it refers to the situation before the civil war during the Later Han when China lost touch with most foreign countries and came to be divided into three separate kingdoms.
Chapter 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms says that after the beginning of the Wei Dynasty (220) the states of the Western Regions did not arrive as before, except for the larger ones such as Kucha, Khotan, Kangju, Wusun, Kashgar, Yuezhi, Shanshan and Turpan, who are said to have come to present tribute every year, as in Han times.
In 270, four states from the Western Regions were said to have presented tribute: Karashahr, Turpan, Shanshan, and Kucha. Some wooden documents from Niya seem to indicate that contacts were also maintained with Kashgar and Khotan around this time.
In 422, according to the Songshu, ch. 98, the king of Shanshan, Bilong, came to the court and "the thirty-six states in the Western Regions" all swore their allegiance and presented tribute. It must be assumed that these 36 states included Kashgar.
The "Songji" of the Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 5th month of 435, nine states: Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all came to the Wei court.
In 439, according to the Weishu, ch. 4A, Shanshan, Kashgar and Karashahr sent envoys to present tribute.
According to the Weishu, ch. 102, Chapter on the Western Regions, the kingdoms of Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all began sending envoys to present tribute in the Taiyuan reign period (435-440).
In 453 Kashgar sent envoys to present tribute (Weishu, ch. 5), and again in 455.
An embassy sent during the reign of Wencheng Di (452-466) from the king of Kashgar presented a supposed sacred relic of the Buddha; a dress which was incombustible.
In 507 Kashgar, is said to have sent envoys in both the 9th and 10th months (Weishu, ch. 8).
In 512, Kashgar sent envoys in the 1st and 5th months. (Weishu, ch. 8).
Early in the 6th century Kashgar is included among the many territories controlled by the Yeda or Hephthalite Huns, but their empire collapsed at the onslaught of the Western Turks between 563 and 567 who then probably gained control over Kashgar and most of the states in the Tarim Basin.
TANG DYNASTY
The founding of the Tang dynasty in 618 saw the beginning of a prolonged struggle between China and the Western Turks for control of the Tarim Basin. In 635, the Tang Annals reported an emissary from the king of Kashgar to the Tang capital. In 639 there was a second emissary bringing products of Kashgar as a token of submission to the Tang state.
Buddhist scholar Xuanzang passed through Kashgar (which he referred to as Ka-sha) in 644 on his return journey from India to China. The Buddhist religion, then beginning to decay in India, was active in Kashgar. Xuanzang recorded that they flattened their babies heads, tattooed their bodies and had green eyes. He reported that Kashgar had abundant crops, fruits and flowers, wove fine woolen stuffs and rugs. Their writing system had been adapted from Indian script but their language was different from that of other countries. The inhabitants were sincere Buddhist adherents and there were some hundreds of monasteries with more than 10,000 followers, all members of the Sarvastivadin School.
At around the same era, Nestorian Christians were establishing bishoprics at Herat, Merv and Samarkand, whence they subsequently proceeded to Kashgar, and finally to China proper itself.
In 646, the Turkic Kagan asked for the hand of a Tang Chinese princess, and in return the Emperor promised Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, Karashahr and Sarikol as a marriage gift, but this did not happen as planned.
In a series of campaigns between 652 and 658, with the help of the Uyghurs, the Chinese finally defeated the Western Turk tribes and took control of all their domains, including the Tarim Basin kingdoms. Karakhoja was annexed in 640, Karashahr during campaigns in 644 and 648, and Kucha fell in 648.
In 662 a rebellion broke out in the Western Regions and a Chinese army sent to control it was defeated by the Tibetans south of Kashgar.
After another defeat of the Tang Chinese forces in 670, the Tibetans gained control of the whole region and completely subjugated Kashgar in 676-8 and retained possession of it until 692, when the Tang dynasty regained control of all their former territories, and retained it for the next fifty years.
In 722 Kashgar sent 4,000 troops to assist the Chinese to force the "Tibetans out of "Little Bolu" or Gilgit.
In 728, the king of Kashgar was awarded a brevet by the Chinese emperor.
In 739, the Tangshu relates that the governor of the Chinese garrison in Kashgar, with the help of Ferghana, was interfering in the affairs of the Turgesh tribes as far as Talas.
In 751 the Chinese were defeated by an Arab army in the Battle of Talas. The An Lushan Rebellion led to the decline of Tang influence in Central Asia due to the fact that the Tang dynasty was forced to withdraw its troops from the region to fight An Lushan. The Tibetans cut all communication between China and the West in 766.
Soon after the Chinese pilgrim monk Wukong passed through Kashgar in 753. He again reached Kashgar on his return trip from India in 786 and mentions a Chinese deputy governor as well as the local king.
BATTLES WITH ARAB CALIPHATE
In 711, the Arabs invaded Kashgar, but did not hold the city for any length of time. Kashgar and Turkestan lent assistance to the reigning queen of Bukhara, to enable her to repel the Arabs. Although the Muslim religion from the very commencement sustained checks, it nevertheless made its weight felt upon the independent states of Turkestan to the north and east, and thus acquired a steadily growing influence. It was not, however, till the 10th century that Islam was established at Kashgar, under the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
THE TURKIC RULE
According to the 10th-century text, Hudud al-'alam, "the chiefs of Kashghar in the days of old were from the Qarluq, or from the Yaghma." The Karluks, Yaghmas and other tribes such as the Chigils formed the Karakhanids. The Karakhanid Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in the 10th century and captured Kashgar. Kashgar was the capital of the Karakhanid state for a time but later the capital was moved to Balasaghun. During the latter part of the 10th century, the Muslim Karakhanids began a struggle against the Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan, and the Khotanese defeated the Karakhanids and captured Kashgar in 970. Chinese sources recorded the king of Khotan offering to send them a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar. Later in 1006, the Karakhanids of Kashgar under Yusuf Kadr Khan conquered Khotan.
The Karakhanid Khanate however was beset with internal strife, and the khanate split into two, the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates, with Kashgar falling within the domain of the Eastern Karakhanid state. In 1089, the Western Karakhanids fell under the control of the Seljuks, but the Eastern Karakhanids was for the most part independent.
Both the Karakhanid states were defeated in the 12th century by the Kara-Khitans who captured Balasaghun, however Karakhanid rule continued in Kashgar under the suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans. The Kara-Khitan rulers followed a policy of religious tolerance, Islamic religious life continued uninterrupted and Kashgar was also a Nestorian metropolitan see. The last Karakhanid of Kashgar was killed in a revolt in 1211 by the city's notables. Kuchlug, a usurper of the throne of the Kara-Khitans, then attacked Kashgar which finally surrendered in 1214.
THE MONGOLS
The Kara-Khitai in their turn were swept away in 1219 by Genghis Khan. After his death, Kashgar came under the rule of the Chagatai Khans. Marco Polo visited the city, which he calls Cascar, about 1273-4 and recorded the presence of numerous Nestorian Christians, who had their own churches. Later In the 14th century, a Chagataid khan Tughluq Timur converted to Islam, and Islamic tradition began to reassert its ascendancy.
In 1389−1390 Tamerlane ravaged Kashgar, Andijan and the intervening country. Kashgar endured a troubled time, and in 1514, on the invasion of the Khan Sultan Said, was destroyed by Mirza Ababakar, who with the aid of ten thousand men built a new fort with massive defences higher up on the banks of the Tuman river. The dynasty of the Chagatai Khans collapsed in 1572 with the division of the country among rival factions; soon after, two powerful Khoja factions, the White and Black Mountaineers (Ak Taghliq or Afaqi, and Kara Taghliq or Ishaqi), arose whose differences and war-making gestures, with the intermittent episode of the Oirats of Dzungaria, make up much of recorded history in Kashgar until 1759. The Dzungar Khanate conquered Kashgar and set up the Khoja as their puppet rulers.
QING CONQUEST
The Qing dynasty defeated the Dzungar Khanate during the Ten Great Campaigns and took control of Kashgar in 1759. The conquerors consolidated their authority by settling other ethnics emigrants in the vicinity of a Manchu garrison.
Rumours flew around Central Asia that the Qing planned to launch expeditions towards Transoxiana and Samarkand, the chiefs of which sought assistance from the Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali. The alleged expedition never happened so Ahmad Shah withdrew his forces from Kokand. He also dispatched an ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation of the Afaqi Khojas, but the representative was not well received, and Ahmed Shah was too busy fighting off the Sikhs to attempt to enforce his demands through arms.
The Qing continued to hold Kashgar with occasional interruptions during the Afaqi Khoja revolts. One of the most serious of these occurred in 1827, when the city was taken by Jahanghir Khoja; Chang-lung, however, the Qing general of Ili, regained possession of Kashgar and the other rebellious cities in 1828.
The Kokand Khanate raided Kashgar several times. A revolt in 1829 under Mahommed Ali Khan and Yusuf, brother of Jahanghir resulted in the concession of several important trade privileges to the Muslims of the district of Altishahr (the "six cities"), as it was then called.
The area enjoyed relative calm until 1846 under the rule of Zahir-ud-din, the local Uyghur governor, but in that year a new Khoja revolt under Kath Tora led to his accession as the authoritarian ruler of the city. However, his reign was brief—at the end of seventy-five days, on the approach of the Chinese, he fled back to Khokand amid the jeers of the inhabitants. The last of the Khoja revolts (1857) was of about equal duration, and took place under Wali-Khan, who murdered the well-known traveler Adolf Schlagintweit.
1862 CHINESE HUI REVOLT
The great Dungan revolt (1862–1877) involved insurrection among various Muslim ethnic groups. It broke out in 1862 in Gansu then spread rapidly to Dzungaria and through the line of towns in the Tarim Basin.
Dungan troops based in Yarkand rose and in August 1864 massacred some seven thousand Chinese and their Manchu commander. The inhabitants of Kashgar, rising in their turn against their masters, invoked the aid of Sadik Beg, a Kyrgyz chief, who was reinforced by Buzurg Khan, the heir of Jahanghir Khoja, and his general Yakub Beg. The latter men were dispatched at Sadik’s request by the ruler of Khokand to raise what troops they could to aid his Muslim friends in Kashgar.
Sadik Beg soon repented of having asked for a Khoja, and eventually marched against Kashgar, which by this time had succumbed to Buzurg Khan and Yakub Beg, but was defeated and driven back to Khokand. Buzurg Khan delivered himself up to indolence and debauchery, but Yakub Beg, with singular energy and perseverance, made himself master of Yangi Shahr, Yangi-Hissar, Yarkand and other towns, and eventually became sole master of the country, Buzurg Khan proving himself totally unfit for the post of ruler.
With the overthrow of Chinese rule in 1865 by Yakub Beg (1820–1877), the manufacturing industries of Kashgar are supposed to have declined.
Yaqub Beg entered into relations and signed treaties with the Russian Empire and the British Empire, but when he tried to get their support against China, he failed.
Kashgar and the other cities of the Tarim Basin remained under Yakub Beg’s rule until May 1877, when he died at Korla. Thereafter Kashgaria was reconquered by the forces of the Qing general Zuo Zongtang during the Qing reconquest of Xinjiang.
QING RULE
There were eras in Xinjiang's history where intermarriage was common, "laxity" which set upon Uyghur women led them to marry Chinese men and not wear the veil in the period after Yaqub Beg's rule ended, it is also believed by Uyghurs that some Uyghurs have Han Chinese ancestry from historical intermarriage, such as those living in Turpan.
Even though Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslims in Islamic law, from 1880-1949 it was frequently violated in Xinjiang since Chinese men married Muslim Turki (Uyghur) women, a reason suggested by foriengers that it was due to the women being poor, while the Turki women who married Chinese were labelled as whores by the Turki community, these marriages were illegitimate according to Islamic law but the women obtained benefits from marrying Chinese men since the Chinese defended them from Islamic authorities so the women were not subjected to the tax on prostitution and were able to save their income for themselves. Chinese men gave their Turki wives privileges which Turki men's wives did not have, since the wives of Chinese did not have to wear a veil and a Chinese man in Kashgar once beat a mullah who tried to force his Turki Kashgari wife to veil. The Turki women also benefited in that they were not subjected to any legal binding to their Chinese husbands so they could make their Chinese husbands provide them with as much their money as she wanted for her relatives and herself since otherwise the women could just leave, and the property of Chinese men was left to their Turki wives after they died. Turki women considered Turki men to be inferior husbands to Chinese and Hindus. Because they were viewed as "impure", Islamic cemeteries banned the Turki wives of Chinese men from being buried within them, the Turki women got around this problem by giving shrines donations and buying a grave in other towns. Besides Chinese men, other men such as Hindus, Armenians, Jews, Russians, and Badakhshanis intermarried with local Turki women. The local society accepted the Turki women and Chinese men's mixed offspring as their own people despite the marriages being in violation of Islamic law. Turki women also conducted temporary marriages with Chinese men such as Chinese soldiers temporarily stationed around them as soldiers for tours of duty, after which the Chinese men returned to their own cities, with the Chinese men selling their mixed daughters with the Turki women to his comrades, taking their sons with them if they could afford it but leaving them if they couldn't, and selling their temporary Turki wife to a comrade or leaving her behind.
An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officials, 3 Cossacks and a Russian courier invited local Turki (Uyghur) prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in Kashgar, this caused a massive brawl by the inflamed local Turki Muslim populace against the Russians on the pretense of protecting Muslim women because there was anti-Russian sentiment being built up, even though morality was not strict in Kashgar, the local Turki Muslims violently clashed with the Russians before they were dispersed by guards, the Chinese sought to end to tensions to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade.
After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Sarikol in Tashkurghan and demanded that the Sarikol postal services be placed under Russian supervision, the locals of Sarikol believed that the Russians would seize the entire district from the Chinese and send more soldiers even after the Russians tried to negotiate with the Begs of Sarikol and sway them to their side, they failed since the Sarikoli officials and authorities demanded in a petition to the Amban of Yarkand that they be evacuated to Yarkand to avoid being harassed by the Russians and objected to the Russian presence in Sarikol, the Sarikolis did not believe the Russian claim that they would leave them alone and only involved themselves in the mail service.
Many of the young Kashgari women were most attractive in appearance, and some of the little girls quite lovely, their plaits of long hair falling from under a jaunty little embroidered cap, their big dark eyes, flashing teeth and piquant olive faces reminding me of Italian or Spanish children. One most beautiful boy stands out in my memory. He was clad in a new shirt and trousers of flowered pink, his crimson velvet cap embroidered with gold, and as he smiled and salaamed to us I thought he looked like a fairy prince. The women wear their hair in two or five plaits much thickened and lengthened by the addition of yak's hair, but the children in several tiny plaits.
The peasants are fairly well off, as the soil is rich, the abundant water-supply free, and the taxation comparatively light. It was always interesting to meet them taking their live stock into market. Flocks of sheep with tiny lambs, black and white, pattered along the dusty road; here a goat followed its master like a dog, trotting behind the diminutive ass which the farmer bestrode; or boys, clad in the whity-brown native cloth, shouted incessantly at donkeys almost invisible under enormous loads of forage, or carried fowls and ducks in bunches head downwards, a sight that always made me long to come to the rescue of the luckless birds.
It was pleasant to see the women riding alone on horseback, managing their mounts to perfection. They formed a sharp contrast to their Persian sisters, who either sit behind their husbands or have their steeds led by the bridle; and instead of keeping silence in public, as is the rule for the shrouded women of Iran, these farmers' wives chaffered and haggled with the men in the bazar outside the city, transacting business with their veils thrown back.
Certainly the mullas do their best to keep the fair sex in their place, and are in the habit of beating those who show their faces in the Great Bazar. But I was told that poetic justice had lately been meted out to one of these upholders of the law of Islam, for by mistake he chastised a Kashgari woman married to a Chinaman, whereupon the irate husband set upon him with a big stick and castigated him soundly.
That a Muslim should take in marriage one of alien faith is not objected to; it is rather deemed a meritorious act thus to bring an unbeliever to the true religion. The Muslim woman, on the other hand, must not be given in marriage to a non-Muslim; such a union is regarded as the most heinous of sins. In this matter, however, compromises are sometimes made with heaven: the marriage of a Turki princess with the emperor Ch'ien-lung has already been referred to; and, when the present writer passed through Minjol (a day's journey west of Kashgar) in 1902, a Chinese with a Turki wife (? concubine) was presented to him.
FIRST EAST TURKESTAN REPUBLIC
Kashgar was the scene of continual battles from 1933 to 1934. Ma Shaowu, a Chinese Muslim, was the Tao-yin of Kashgar, and he fought against Uyghur rebels. He was joined by another Chinese Muslim general, Ma Zhancang.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1933)
Uighur and Kirghiz forces, led by the Bughra brothers and Tawfiq Bay, attempted to take the New City of Kashgar from Chinese Muslim troops under General Ma Zhancang. They were defeated.
Tawfiq Bey, a Syrian Arab traveler, who held the title Sayyid (descendent of prophet Muhammed) and arrived at Kashgar on August 26, 1933, was shot in the stomach by the Chinese Muslim troops in September. Previously Ma Zhancang arranged to have the Uighur leader Timur Beg killed and beheaded on August 9, 1933, displaying his head outside of Id Kah Mosque.
Han chinese troops commanded by Brigadier Yang were absorbed into Ma Zhancang's army. A number of Han chinese officers were spotted wearing the green uniforms of Ma Zhancang's unit of the 36th division, presumably they had converted to Islam.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1934)
The 36th division General Ma Fuyuan led a Chinese Muslim army to storm Kashgar on February 6, 1934, attacking the Uighur and Kirghiz rebels of the First East Turkestan Republic. He freed another 36th division general, Ma Zhancang, who was trapped with his Chinese Muslim and Han Chinese troops in Kashgar New City by the Uighurs and Kirghiz since May 22, 1933. In January, 1934, Ma Zhancang's Chinese Muslim troops repulsed six Uighur attacks, launched by Khoja Niyaz, who arrived at the city on January 13, 1934, inflicting massive casualties on the Uighur forces. From 2,000 to 8,000 Uighur civilians in Kashgar Old City were massacred by Tungans in February, 1934, in revenge for the Kizil massacre, after retreating of Uighur forces from the city to Yengi Hisar. The Chinese Muslim and 36th division Chief General Ma Zhongying, who arrived at Kashgar on April 7, 1934, gave a speech at Id Kah Mosque in April, reminding the Uighurs to be loyal to the Republic of China government at Nanjing. Several British citizens at the British consulate were killed or wounded by the 36th division on March 16, 1934.
PEOPLE´S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Kashgar was incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, one of the largest statues of Mao in China was built in Kashgar, near People's Square. In 1986, the Chinese government designated Kashgar a "city of historical and cultural significance". Kashgar and surrounding regions have been the site of Uyghur unrest since the 1990s. In 2008, two Uyghur men carried out a vehicular, IED and knife attack against police officers. In 2009, development of Kashgar's old town accelerated after the revelations of the deadly role of faulty architecture during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Many of the old houses in the old town were built without regulation, and as a result, officials found them to be overcrowded and non-compliant with fire and earthquake codes. When the plan started, 42% of the city's residents lived in the old town. With compensation, residents of faulty buildings are being counseled to move to newer, safer buildings that will replace the historic structures in the $448 million plan, including high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture. The European Parliament issued a resolution in 2011 calling for "culture-sensitive methods of renovation." The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) has expressed concern over the demolition and reconstruction of historic buildings. ISCEAH has, additionally, urged the implementation of techniques utilized elsewhere in the world to address earthquake vulnerability.
Following the July 2009 Urumqi riots, the government focused on local economic development in an attempt to ameliorate ethnic tensions in the greater Xinjiang region. Kashgar was made into a Special Economic Zone in 2010, the first such zone in China's far west. In 2011, a spate of violence over two days killed dozens of people. By May 2012 two-thirds of the old city had been demolished, fulfilling "political as well as economic goals." In July 2014 the Imam of the Id Kah Mosque, Juma Tayir, was assassinated in Kashgar.
CLIMATE
Kashgar features a desert climate (Köppen BWk) with hot summers and cold winters, with large temperature differences between those two seasons: The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −5.3 °C in January to 25.6 °C in July, while the annual mean is 11.84 °C. Spring is long and arrives quickly, while fall is somewhat brief in comparison. Kashgar is one of the driest cities on the planet, averaging only 64 millimetres of precipitation per year. The city’s wettest month, July, only sees on average 9.1 millimetres of rain. Because of the extremely arid conditions, snowfall is rare, despite the cold winters. Records have been as low as −24.4 °C in January and up to 40.1 °C in July. The frost-free period averages 215 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in March to 70% in September, the city receives 2,726 hours of bright sunshine annually.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Kashgar is predominately peopled by Muslim Uyghurs. Compared to Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital and largest city, Kashgar is less industrial and has significantly fewer Han Chinese residents.
ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY
The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers from the surrounding fertile lands come into the city to sell a wide variety of 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 jewellery boxes.
In order to boost the economy in Kashgar region, the government classified the area as the sixth Special Economic Zone of China in May 2010.
Mahmud al-Kashgari (Turkish: Kâşgarlı Mahmud) (Mahmut from Kashgar) wrote the first Turkic–Arabic Exemplary Dictionary called Divan-ı Lugat-it Türk[citation needed]
The movie The Kite Runner was filmed in Kashgar. Kashgar and the surrounding countryside stood in for Kabul and Afghanistan, since filming in Afghanistan was not possible due to safety and security reasons.
SIGHTS
Kashgar's Old City has been called "the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia". It is estimated to attract more than one million tourists annually.
- Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, is located in the heart of the city.
- People's Park, the main public park in central Kashgar.
- An 18 m high statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar is one of the few large-scale statues of Mao remaining in China.
- The tomb of Afaq Khoja in Kashgar is considered the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. Built in the 17th century, the tiled mausoleum 5 km northeast of the city centre also contains the tombs of five generations of his family. Abakh was a powerful ruler, controlling Khotan, Yarkand, Korla, Kucha and Aksu as well as Kashgar. Among some Uyghur Muslims, he was considered a great Saint (Aulia).
- Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road where goods have been traded for more than 2,000 years. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest.
TRANSPORTATION
AIR
Kashgar Airport serves mainly domestic flights, the majority of them from Urumqi. The only scheduled international flights are passenger and cargo services with Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
RAIL
Kashgar has the westernmost railway station in China. It is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the Southern Xinjiang Railway, which was built in December 1999. Kashgar–Hotan Railway opened for passenger traffic in June 2011, and connected Kashgar with cities in the southern Tarim Basin including Shache (Yarkand), Yecheng (Kargilik) and Hotan. Travel time to Urumqi from Kashgar is approximately 25 hours, while travel time to Hotan is approximately ten hours.
The investigation work of a further extension of the railway line to Pakistan has begun. In November 2009, Pakistan and China agreed to set up a joint venture to do a feasibility study of the proposed rail link via the Khunjerab Pass.
Proposals for a rail connection to Osh in Kyrgyzstan have also been discussed at various levels since at least 1996.
In 2012, a standard gauge railway from Kashgar via Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Iran and beyond has been proposed.
ROAD
The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multibillion-dollar project was that will upgrade transport links between China and Pakistan, including the upgrades to the Karakorum highway. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass and Irkeshtam Pass; as of summer 2007, daily bus service connects Kashgar with Bishkek’s Western Bus Terminal. Kashgar is also located on China National Highways G314 (which runs to Khunjerab Pass on the Sino−Pakistani border, and, in the opposite direction, towards Ürümqi), and G315, which runs to Xining, Qinghai from Kashgar.
WIKIPEDIA
Kashgar is an oasis city with an approximate population of 350,000. It is the westernmost city in China, located near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar has a rich history of over 2,000 years and served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. Kashgar is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Located historically at the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of an extraordinary number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes.
Now administered as a county-level unit of the People's Republic of China, Kashgar is the administrative centre of its eponymous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 3.5 million. The city's urban area covers 15 km2, though its administrative area extends over 555 km2.
NAME
The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr; Uyghur: قەشقەر). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasi”. Its western and probably indigenous name is the Kāš ("rock"), to which the East Iranian -γar ("mountain"); cf. Pashto and Middle Persian gar/ġar, from Old Persian/Pahlavi girīwa ("hill; ridge (of a mountain)") was attached. Alternative historical Romanizations for "Kashgar" include Cascar and Cashgar.
Non-native names for the city, such as the old Chinese name Shule 疏勒 and Tibetan Śu-lig may have originated as an attempts to transcribe the Sanskrit name for Kashgar, Śrīkrīrāti ("fortunate hospitality")
Variant transcriptions of the official Uyghur: يېڭىشەھەر include: K̂äxk̂är or Kaxgar, as well as Jangi-schahr, Kashgar Yangi Shahr, K’o-shih-ka-erh, K’o-shih-ka-erh-hsin-ch’eng, Ko-shih-ka-erh-hui-ch’eng, K’o-shih-ko-erh-hsin-ch’eng, New Kashgar, Sheleh, Shuleh, Shulen, Shu-lo, Su-lo, Su-lo-chen, Su-lo-hsien, Yangi-shaar, Yangi-shahr, Yangishar, Yéngisheher, Yengixəh̨ər and Еңишәһәр.
HISTORY
HAN DYNASTY
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han dynasty envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.
Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han dynasty), when in 76 BC the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan range.
Ptolemy speaks of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a “Kasia Regio”, probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar and Kashgaria (often applied to the district) are formed. The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam.
In the Book of Han, which covers the period between 125 BC and 23 AD, it is recorded that there were 1,510 households, 18,647 people and 2,000 persons able to bear arms. By the time covered by the Book of the Later Han (roughly 25 to 170 AD), it had grown to 21,000 households and had 3,000 men able to bear arms.
The Book of the Later Han provides a wealth of detail on developments in the region:
"In the period of Emperor Wu [140-87 BC], the Western Regions1 were under the control of the Interior [China]. They numbered thirty-six kingdoms. The Imperial Government established a Colonel [in charge of] Envoys there to direct and protect these countries. Emperor Xuan [73-49 BC] changed this title [in 59 BC] to Protector-General.
Emperor Yuan [40-33 BC] installed two Wuji Colonels to take charge of the agricultural garrisons on the frontiers of the king of Nearer Jushi [Turpan].
During the time of Emperor Ai [6 BC-AD 1] and Emperor Ping [AD 1-5], the principalities of the Western Regions split up and formed fifty-five kingdoms. Wang Mang, after he usurped the Throne [in AD 9], demoted and changed their kings and marquises. Following this, the Western Regions became resentful, and rebelled. They, therefore, broke off all relations with the Interior [China] and, all together, submitted to the Xiongnu again.
The Xiongnu collected oppressively heavy taxes and the kingdoms were not able to support their demands. In the middle of the Jianwu period [AD 25-56], they each [Shanshan and Yarkand in 38, and 18 kingdoms in 45], sent envoys to ask if they could submit to the Interior [China], and to express their desire for a Protector-General. Emperor Guangwu, decided that because the Empire was not yet settled [after a long period of civil war], he had no time for outside affairs, and [therefore] finally refused his consent [in AD 45].
In the meantime, the Xiongnu became weaker. The king of Suoju [Yarkand], named Xian, wiped out several kingdoms. After Xian’s death [c. AD 62], they began to attack and fight each other. Xiao Yuan [Tura], Jingjue [Cadota], Ronglu [Niya], and Qiemo [Cherchen] were annexed by Shanshan [the Lop Nur region]. Qule [south of Keriya] and Pishan [modern Pishan or Guma] were conquered and fully occupied by Yutian [Khotan]. Yuli [Fukang], Danhuan, Guhu [Dawan Cheng], and Wutanzili were destroyed by Jushi [Turpan and Jimasa]. Later these kingdoms were re-established.
During the Yongping period [AD 58-75], the Northern Xiongnu forced several countries to help them plunder the commanderies and districts of Hexi. The gates of the towns stayed shut in broad daylight."
And, more particularly in reference to Kashgar itself, is the following record:
"In the sixteenth Yongping year of Emperor Ming 73, Jian, the king of Qiuci (Kucha), attacked and killed Cheng, the king of Shule (Kashgar). Then he appointed the Qiuci (Kucha) Marquis of the Left, Douti, King of Shule (Kashgar). ‹See TfD›
In winter 73, the Han sent the Major Ban Chao who captured and bound Douti. He appointed Zhong, the son of the elder brother of Cheng, to be king of Shule (Kashgar). Zhong later rebelled. (Ban) Chao attacked and beheaded him."
THE KUSHANS
The Book of the Later Han also gives the only extant historical record of Yuezhi or Kushan involvement in the Kashgar oasis:
"During the Yuanchu period (114-120) in the reign of Emperor, the king of Shule (Kashgar), exiled his maternal uncle Chenpan to the Yuezhi (Kushans) for some offence. The king of the Yuezhi became very fond of him. Later, Anguo died without leaving a son. His mother directed the government of the kingdom. She agreed with the people of the country to put Yifu (lit. “posthumous child”), who was the son of a full younger brother of Chenpan on the throne as king of Shule (Kashgar). Chenpan heard of this and appealed to the Yuezhi (Kushan) king, saying:
"Anguo had no son. His relative (Yifu) is weak. If one wants to put on the throne a member of (Anguo’s) mother’s family, I am Yifu’s paternal uncle, it is I who should be king."
The Yuezhi (Kushans) then sent soldiers to escort him back to Shule (Kashgar). The people had previously respected and been fond of Chenpan. Besides, they dreaded the Yuezhi (Kushans). They immediately took the seal and ribbon from Yifu and went to Chenpan, and made him king. Yifu was given the title of Marquis of the town of Pangao [90 li, or 37 km, from Shule].
‹See TfD›
Then Suoju (Yarkand) continued to resist Yutian (Khotan), and put themselves under Shule (Kashgar). Thus Shule (Kashgar), became powerful and a rival to Qiuci (Kucha) and Yutian (Khotan)."
However, it was not very long before the Chinese began to reassert their authority in the region:
“In the second Yongjian year (127), during Emperor Shun’s reign, Chenpan sent an envoy to respectfully present offerings. The Emperor bestowed on Chenpan the title of Great Commandant-in-Chief for the Han. Chenxun, who was the son of his elder brother, was appointed Temporary Major of the Kingdom. ‹See TfD›
In the fifth year (130), Chenpan sent his son to serve the Emperor and, along with envoys from Dayuan (Ferghana) and Suoju (Yarkand), brought tribute and offerings.”
From an earlier part of the same text comes the following addition:
“In the first Yangjia year (132), Xu You sent the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Yutian (Khotan). He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king [of Jumi] by installing Chengguo from the family of [the previous king] Xing, and then he returned.”[38]
Then the first passage continues:
“In the second Yangjia year (133), Chenpan again made offerings (including) a lion and zebu cattle. ‹See TfD›
Then, during Emperor Ling’s reign, in the first Jianning year, the king of Shule (Kashgar) and Commandant-in-Chief for the Han (i.e. presumably Chenpan), was shot while hunting by the youngest of his paternal uncles, Hede. Hede named himself king.
‹See TfD›
In the third year (170), Meng Tuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, sent the Provincial Officer Ren She, commanding five hundred soldiers from Dunhuang, with the Wuji Major Cao Kuan, and Chief Clerk of the Western Regions, Zhang Yan, brought troops from Yanqi (Karashahr), Qiuci (Kucha), and the Nearer and Further States of Jushi (Turpan and Jimasa), altogether numbering more than 30,000, to punish Shule (Kashgar). They attacked the town of Zhenzhong [Arach − near Maralbashi] but, having stayed for more than forty days without being able to subdue it, they withdrew. Following this, the kings of Shule (Kashgar) killed one another repeatedly while the Imperial Government was unable to prevent it.”
THREE KINGDOMS TO THE SUI
These centuries are marked by a general silence in sources on Kashgar and the Tarim Basin.
The Weilüe, composed in the second third of the 3rd century, mentions a number of states as dependencies of Kashgar: the kingdom of Zhenzhong (Arach?), the kingdom of Suoju (Yarkand), the kingdom of Jieshi, the kingdom of Qusha, the kingdom of Xiye (Khargalik), the kingdom of Yinai (Tashkurghan), the kingdom of Manli (modern Karasul), the kingdom of Yire (Mazar − also known as Tágh Nák and Tokanak), the kingdom of Yuling, the kingdom of Juandu (‘Tax Control’ − near modern Irkeshtam), the kingdom of Xiuxiu (‘Excellent Rest Stop’ − near Karakavak), and the kingdom of Qin.
However, much of the information on the Western Regions contained in the Weilüe seems to have ended roughly about (170), near the end of Han power. So, we can’t be sure that this is a reference to the state of affairs during the Cao Wei (220-265), or whether it refers to the situation before the civil war during the Later Han when China lost touch with most foreign countries and came to be divided into three separate kingdoms.
Chapter 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms says that after the beginning of the Wei Dynasty (220) the states of the Western Regions did not arrive as before, except for the larger ones such as Kucha, Khotan, Kangju, Wusun, Kashgar, Yuezhi, Shanshan and Turpan, who are said to have come to present tribute every year, as in Han times.
In 270, four states from the Western Regions were said to have presented tribute: Karashahr, Turpan, Shanshan, and Kucha. Some wooden documents from Niya seem to indicate that contacts were also maintained with Kashgar and Khotan around this time.
In 422, according to the Songshu, ch. 98, the king of Shanshan, Bilong, came to the court and "the thirty-six states in the Western Regions" all swore their allegiance and presented tribute. It must be assumed that these 36 states included Kashgar.
The "Songji" of the Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 5th month of 435, nine states: Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all came to the Wei court.
In 439, according to the Weishu, ch. 4A, Shanshan, Kashgar and Karashahr sent envoys to present tribute.
According to the Weishu, ch. 102, Chapter on the Western Regions, the kingdoms of Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all began sending envoys to present tribute in the Taiyuan reign period (435-440).
In 453 Kashgar sent envoys to present tribute (Weishu, ch. 5), and again in 455.
An embassy sent during the reign of Wencheng Di (452-466) from the king of Kashgar presented a supposed sacred relic of the Buddha; a dress which was incombustible.
In 507 Kashgar, is said to have sent envoys in both the 9th and 10th months (Weishu, ch. 8).
In 512, Kashgar sent envoys in the 1st and 5th months. (Weishu, ch. 8).
Early in the 6th century Kashgar is included among the many territories controlled by the Yeda or Hephthalite Huns, but their empire collapsed at the onslaught of the Western Turks between 563 and 567 who then probably gained control over Kashgar and most of the states in the Tarim Basin.
TANG DYNASTY
The founding of the Tang dynasty in 618 saw the beginning of a prolonged struggle between China and the Western Turks for control of the Tarim Basin. In 635, the Tang Annals reported an emissary from the king of Kashgar to the Tang capital. In 639 there was a second emissary bringing products of Kashgar as a token of submission to the Tang state.
Buddhist scholar Xuanzang passed through Kashgar (which he referred to as Ka-sha) in 644 on his return journey from India to China. The Buddhist religion, then beginning to decay in India, was active in Kashgar. Xuanzang recorded that they flattened their babies heads, tattooed their bodies and had green eyes. He reported that Kashgar had abundant crops, fruits and flowers, wove fine woolen stuffs and rugs. Their writing system had been adapted from Indian script but their language was different from that of other countries. The inhabitants were sincere Buddhist adherents and there were some hundreds of monasteries with more than 10,000 followers, all members of the Sarvastivadin School.
At around the same era, Nestorian Christians were establishing bishoprics at Herat, Merv and Samarkand, whence they subsequently proceeded to Kashgar, and finally to China proper itself.
In 646, the Turkic Kagan asked for the hand of a Tang Chinese princess, and in return the Emperor promised Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, Karashahr and Sarikol as a marriage gift, but this did not happen as planned.
In a series of campaigns between 652 and 658, with the help of the Uyghurs, the Chinese finally defeated the Western Turk tribes and took control of all their domains, including the Tarim Basin kingdoms. Karakhoja was annexed in 640, Karashahr during campaigns in 644 and 648, and Kucha fell in 648.
In 662 a rebellion broke out in the Western Regions and a Chinese army sent to control it was defeated by the Tibetans south of Kashgar.
After another defeat of the Tang Chinese forces in 670, the Tibetans gained control of the whole region and completely subjugated Kashgar in 676-8 and retained possession of it until 692, when the Tang dynasty regained control of all their former territories, and retained it for the next fifty years.
In 722 Kashgar sent 4,000 troops to assist the Chinese to force the "Tibetans out of "Little Bolu" or Gilgit.
In 728, the king of Kashgar was awarded a brevet by the Chinese emperor.
In 739, the Tangshu relates that the governor of the Chinese garrison in Kashgar, with the help of Ferghana, was interfering in the affairs of the Turgesh tribes as far as Talas.
In 751 the Chinese were defeated by an Arab army in the Battle of Talas. The An Lushan Rebellion led to the decline of Tang influence in Central Asia due to the fact that the Tang dynasty was forced to withdraw its troops from the region to fight An Lushan. The Tibetans cut all communication between China and the West in 766.
Soon after the Chinese pilgrim monk Wukong passed through Kashgar in 753. He again reached Kashgar on his return trip from India in 786 and mentions a Chinese deputy governor as well as the local king.
BATTLES WITH ARAB CALIPHATE
In 711, the Arabs invaded Kashgar, but did not hold the city for any length of time. Kashgar and Turkestan lent assistance to the reigning queen of Bukhara, to enable her to repel the Arabs. Although the Muslim religion from the very commencement sustained checks, it nevertheless made its weight felt upon the independent states of Turkestan to the north and east, and thus acquired a steadily growing influence. It was not, however, till the 10th century that Islam was established at Kashgar, under the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
THE TURKIC RULE
According to the 10th-century text, Hudud al-'alam, "the chiefs of Kashghar in the days of old were from the Qarluq, or from the Yaghma." The Karluks, Yaghmas and other tribes such as the Chigils formed the Karakhanids. The Karakhanid Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in the 10th century and captured Kashgar. Kashgar was the capital of the Karakhanid state for a time but later the capital was moved to Balasaghun. During the latter part of the 10th century, the Muslim Karakhanids began a struggle against the Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan, and the Khotanese defeated the Karakhanids and captured Kashgar in 970. Chinese sources recorded the king of Khotan offering to send them a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar. Later in 1006, the Karakhanids of Kashgar under Yusuf Kadr Khan conquered Khotan.
The Karakhanid Khanate however was beset with internal strife, and the khanate split into two, the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates, with Kashgar falling within the domain of the Eastern Karakhanid state. In 1089, the Western Karakhanids fell under the control of the Seljuks, but the Eastern Karakhanids was for the most part independent.
Both the Karakhanid states were defeated in the 12th century by the Kara-Khitans who captured Balasaghun, however Karakhanid rule continued in Kashgar under the suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans. The Kara-Khitan rulers followed a policy of religious tolerance, Islamic religious life continued uninterrupted and Kashgar was also a Nestorian metropolitan see. The last Karakhanid of Kashgar was killed in a revolt in 1211 by the city's notables. Kuchlug, a usurper of the throne of the Kara-Khitans, then attacked Kashgar which finally surrendered in 1214.
THE MONGOLS
The Kara-Khitai in their turn were swept away in 1219 by Genghis Khan. After his death, Kashgar came under the rule of the Chagatai Khans. Marco Polo visited the city, which he calls Cascar, about 1273-4 and recorded the presence of numerous Nestorian Christians, who had their own churches. Later In the 14th century, a Chagataid khan Tughluq Timur converted to Islam, and Islamic tradition began to reassert its ascendancy.
In 1389−1390 Tamerlane ravaged Kashgar, Andijan and the intervening country. Kashgar endured a troubled time, and in 1514, on the invasion of the Khan Sultan Said, was destroyed by Mirza Ababakar, who with the aid of ten thousand men built a new fort with massive defences higher up on the banks of the Tuman river. The dynasty of the Chagatai Khans collapsed in 1572 with the division of the country among rival factions; soon after, two powerful Khoja factions, the White and Black Mountaineers (Ak Taghliq or Afaqi, and Kara Taghliq or Ishaqi), arose whose differences and war-making gestures, with the intermittent episode of the Oirats of Dzungaria, make up much of recorded history in Kashgar until 1759. The Dzungar Khanate conquered Kashgar and set up the Khoja as their puppet rulers.
QING CONQUEST
The Qing dynasty defeated the Dzungar Khanate during the Ten Great Campaigns and took control of Kashgar in 1759. The conquerors consolidated their authority by settling other ethnics emigrants in the vicinity of a Manchu garrison.
Rumours flew around Central Asia that the Qing planned to launch expeditions towards Transoxiana and Samarkand, the chiefs of which sought assistance from the Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali. The alleged expedition never happened so Ahmad Shah withdrew his forces from Kokand. He also dispatched an ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation of the Afaqi Khojas, but the representative was not well received, and Ahmed Shah was too busy fighting off the Sikhs to attempt to enforce his demands through arms.
The Qing continued to hold Kashgar with occasional interruptions during the Afaqi Khoja revolts. One of the most serious of these occurred in 1827, when the city was taken by Jahanghir Khoja; Chang-lung, however, the Qing general of Ili, regained possession of Kashgar and the other rebellious cities in 1828.
The Kokand Khanate raided Kashgar several times. A revolt in 1829 under Mahommed Ali Khan and Yusuf, brother of Jahanghir resulted in the concession of several important trade privileges to the Muslims of the district of Altishahr (the "six cities"), as it was then called.
The area enjoyed relative calm until 1846 under the rule of Zahir-ud-din, the local Uyghur governor, but in that year a new Khoja revolt under Kath Tora led to his accession as the authoritarian ruler of the city. However, his reign was brief—at the end of seventy-five days, on the approach of the Chinese, he fled back to Khokand amid the jeers of the inhabitants. The last of the Khoja revolts (1857) was of about equal duration, and took place under Wali-Khan, who murdered the well-known traveler Adolf Schlagintweit.
1862 CHINESE HUI REVOLT
The great Dungan revolt (1862–1877) involved insurrection among various Muslim ethnic groups. It broke out in 1862 in Gansu then spread rapidly to Dzungaria and through the line of towns in the Tarim Basin.
Dungan troops based in Yarkand rose and in August 1864 massacred some seven thousand Chinese and their Manchu commander. The inhabitants of Kashgar, rising in their turn against their masters, invoked the aid of Sadik Beg, a Kyrgyz chief, who was reinforced by Buzurg Khan, the heir of Jahanghir Khoja, and his general Yakub Beg. The latter men were dispatched at Sadik’s request by the ruler of Khokand to raise what troops they could to aid his Muslim friends in Kashgar.
Sadik Beg soon repented of having asked for a Khoja, and eventually marched against Kashgar, which by this time had succumbed to Buzurg Khan and Yakub Beg, but was defeated and driven back to Khokand. Buzurg Khan delivered himself up to indolence and debauchery, but Yakub Beg, with singular energy and perseverance, made himself master of Yangi Shahr, Yangi-Hissar, Yarkand and other towns, and eventually became sole master of the country, Buzurg Khan proving himself totally unfit for the post of ruler.
With the overthrow of Chinese rule in 1865 by Yakub Beg (1820–1877), the manufacturing industries of Kashgar are supposed to have declined.
Yaqub Beg entered into relations and signed treaties with the Russian Empire and the British Empire, but when he tried to get their support against China, he failed.
Kashgar and the other cities of the Tarim Basin remained under Yakub Beg’s rule until May 1877, when he died at Korla. Thereafter Kashgaria was reconquered by the forces of the Qing general Zuo Zongtang during the Qing reconquest of Xinjiang.
QING RULE
There were eras in Xinjiang's history where intermarriage was common, "laxity" which set upon Uyghur women led them to marry Chinese men and not wear the veil in the period after Yaqub Beg's rule ended, it is also believed by Uyghurs that some Uyghurs have Han Chinese ancestry from historical intermarriage, such as those living in Turpan.
Even though Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslims in Islamic law, from 1880-1949 it was frequently violated in Xinjiang since Chinese men married Muslim Turki (Uyghur) women, a reason suggested by foriengers that it was due to the women being poor, while the Turki women who married Chinese were labelled as whores by the Turki community, these marriages were illegitimate according to Islamic law but the women obtained benefits from marrying Chinese men since the Chinese defended them from Islamic authorities so the women were not subjected to the tax on prostitution and were able to save their income for themselves. Chinese men gave their Turki wives privileges which Turki men's wives did not have, since the wives of Chinese did not have to wear a veil and a Chinese man in Kashgar once beat a mullah who tried to force his Turki Kashgari wife to veil. The Turki women also benefited in that they were not subjected to any legal binding to their Chinese husbands so they could make their Chinese husbands provide them with as much their money as she wanted for her relatives and herself since otherwise the women could just leave, and the property of Chinese men was left to their Turki wives after they died. Turki women considered Turki men to be inferior husbands to Chinese and Hindus. Because they were viewed as "impure", Islamic cemeteries banned the Turki wives of Chinese men from being buried within them, the Turki women got around this problem by giving shrines donations and buying a grave in other towns. Besides Chinese men, other men such as Hindus, Armenians, Jews, Russians, and Badakhshanis intermarried with local Turki women. The local society accepted the Turki women and Chinese men's mixed offspring as their own people despite the marriages being in violation of Islamic law. Turki women also conducted temporary marriages with Chinese men such as Chinese soldiers temporarily stationed around them as soldiers for tours of duty, after which the Chinese men returned to their own cities, with the Chinese men selling their mixed daughters with the Turki women to his comrades, taking their sons with them if they could afford it but leaving them if they couldn't, and selling their temporary Turki wife to a comrade or leaving her behind.
An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officials, 3 Cossacks and a Russian courier invited local Turki (Uyghur) prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in Kashgar, this caused a massive brawl by the inflamed local Turki Muslim populace against the Russians on the pretense of protecting Muslim women because there was anti-Russian sentiment being built up, even though morality was not strict in Kashgar, the local Turki Muslims violently clashed with the Russians before they were dispersed by guards, the Chinese sought to end to tensions to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade.
After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Sarikol in Tashkurghan and demanded that the Sarikol postal services be placed under Russian supervision, the locals of Sarikol believed that the Russians would seize the entire district from the Chinese and send more soldiers even after the Russians tried to negotiate with the Begs of Sarikol and sway them to their side, they failed since the Sarikoli officials and authorities demanded in a petition to the Amban of Yarkand that they be evacuated to Yarkand to avoid being harassed by the Russians and objected to the Russian presence in Sarikol, the Sarikolis did not believe the Russian claim that they would leave them alone and only involved themselves in the mail service.
Many of the young Kashgari women were most attractive in appearance, and some of the little girls quite lovely, their plaits of long hair falling from under a jaunty little embroidered cap, their big dark eyes, flashing teeth and piquant olive faces reminding me of Italian or Spanish children. One most beautiful boy stands out in my memory. He was clad in a new shirt and trousers of flowered pink, his crimson velvet cap embroidered with gold, and as he smiled and salaamed to us I thought he looked like a fairy prince. The women wear their hair in two or five plaits much thickened and lengthened by the addition of yak's hair, but the children in several tiny plaits.
The peasants are fairly well off, as the soil is rich, the abundant water-supply free, and the taxation comparatively light. It was always interesting to meet them taking their live stock into market. Flocks of sheep with tiny lambs, black and white, pattered along the dusty road; here a goat followed its master like a dog, trotting behind the diminutive ass which the farmer bestrode; or boys, clad in the whity-brown native cloth, shouted incessantly at donkeys almost invisible under enormous loads of forage, or carried fowls and ducks in bunches head downwards, a sight that always made me long to come to the rescue of the luckless birds.
It was pleasant to see the women riding alone on horseback, managing their mounts to perfection. They formed a sharp contrast to their Persian sisters, who either sit behind their husbands or have their steeds led by the bridle; and instead of keeping silence in public, as is the rule for the shrouded women of Iran, these farmers' wives chaffered and haggled with the men in the bazar outside the city, transacting business with their veils thrown back.
Certainly the mullas do their best to keep the fair sex in their place, and are in the habit of beating those who show their faces in the Great Bazar. But I was told that poetic justice had lately been meted out to one of these upholders of the law of Islam, for by mistake he chastised a Kashgari woman married to a Chinaman, whereupon the irate husband set upon him with a big stick and castigated him soundly.
That a Muslim should take in marriage one of alien faith is not objected to; it is rather deemed a meritorious act thus to bring an unbeliever to the true religion. The Muslim woman, on the other hand, must not be given in marriage to a non-Muslim; such a union is regarded as the most heinous of sins. In this matter, however, compromises are sometimes made with heaven: the marriage of a Turki princess with the emperor Ch'ien-lung has already been referred to; and, when the present writer passed through Minjol (a day's journey west of Kashgar) in 1902, a Chinese with a Turki wife (? concubine) was presented to him.
FIRST EAST TURKESTAN REPUBLIC
Kashgar was the scene of continual battles from 1933 to 1934. Ma Shaowu, a Chinese Muslim, was the Tao-yin of Kashgar, and he fought against Uyghur rebels. He was joined by another Chinese Muslim general, Ma Zhancang.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1933)
Uighur and Kirghiz forces, led by the Bughra brothers and Tawfiq Bay, attempted to take the New City of Kashgar from Chinese Muslim troops under General Ma Zhancang. They were defeated.
Tawfiq Bey, a Syrian Arab traveler, who held the title Sayyid (descendent of prophet Muhammed) and arrived at Kashgar on August 26, 1933, was shot in the stomach by the Chinese Muslim troops in September. Previously Ma Zhancang arranged to have the Uighur leader Timur Beg killed and beheaded on August 9, 1933, displaying his head outside of Id Kah Mosque.
Han chinese troops commanded by Brigadier Yang were absorbed into Ma Zhancang's army. A number of Han chinese officers were spotted wearing the green uniforms of Ma Zhancang's unit of the 36th division, presumably they had converted to Islam.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1934)
The 36th division General Ma Fuyuan led a Chinese Muslim army to storm Kashgar on February 6, 1934, attacking the Uighur and Kirghiz rebels of the First East Turkestan Republic. He freed another 36th division general, Ma Zhancang, who was trapped with his Chinese Muslim and Han Chinese troops in Kashgar New City by the Uighurs and Kirghiz since May 22, 1933. In January, 1934, Ma Zhancang's Chinese Muslim troops repulsed six Uighur attacks, launched by Khoja Niyaz, who arrived at the city on January 13, 1934, inflicting massive casualties on the Uighur forces. From 2,000 to 8,000 Uighur civilians in Kashgar Old City were massacred by Tungans in February, 1934, in revenge for the Kizil massacre, after retreating of Uighur forces from the city to Yengi Hisar. The Chinese Muslim and 36th division Chief General Ma Zhongying, who arrived at Kashgar on April 7, 1934, gave a speech at Id Kah Mosque in April, reminding the Uighurs to be loyal to the Republic of China government at Nanjing. Several British citizens at the British consulate were killed or wounded by the 36th division on March 16, 1934.
PEOPLE´S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Kashgar was incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, one of the largest statues of Mao in China was built in Kashgar, near People's Square. In 1986, the Chinese government designated Kashgar a "city of historical and cultural significance". Kashgar and surrounding regions have been the site of Uyghur unrest since the 1990s. In 2008, two Uyghur men carried out a vehicular, IED and knife attack against police officers. In 2009, development of Kashgar's old town accelerated after the revelations of the deadly role of faulty architecture during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Many of the old houses in the old town were built without regulation, and as a result, officials found them to be overcrowded and non-compliant with fire and earthquake codes. When the plan started, 42% of the city's residents lived in the old town. With compensation, residents of faulty buildings are being counseled to move to newer, safer buildings that will replace the historic structures in the $448 million plan, including high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture. The European Parliament issued a resolution in 2011 calling for "culture-sensitive methods of renovation." The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) has expressed concern over the demolition and reconstruction of historic buildings. ISCEAH has, additionally, urged the implementation of techniques utilized elsewhere in the world to address earthquake vulnerability.
Following the July 2009 Urumqi riots, the government focused on local economic development in an attempt to ameliorate ethnic tensions in the greater Xinjiang region. Kashgar was made into a Special Economic Zone in 2010, the first such zone in China's far west. In 2011, a spate of violence over two days killed dozens of people. By May 2012 two-thirds of the old city had been demolished, fulfilling "political as well as economic goals." In July 2014 the Imam of the Id Kah Mosque, Juma Tayir, was assassinated in Kashgar.
CLIMATE
Kashgar features a desert climate (Köppen BWk) with hot summers and cold winters, with large temperature differences between those two seasons: The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −5.3 °C in January to 25.6 °C in July, while the annual mean is 11.84 °C. Spring is long and arrives quickly, while fall is somewhat brief in comparison. Kashgar is one of the driest cities on the planet, averaging only 64 millimetres of precipitation per year. The city’s wettest month, July, only sees on average 9.1 millimetres of rain. Because of the extremely arid conditions, snowfall is rare, despite the cold winters. Records have been as low as −24.4 °C in January and up to 40.1 °C in July. The frost-free period averages 215 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in March to 70% in September, the city receives 2,726 hours of bright sunshine annually.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Kashgar is predominately peopled by Muslim Uyghurs. Compared to Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital and largest city, Kashgar is less industrial and has significantly fewer Han Chinese residents.
ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY
The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers from the surrounding fertile lands come into the city to sell a wide variety of 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 jewellery boxes.
In order to boost the economy in Kashgar region, the government classified the area as the sixth Special Economic Zone of China in May 2010.
Mahmud al-Kashgari (Turkish: Kâşgarlı Mahmud) (Mahmut from Kashgar) wrote the first Turkic–Arabic Exemplary Dictionary called Divan-ı Lugat-it Türk[citation needed]
The movie The Kite Runner was filmed in Kashgar. Kashgar and the surrounding countryside stood in for Kabul and Afghanistan, since filming in Afghanistan was not possible due to safety and security reasons.
SIGHTS
Kashgar's Old City has been called "the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia". It is estimated to attract more than one million tourists annually.
- Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, is located in the heart of the city.
- People's Park, the main public park in central Kashgar.
- An 18 m high statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar is one of the few large-scale statues of Mao remaining in China.
- The tomb of Afaq Khoja in Kashgar is considered the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. Built in the 17th century, the tiled mausoleum 5 km northeast of the city centre also contains the tombs of five generations of his family. Abakh was a powerful ruler, controlling Khotan, Yarkand, Korla, Kucha and Aksu as well as Kashgar. Among some Uyghur Muslims, he was considered a great Saint (Aulia).
- Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road where goods have been traded for more than 2,000 years. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest.
TRANSPORTATION
AIR
Kashgar Airport serves mainly domestic flights, the majority of them from Urumqi. The only scheduled international flights are passenger and cargo services with Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
RAIL
Kashgar has the westernmost railway station in China. It is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the Southern Xinjiang Railway, which was built in December 1999. Kashgar–Hotan Railway opened for passenger traffic in June 2011, and connected Kashgar with cities in the southern Tarim Basin including Shache (Yarkand), Yecheng (Kargilik) and Hotan. Travel time to Urumqi from Kashgar is approximately 25 hours, while travel time to Hotan is approximately ten hours.
The investigation work of a further extension of the railway line to Pakistan has begun. In November 2009, Pakistan and China agreed to set up a joint venture to do a feasibility study of the proposed rail link via the Khunjerab Pass.
Proposals for a rail connection to Osh in Kyrgyzstan have also been discussed at various levels since at least 1996.
In 2012, a standard gauge railway from Kashgar via Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Iran and beyond has been proposed.
ROAD
The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multibillion-dollar project was that will upgrade transport links between China and Pakistan, including the upgrades to the Karakorum highway. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass and Irkeshtam Pass; as of summer 2007, daily bus service connects Kashgar with Bishkek’s Western Bus Terminal. Kashgar is also located on China National Highways G314 (which runs to Khunjerab Pass on the Sino−Pakistani border, and, in the opposite direction, towards Ürümqi), and G315, which runs to Xining, Qinghai from Kashgar.
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