Musa Sayrami
Mullā Mūsa Sayrāmī (1836-1917) was a historian from Xinjiang, known for his account of the events in that region in the 19th century, in particular the Dungan Rebellion of 1864-1877. While the ethnonym Uyghurs, with its modern meaning, was not yet used in Musa Sayrami's day, he probably would be called an Uyghur if he lived a few decades later.
Biography
Musa was originally from the village of Sayram in Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang), which should not be confused with the larger city of the same name in Kazakhstan.[1] In his youth he was sent to Kuqa to study at the madrassah of Mulla Osamn Akhund. He became a close friend of one of his classmates, named Mahmudin, a son of Burhan ad-Din Khoja. Musa later referred to Mahmudin as "Khojam Padishah".
In 1864, during the early days of the Dungan Rebellion in Xinjiang, Musa joined the fighters of Burhan ad-Din Khoja, when Burhan's unit passed through Sayram. Along with Mahmudin, Musa was among Burhan's rebels at Aksu and Uqturpan, and became Burhad's right-hand man there.[2]
After the rebellion of Uqturpan people against the Khojas in 1867, Sayrami found a place for himself in the government apparatus of the new ruler of the region, Yaqub Beg, where he served under Mirza Baba Beg, the zakatchi (chief revenue officer) in Aksu. [2]
Musa survived the defeat of the rebellion, and lived the rest of his days in Aksu, writing and re-writing his Tarikh-i amaniyya,[3] which he completed in 1903.
Tārīkh-i amaniyya and Tārīkh-i ḥamīdi
Tarikh-i amaniyya ("History of Peace")[4] was written in Chagatai language - the old literary language of Central Asia, which can be thought of as an ancestral form of today's Uyghur and Uzbek languages. [2]
The work, which has survived in several manuscripts, consists of the following parts:[3]
- the introduction, which surveys the history of Xinjiang from Noah to Chengiz Khan to the beginning of the Dungan Rebellion
- Part 1, which discusses the early stages of the rebellion, under leadership of the Khojas
- Part 2, which discusses the Yaqub Beg's regime, and the reconquest of the region by the Chinese troops in 1877.
- Conclusion
Tarikh-i amaniyya was published by the Russian scholar N.N. Pantusov in Kazan in 1905.[5] A modern Uyghur translation was published in Urumqi in 1988 as Tärikhi äminiyä.[4]
Tārīkh-i ḥamīdi (History of Ḥamid) is a revised version of Tārīkh-i amaniyya, completed in 1908. A modern Uyghur translation by Enver Baytur was published in Beijing in 1986.[4]
Modern assessment
In the view of the modern expert on the period's history, Kim Hodong, is "one of the best historians that has Central Asia ever produced", and his books are the most important locally produced source on the Dungan Rebellion.[6]
Footnotes
- ^ МОЛЛА МУСА САЙРАМИ: "ТА'РИХ-И АМНИЙА" (Mulla Musa Sayrami's Tarikh-i amaniyya), in: "Материалы по истории казахских ханств XV-XVIII веков (Извлечения из персидских и тюркских сочинений)" (Materials for the history of Kazakh Khanates of the 15-18th c.), Alma Ata, Nauka Publishers, 1969. Template:Ru icon
- ^ a b c МОЛЛА МУСА САЙРАМИ: ТА'РИХ-И АМНИЙА (Mulla Musa Sayrami's Tarikh-i amaniyya: Preface)], in: "Материалы по истории казахских ханств XV-XVIII веков (Извлечения из персидских и тюркских сочинений)" (Materials for the history of Kazakh Khanates of the 15-18th c.), Alma Ata, Nauka Publishers, 1969. Template:Ru icon
- ^ a b Kim (2004), pp. 194-195
- ^ a b c Kim (2004), pp. 265-266
- ^ Kim (2004), p. 280
- ^ Kim (2004), p. xvi
References
- Kim, Ho-dong (2004). Holy war in China: the Muslim rebellion and state in Chinese Central Asia, 1864-1877. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804748845.