Tatars in China

Tatars in China
	Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev (left) with representatives of China's Tatar community, 2003
Total population
	3,544 (2021)
Regions with significant populations
	Northern Xinjiang (Dzungaria)
Languages
	Tatar, Uyghur, Standard Chinese
Religion
	Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
	Volga Tatars
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	塔塔尔族
Traditional Chinese	塔塔爾族
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Tǎtǎ'ěrzú
Tatar name
Tatar	татарлар; tatarlar

Tatars (Chinese: 塔塔尔族; pinyin: Tǎtǎ'ěrzú; Tatar: татарлар, romanized: tatarlar) are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Chinese government. They are a Turkic people who mostly live in Northern Xinjiang (Dzungaria). As of 2020^[update], there are 3,544 Tatars living in Xinjiang, mostly in the cities of Yining, Tacheng, and Ürümqi. The Daquan Tatar Ethnic Township of Qitai County in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, which sits on the edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert, is the only subdivision designated for Tatars.^[2]

History

The Tatars in China are descendants of Volga Tatars who migrated to Xinjiang from their native Idel-Ural region in modern-day Russia. The Tatars have traditionally acted as mediators between the Russians and the native Muslim peoples of Xinjiang. The first wave of permanent Tatar settlement in Xinjiang began in 1851, primarily in cities such as Ghulja (Yining). Tatars brought progressive ideas and new institutions into Xinjiang, where they cemented themselves in the cultural and political fabric of the region. Jadid schools (including institutions for girls), mosques, and libraries catering to the Tatar community were opened in the second half of the 19th century and in the first decades of the 20th century. During this period, many intellectuals were brought from Tatarstan to staff the schools and colleges.^[3]

Following the incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China, the Chinese central government consulted the Tatar community on what they wished to be called in Standard Chinese. Previous phonetic transcriptions of Tatar in Mandarin Chinese included Dadan (达旦), Dada (达达), Dadan (达怛), Datan (达靼), and Datang (鞑靼). The majority of Tatars ultimately agreed on a new transcription: Tata'er (塔塔尔).^[1]

Language

The Tatars in China speak an archaic variant of the Tatar language, free from 20th-century loanwords, and use the Tatar Arabic alphabet, which was phased out in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.^[4] Being surrounded by speakers of other Turkic languages, the Tatar spoken in China partially reverses the Tatar high vowel inversion.^{[citation needed]} Most Tatars can also speak Uyghur and often utilize the Uyghur Arabic script to write their native language.^[5]

Religion

The Tatars in China are Sunni Muslims.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

Burhan Shahidi (1894–1989), Chairman of the Xinjiang UAR Government
Habib Yunich (1905–1945), Education Minister of the Second East Turkestan Republic
Zunun Taipov (1917–1984), Lieutenant General of the People's Liberation Army
Asgat Iskhakov (1921–1976), Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang UAR Government
Margub Iskhakov (1923–1992), Lieutenant General of the People's Liberation Army

References

^ ^a ^b 塔塔尔族 [Tatar Nationality]. rcenw.lzu.edu.cn (in Chinese). Center for Studies of Ethnic Minorities in Northwest China of Lanzhou University. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
^ 中国人口较少民族 [Ethnic Minorities in China] (in Chinese). Xinhua Press. 2007. p. 83. ISBN 978-7501181094.
^ Ondřej Klimeš (8 January 2015). Struggle by the Pen: The Uyghur Discourse of Nation and National Interest, c.1900–1949. BRILL. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-90-04-28809-6.
^ Minglang Zhou (2003). Multilingualism in China: the politics of writing reforms for minority languages, 1949–2002. Vol. 89 of Contributions to the sociology of language (illustrated ed.). Published Walter de Gruyter. p. 183. ISBN 3-11-017896-6. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
^ Davis, Edward Lawrence (2005). "Turkic Language Speakers". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 618. ISBN 978-0-415-77716-2.