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The Uyghurs are genetically related to west Eurasians, East Asians, Siberians, and South Asians and can trace their ancestry to various peoples and cultures, such as the Tocharians, Uyghur Khanate, Qocho, Kara-Khanid Khanate, and Qara Khitai, that had inhabited or migrated to the region. At the time, the name "Uyghurs" applied only to a small minority of these peoples. Otherwise they did not have a standard collective name[note 3] and were identified by their home settlements. They were historically influenced and often ruled by neighboring Chinese, Mongol, Tibetan, and Turkic civilizations.
Originally followers of many different belief systems, inhabitants of the region were gradually Islamized after the 10th century, especially under the Chagatai Khanate. By the 16th century, most of them identified as Muslims and no longer recognized symbols of their Buddhist past. Islam continues to play an important role in Uyghur culture and identity.
Following the Dzungar–Qing Wars, settlers of various ethnicities were relocated to Dzungaria, which was later combined with the Tarim Basin to the south to become Xinjiang Province.[31] After the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877), Turkic peoples became the dominant demographic group of the region. In 1921 the Soviet Union helped revive the term "Uyghurs", and later Chinese governments grouped Turkic peoples of various backgrounds under that same umbrella category.
More Uyghurs live in the Tarim Basin than in northern Xinjiang, while those residing in Taoyuan County of Hunan are descended from Buddhist Uyghurs during the Ming dynasty.[32] Significant diasporic Uyghur communities exist in Turkic countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey,[33] in addition to smaller ones elsewhere.[34]
Since 2014,[35][36][37] the Chinese government has been accused of subjecting Uyghurs in Xinjiang to widespread persecution, including arbitrary arrest and detention,[38][39][40] forced sterilization,[41][42] and forced labor.[43][44][45] This is denied by China.