Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien)
is a major
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
town in southwestern
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, an
autonomous region
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy ...
in
Western China
Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality ( Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai), and three autonomous re ...
. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger
Hotan County
Hotan County (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a county in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Hotan Prefecture. Almost all the residents of t ...
to become an administrative area in its own right in August 1984. It is the seat of
Hotan Prefecture
Hotan PrefectureThe official spelling is "Hotan" according to (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is located in the Tarim Basin region of southwestern Xinjiang, China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region ...
.
With a population of 408,900 (2018 census), Hotan is situated in the
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...
some southwest of the regional capital,
Ürümqi
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
. It lies just north of the
Kunlun Mountains, which are crossed by the
Sanju
''Sanju'' is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical film directed and edited by Rajkumar Hirani, written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Film ...
,
Hindutash
Hindu-tagh Pass, also known as Hindutash, is a historical mountain pass in the western Xinjiang, China. The pass cuts through the Kunlun Mountains connecting the now-deserted town of Kangxiwar in the Karakash River valley to the town of Pu ...
and Ilchi passes. The town, located southeast of
Yarkant County
Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous ...
and populated almost exclusively by
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs; ; ; ; zh, s=, t=, p=Wéiwú'ěr, IPA: ( ), alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghur ...
, is a minor agricultural center. An important station on the southern branch of the historic
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
, Hotan has always depended on two strong rivers—the
Karakash River
The Karakash or Black Jade River, also spelled ''Karakax'' (, , Қарақаш Дәряси), is a river in the Xinjiang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China that originates in the disputed Aksai Chin region administered by China. I ...
and the
White Jade River __NOTOC__
The White Jade River, also known by the native names Baiyu or Yurungkash, is a river in the southern Xinjiang region of China.
The head waters of the river rise in the Kunlun Mountains, in the area of Aksai Chin in Kashmir in the To ...
to provide the water needed to survive on the southwestern edge of the vast
Taklamakan Desert
The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and T ...
. The White Jade River still provides water and irrigation for the town and oasis.
Etymology
The original name of Hotan is Godana, Gosthana/Gausthana/Gaustana or Godaniya, the name used in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
cosmological texts and also how the area is historically referred to as.
Gosthana/Gausthana/Gaustana/Godana/Godaniya translates to "land of cows" in Sanskrit. In Chinese, the same name is written as Yu-t'ien, pronounced as ''Gu-dana''. The pronunciation changed over the years to Kho-tan. In the 7th century,
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
tried to reverse interpret it in Sanskrit as Kustana. However, the Tibetans continue to call it Gosthana, which also carries the meaning of "land of cows".
An alternative etymology is proposed by Bailey, referring to the oldest indigenous form Hvatana, with hva- meaning "own, owned", whence "Lord" as in MP. "khwa-day".
History
![Bronze coin of Wima Kadphises found in Khotan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Bronze_coin_of_Wima_Kadphises_found_in_Khotan.jpg)
The oasis of Hotan is strategically located at the junction of the southern (and most ancient) branch of the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
joining China and the West with one of the main routes from ancient
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
to
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
and distant China. It provided a convenient meeting place where not only goods, but technologies, philosophies, and religions were transmitted from one culture to another.
Tocharians
The Tocharians, or Tokharians ( US: or ; UK: ), were speakers of Tocharian languages, Indo-European languages known from around 7600 documents from around 400 to 1200 AD, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China). ...
lived in this region over 2000 years ago. Several of the
Tarim mummies
The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BC to the first centuries BC, with a new group of individuals recently dated to between c. 2100 and 1700 BC.School of L ...
were found in the region. At Sampul, east of the city of Hotan, there is an extensive series of cemeteries scattered over an area about wide and long. The excavated sites range from about 300 BCE to 100 CE. The excavated graves have produced a number of fabrics of
felt
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
,
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
,
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
and
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and even a fine bit of tapestry, the
Sampul tapestry, showing the face of
Caucasoid
The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid or Europid, Europoid) is an obsolete racial classification of human beings based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. The ''Caucasian race'' was historically regarded as a biological taxon which, de ...
man which was made of threads of 24 shades of color. The tapestry had been cut up and fashioned into trousers worn by one of the deceased. An Anthropological study of 56 individuals showed a primarily Caucasoid population. A study in 2010 showed that an Eastern Eurasian lineage common in Siberia dominates the
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
of the mummies from the
Xiaohe Cemetery
The Xiaohe Cemetery (), literally "Little River Cemetery" and also known as Ördek’s Necropolis, is a Bronze Age site located in the west of Lop Nur, in Xinjiang, Western China. It contains about 330 tombs, about 160 of which were looted by gr ...
. Their
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...
is distributed throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia.
There is a relative abundance of information on Hotan readily available for study. The main historical sources are to be found in the Chinese histories (particularly detailed during the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
and early
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
dynasties) when China was interested in control of the
Western Regions
The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; ) was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of Yumen Pass, most often Central Asia or sometimes more spe ...
, the accounts of several Chinese pilgrim
monks
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...
, a few Buddhist histories of Hotan that have survived in
Classical Tibetan
Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from ot ...
and a large number of documents in the Iranian
Saka language
Saka, or Sakan, was a variety of Eastern Iranian languages, attested from the ancient Buddhist kingdoms of Khotan, Kashgar and Tumshuq in the Tarim Basin, in what is now southern Xinjiang, China. It is a Middle Iranian language. The two ki ...
and other languages discovered, for the most part, early this century at various sites in the Tarim Basin and from the hidden library at the
Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu p ...
near
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...
.
Buddhist Khotan
The ancient Kingdom of Khotan was one of the earliest Buddhist states in the world and a cultural bridge across which Buddhist culture and learning were transmitted from India to China. Its capital was located to the west of the modern city of Hotan. The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Khotan, like those of early
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
and
Yarkant, spoke
Saka
The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...
, one of the
Eastern Iranian languages
The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian diale ...
. Khotan's indigenous dynasty (all of whose royal names are Indian in origin) governed a fervently Buddhist city-state boasting some 400 temples in the late 9th/early 10th century—four times the number recorded by
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
around 630. The kingdom was independent but was intermittently under Chinese control during the Han and Tang Dynasty.
After the Tang dynasty, Khotan formed an alliance with the rulers of Dunhuang. Khotan enjoyed close relations with the Buddhist centre at Dunhuang: the Khotanese royal family intermarried with Dunhuang élites, visited and patronized Dunhuang's Buddhist temple complex, and donated money to have their portraits painted on the walls of the Mogao grottos. Through the 10th century, Khotanese royal portraits were painted in association with an increasing number of deities in the caves. Besides this, a particular site,
Melikawat
Melikawat (; ; there are other Chinese spellings as well) is an archaeological site located 18 miles (30 kilometres) south of Hotan, Xinjiang in north-western China. It was once a city that functioned as a major Buddhist center in the Kingdom of ...
functioned as a major Buddhist center in the
Kingdom of Khotan
The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhist Saka kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China). The ancient capital was originally sited to ...
.
In the 10th century, Khotan began a struggle with the
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek ...
, a Turkic state. The Kara-Khanid ruler,
Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan
Abdulkarim Satuq Bughra Khan ( ug, سۇلتان سۇتۇق بۇغراخان; also spelled Satuk; died 955) was a Kara-Khanid khan; in 934, he was one of the first Turkic rulers to convert to Islam, which prompted his Kara-Khanid subjects to con ...
, had converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
:
Some Khotanese Buddhist works were unearthed.
The rulers of Khotan were aware of the menace they faced since they arranged for the Mogao grottoes to paint a growing number of divine figures along with themselves. Halfway in the 10th century Khotan came under attack by the Qarakhanid ruler Musa, and in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the
Turkification and Islamification of the Tarim Basin, the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan conquered Khotan around 1006.
Islamic Khotan
Yūsuf Qadr Khān was a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kashgar and
Balasagun
Balasagun ( or ''Balasagyn''; ) was an ancient Sogdian city in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, located in the Chüy Valley between Bishkek and the Issyk-Kul lake. Located along the Silk Road, the ruins of the city were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO Wor ...
, Khotan lost its independence and between 1006 and 1165, became part of the
Kara-Khanid Khanate
The Kara-Khanid Khanate (; ), also known as the Karakhanids, Qarakhanids, Ilek Khanids or the Afrasiabids (), was a Turkic khanate that ruled Central Asia in the 9th through the early 13th century. The dynastic names of Karakhanids and Ilek ...
. Later it fell to the
Kara-Khitan Khanate
The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai (), also known as the Western Liao (), officially the Great Liao (), was a Sinicized dynastic regime based in Central Asia ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan. The Qara Khitai is considered by historians to be an ...
, after which it was ruled by the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
.
When
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
visited Khotan in the 13th century, he noted that the people were all Muslim. He wrote that:
19th century
![Nar-Bagh pavilion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Nar-Bagh_pavilion.jpg)
The town suffered severely during the
Dungan Revolt (1862–77) Dungan revolt may refer to:
* Dungan revolt (1862–77), rebellion of various Muslim ethnic groups in Shaanxi and Gansu, China
* Dungan revolt (1895–96) Dungan revolt may refer to:
* Dungan revolt (1862–77) Dungan revolt may refer to:
* Dunga ...
against the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
and again a few years later when
Yaqub Beg
Muhammad Yaqub Bek (محمد یعقوب بیگ; uz, Яъқуб-бек, ''Ya’qub-bek''; ; 182030 May 1877) was a Khanate of Kokand, Khoqandi ruler of Yettishar (Kashgaria) during his invasion of Xinjiang from 1865 to 1877. He held the title o ...
of
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
made himself master of Kashgaria, ruling the newly founded Turkic state known at the time as
Yettishar
Yettishar ( Uyghur: يەتتىشەر دۆلەتى; ; meaning "Seven Cities" or "Heptapolis"), commonly known as Kashgaria, was a short-lived Sunni Muslim Turkic state that existed in Xinjiang between 1865 and 1877 during the Dungan Revolt agai ...
.
Post-Qing
![Chinese Troops at Khotan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Chinese_Troops_at_Khotan.jpg)
Qing imperial authority collapsed in 1912. During the
Republican era in China, warlords and local ethnic self-determination movements wrestled over control of Xinjiang.
Abdullah Bughra
Abdullah Bughra ( ug, (Kona Yëziq) ئابدۇللا بۇغرا, عبد الله بغرا; zh, c=阿不都拉·布格拉, p=Ābùdūlā·Bùgélā; died 1934) was a Uighur Emir of the First East Turkestan Republic. He was the younger brother of ...
,
Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra
Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra ( ug, (Kona Yëziq) نۇر ئەخمەتجان بۇغرا, نور احمد جان بغرا; zh, s=努尔·阿合买提江·布格拉, t=努爾·阿合買提江·布格拉, p=Nǔ'ěr·Āhémǎitíjiāng·Bùgélā; died April 1 ...
, and
Muhammad Amin Bughra declared themselves Emirs of Khotan during the
Kumul Rebellion
The Kumul Rebellion (, "Hami Uprising") was a rebellion of Kumulik Uyghurs from 1931 to 1934 who conspired with Hui Chinese Muslim Gen. Ma Zhongying to overthrow Jin Shuren, governor of Xinjiang. The Kumul Uyghurs were loyalists of the Kumul ...
.
Tunganistan
Tunganistan (, dng, Хуэситан), also called Dunganistan (named after the Dungan people), was an independently administered region in the southern part of the Chinese province Xinjiang from 1934 to 1937, contemporaneous to the Chinese Civi ...
was an independent administered region in the southern part of Xinjiang from 1934 to 1937. The territory included the oases of the southern Tarim Basin; the centre of the region was Khotan. Beginning with the
Islamic rebellion in 1937, Hotan and the rest of the province came under the control of warlord
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Sheng's rise to power started with a coup d'état in 1933 when he was appointed the ''duban'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule o ...
. Sheng was later ousted by the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
.
People's Republic of China
Shortly after the Communists won the civil war in 1949, Hotan was incorporated into the People's Republic of China.
In 1983/4, the urban area of Hotan was administratively split from the larger
Hotan County
Hotan County (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a county in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Hotan Prefecture. Almost all the residents of t ...
, and from then on governed as a county-level city.
On July 11, 2006, the townships of
Jiya and Yurungqash (Yulongkashi) in
Lop County
Lop, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency County (, Uyghur: ), also Luopu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (from Mandarin Chinese), is a county in Hotan Prefecture, in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghu ...
and Tusalla (Tushala) in
Hotan County
Hotan County (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a county in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Hotan Prefecture. Almost all the residents of t ...
were transferred to Hotan City.
Following the
July 2009 Ürümqi riots
The July 2009 Ürümqi riots were a series of violent riots over several days that broke out on 5 July 2009 in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in northwestern China. The first day's rioting, which ...
, ethnic tensions rose in Xinjiang and in Hotan in particular. As a result, the city has seen occasional bouts of violence. In June 2011, Hotan opened its first
passenger-train service to
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
, which was established as a
special economic zone
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
following the riots. In July of the same year, a
bomb and knife attack occurred on the city's central thoroughfare. In June 2011, authorities in Hotan Prefecture sentenced Uyghur Muslim Hebibullah Ibrahim to ten years imprisonment for selling "illegal religious materials". In June 2012,
Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554
Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554 () was a scheduled passenger flight between Hotan and Ürümqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The aircraft operating this route on 29 June 2012, an Embraer 190, took off from Hotan at 12:25 pm; within te ...
was hijacked en route from Hotan to Ürümqi.
In a report from the
Uyghur American Association
The Uyghur American Association ( ug, ئامېرىكا ئۇيغۇر جەمئىيىتى, ئامېرىكا ئۇيغۇر بىرلىكى, translit=Amérika Uyghur Birliki, ; zh, s= 维吾尔裔美国人协会, p=Wéiwú'ěryì Měiguórén Xiéhu ...
, in June 2012, notice was said to be given that police planned to undertake a search of every residence in Gujanbagh (Gujiangbage), Hotan. Hotan is the last municipality in Xinjiang with a majority Ugyhur presence in the core of the city. The UAA viewed this as an attempt to systematically intimidate the Uyghur population in Hotan.
The Sultanim Cemetery () in central Hotan was a historical Uyghur graveyard that also included a religious shrine. According to a 2019 interview by the
Uyghur Human Rights Project
The Uyghur Human Rights Project ( zh, s=维吾尔人权项目, ug, ئۇيغۇر كىشىلىك ھوقۇق قۇرۇلۇشى; abbreviated UHRP) is a research-based advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C. that promotes human rights for Uy ...
, the cemetery entombed four commanders of Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan, who conquered the city around 960 CE and spread Islam. Due to space limitations after over a thousand years of burials, multiple bodies had to reuse the same grave, and additionals layers were dug underneath old ones. Between 2018 and 2019, the
cemetery was demolished and the western part of the land turned into a parking lot.
Geography and climate
![Collecting jade in the White Jade River near Khotan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Collecting_jade_in_the_White_Jade_River_near_Khotan.jpg)
Hotan has a
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
zone,
cold
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BWk''), with a mean annual total of only of precipitation falling on 17.3 days of the year. Due to its southerly location in Xinjiang just north of the
Kunlun Mountains, during winter it is one of the warmest locations in the region, with average high temperatures remaining above freezing throughout the year. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . The
diurnal temperature variation
In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day.
Temperature lag
Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...
is not large for a desert, averaging annually. Although no month averages less than half of possible sunshine, the city only receives 2,587 hours of bright sunshine annually, which is on the low end for Xinjiang; monthly percent possible sunshine ranges from 50% in March to 75% in October.
Administrative divisions
![Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-44-3rd-ed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-44-3rd-ed.jpg)
The city includes four
subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district.
Equivalents
* Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language
* Kelurahan, in Indonesia
* Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...
, three
towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
, five
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
and two other areas:
Subdistricts:
*
Nurbag Subdistrict (Nu'erbage; /),
Gujanbagh Subdistrict (Gujiangbage; ),
Gulbagh Subdistrict (Gulebage; ),
Na'erbage Subdistrict ()
Towns:
*
Laskuy (Lasikui, Lasqi; / ),
Yurungqash (Yulongkashi; / ),
Tusalla (Tushala; , formerly / , formerly )
Townships:
*
Shorbagh Township (Xiao'erbage; / ),
Ilchi Township (Yiliqi; / ),
Gujanbagh Township (Gujiangbage; / ),
Jiya Township
Jiya ( Uyghur: , United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency / Җия, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency / ) is a township in the northeastern part of Hotan City in Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang, China in an oasis area ...
( / ),
Aqchal Township (Akeqiale / )
Others:
* Beijing Industrial Park (), Hotan City Jinghe Logistics Park ()
Demographics
Hotan is largely dominated by the Uyghurs, and as of 2015, 311,050 of the 348,289 residents of the county were
Uyghur, 35,897 were
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
and 1,342 were from other ethnic groups.
In 1940,
Owen Lattimore
Owen Lattimore (July 29, 1900 – May 31, 1989) was an American Orientalist and writer. He was an influential scholar of China and Central Asia, especially Mongolia. Although he never earned a college degree, in the 1930s he was editor of ''Pacif ...
quoted the population of Khotan to be estimated as 26,000.
In 1998 the urban population was recorded at 154,352, 83% of which were Uyghurs, and 17% were Han Chinese.
In 1999, 83.01% of the population was Uyghur and 16.57% of the population was Han Chinese.
In the 2000 census, the population was recorded as 186,123. In the 2010 census figure, the figure had risen to 322,300. The increase in population is partly due to boundary changes.
Transportation
Air
Hotan Airport
Hotan Airport or Hotan Aerodrome ( ug, خوتەن ئايرودرومى, Xotən ayrodromi; zh, c = 和田 机场, p = Hétián Jīchǎng) is an airport serving Hotan, a city in the autonomous region of Xinjiang in China.
Facilities
The airp ...
(IATA: HTN) serves the city. It serves regional flights to
Ürümqi
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
. Originally a military use airport, it was expanded significantly in 2002 to accommodate higher passenger volumes. It is located south of the city proper.
Road
![Khotan-mercado-d09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Khotan-mercado-d09.jpg)
Hotan is served by
China National Highway 315, which runs along the southern Tarim Basin from Ruoqiang to Kashgar, and the Trans-Taklamakan Desert Highway, which run north to Luntai. An expressway is being built between Hotan and
Karakax County
Karakax County (), alternatively Moyu County, also transliterated from Uyghur as Qaraqash County (; ), alternately Qaraqash, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is located in the southern edge of the Tarim Basin, it is under ...
(Moyu) as of 2014.
Rail
Hotan is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the
Kashgar–Hotan Railway
The Kashgar–Hotan railway or Kahe railway (, abbreviated ), is a single-track, non-electrified, railway in Xinjiang, China between Kashgar and Hotan. The railway is in length and runs along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, connecting ...
, which opened to freight traffic in December 2010, and passenger service in June 2011. The railway station was constructed by a company under the
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and is located in the town of Lasqi () northwest of the city proper. Passenger train service on this line is limited, with only one train per day, local service 5828/5825, linking the city with Kashgar (8~ hours) and Ürümqi (~34 hours).
Buses
Regular bus services link Hotan with Kashgar. There is also an express bus to Aksu via the 'Hotan-Aksu Cross-Desert Highway' which was opened in 2007, travels alongside the intermittent
Hotan River
The Hotan River (also known as the Khotan River or the Ho-t'ien River) is formed by the union of the White Jade (Yurungkash) and Karakash (Black Jade) Rivers, which flow north from the Kunlun Mountains into the Taklamakan Desert in northern C ...
, and which takes about 5 or 6 hours. This same bus then goes on to Urumchi taking a total of about 21 hours from Hotan.
Economy
!['Mutton fat' jade for sale at Khotan Jade Market](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/%27Mutton_fat%27_jade_for_sale_at_Khotan_Jade_Market.jpg)
, there was about 100,000 acres (662,334 ''
mu'') of cultivated land in Khotan.
Nephrite jade
Chinese historical sources indicate that Hotan was the main source of the
nephrite
Nephrite is a variety of the calcium, magnesium, and iron-rich amphibole minerals tremolite or actinolite ( aggregates of which also make up one form of asbestos). The chemical formula for nephrite is Ca2( Mg, Fe)5 Si8 O22(O H)2. It is on ...
jade used in
ancient China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
. For several hundred years, until they were defeated by the
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
in 176 BCE, the trade of Khotanese jade into China was controlled by the nomadic
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...
. The Chinese still refer to the Yurungkash as the
White Jade River __NOTOC__
The White Jade River, also known by the native names Baiyu or Yurungkash, is a river in the southern Xinjiang region of China.
The head waters of the river rise in the Kunlun Mountains, in the area of Aksai Chin in Kashmir in the To ...
, alluding to the white
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
recovered from its
alluvial deposits
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
. The light-colored jade is called "Mutton fat" jade. Most of the jade is now gone, with only a few kilos of good quality jade found yearly. Some is still mined in the
Kunlun Mountains to the south in the summer,
[Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), pp. 307-308. Odyssey Publications. .] but it is generally of poorer quality than that found in the rivers.
Fabrics and carpets
![Silk weaving in Khotan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Silk_weaving_in_Khotan.jpg)
Khotanese textiles were mentioned by
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, who visited the oasis in 644 CE. In his Biography it is stated: "It produced carpets and fine felt, and the felt-makers also spun coarse and fine silk."
Ancient Chinese-Khotanese relations were so close that the oasis emerged as one of the earliest centres of silk manufacture outside China. There are good reasons to believe that the silk-producing industry flourished in Hotan as early as the 5th century. According to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk-manufacture, "hiding
silkworms
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically im ...
in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the 1st century CE. It was from Khotan that the eggs of silkworms were smuggled to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, reaching
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
's
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 551.
![Khotanese silks on display in shop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Khotanese_silks_on_display_in_shop.jpg)
Silk production is still a major industry employing more than a thousand workers and producing some 150 million metres of silk annually. Silk weaving by
Uyghur women is a thriving
cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...
, some of it produced using traditional methods.
Hotan Silk Factory is one of the notable silk producers in Hotan.
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
is the fabric used for traditional Uyghur clothing worn by Uyghur women. It is soft, light and graceful tie-dyed silk fabric. It comes various colors, the brighter and rich colors are for small children to young ladies. The gray and dark colors are for elderly women.
The oldest piece of
kilim
A kilim ( az, Kilim کیلیم; tr, Kilim; tm, Kilim; fa, گلیم ''Gilīm'') is a flat tapestry- woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran, the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Ki ...
which we have any knowledge was obtained by the archaeological explorer
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
; a fragment from an ancient settlement near Hotan, which was buried by sand drifts about the fourth century CE. The weave is almost identical with that of modern kilims.
Hotanese pile carpets are still highly prized and form an important export.
Notable persons
*
Islam Akhun
Islam Akhun was a Uyghur con-man from Khotan who forged numerous manuscripts and printed documents and sold them as ancient Silk Road manuscripts. Since the accidental discovery of the Bower Manuscript in 1889 such texts had become much sought a ...
*
Muhammad Amin Bughra
*
Nur Ahmadjan Bughra
Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra ( ug, (Kona Yëziq) نۇر ئەخمەتجان بۇغرا, نور احمد جان بغرا; zh, s=努尔·阿合买提江·布格拉, t=努爾·阿合買提江·布格拉, p=Nǔ'ěr·Āhémǎitíjiāng·Bùgélā; died April 1 ...
*
Abdullah Bughra
Abdullah Bughra ( ug, (Kona Yëziq) ئابدۇللا بۇغرا, عبد الله بغرا; zh, c=阿不都拉·布格拉, p=Ābùdūlā·Bùgélā; died 1934) was a Uighur Emir of the First East Turkestan Republic. He was the younger brother of ...
Gallery
File:Khotan-mercado-d49.jpg, Market in Hotan
File:Khotan-mercado-gente-uigur-d01.jpg, Uyghur people at Sunday market
File:Khotan-fabrica-alfombras-d12.jpg, Carpet weaving in Hotan
File:Entrance to the Khotan Jade Market Center.jpg, Entrance to the Khotan Jade Market Center
File:Photo of the front of the Hotan Museum.jpg, Entrance to the Hotan Cultural Museum
Hotan Cultural Museum or Hetian Cultural Museum () is a museum in Hotan, Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an ...
File:Large mutton fat jade displayed in Hotan Cultural Museum lobby.jpg, Local jade displayed in the Hotan Cultural Museum
Hotan Cultural Museum or Hetian Cultural Museum () is a museum in Hotan, Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an ...
lobby.
File:Plate 23. Sect. II- Chinese Turkistan, Kashmir & Jamu of maps of Constables 1893 hand atlas.jpg, Map of the region including Khotan (Ilchi) (1893)
File:NJ-44-10 Khotan, China.jpg, Map including Hotan (Ho-t'ien, Khotan) ( DMA, 1983)
See also
*
Atlas silk
Etles or ''Etles silk'' (, ) is a type of silk ikat
''Ikat'' (in Indonesian languages means "bind") is a dyeing technique originating from Indonesia used to pattern textiles that employs resist dyeing on the yarns prior to dyeing and weavi ...
*
Dandan Oilik
Dandan Oilik (), also Dandān-Uiliq, ''lit.'' "the houses with ivory", is an abandoned historic oasis town and Buddhist site in the Taklamakan Desert of China, located to the northeast of Khotan in what is now the autonomous region of Xinjiang, b ...
*
Hotan Cultural Museum
Hotan Cultural Museum or Hetian Cultural Museum () is a museum in Hotan, Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an ...
*
Khatana
*
Kingdom of Khotan
The Kingdom of Khotan was an ancient Buddhist Saka kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin (modern Xinjiang, China). The ancient capital was originally sited to ...
*
Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
* Harper, Damian ''et al.'' (2009). ''Lonely Planet China: 11th Edition''. Lonely Planet. .
* Updated version of this article is available for free download (with registration) at
independent.academia.edu* Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC − AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. E. J. Brill, Leiden. .
* Legge, James 1886. ''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline''. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965.
* Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. Thames & Hudson. London. 2000.
* Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin's Archaeological Collections from Khotan: Terra-cottas from Yotkan and Dandan-Uiliq'', The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 7 (1936), pp. 145–221.
* Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin's Archaeological Collections from Khotan II'' (appendix by Helmer Smith (pp. 101–102)), The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 10 (1938), pp. 83–113.
* Puri, B. N. ''Buddhism in Central Asia'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987. (2000 reprint).
* Stein, Aurel M. 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford
dsr.nii.ac.jp1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.
ref name="dsr.nii.ac.jp
at dsr.nii.ac.jp [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-7/V-1/ Ancient Khotan : vol.1
Ancient Khotan : vol.2
* Stein, Aurel M. 1921. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980
dsr.nii.ac.jp
1904 ''Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan'', London, Hurst and Blackett, Ltd.
Reprint Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 200
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1
* Watters, Thomas 1904–1905. ''On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India''. London. Royal Asiatic Society. Reprint: Delhi. Mushiram Manoharlal. 1973.
* Yu, Taishan. 2004. ''A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
External links
Official government site (in Chinese)Silk Road Seattle - University of Washington(The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works)
*[http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/karten-rollover/western-tibet-highway_satellitenbild_grossplus.jpg Satellite image of region which can be enlarged]
China: Taklamakan - Desert With No Ocean Underground* "Khotan",
Encyclopaedia Iranica
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article ...
br>
{{Authority control
Hotan,
Populated places along the Silk Road
Populated places in Xinjiang
Ancient peoples of China
Former countries in Chinese history
Oases of China
Hotan Prefecture
Uyghurs
County-level divisions of Xinjiang