Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, China. It has an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of and 2.714 million inhabitants at the 2020 census whom 715,319 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of Aksu urban district. The name Aksu is Turkic for 'white water'. Aksu Prefecture has a long international boundary with

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

Etymology

The name Aksu comes from the name of the Aksu River which is Turkic for 'white water'. The name is similar to that of the nearby

Zhetysu Jetisu ( ) or Semirechye ( rus, Семиречье, p=sʲɪmʲɪˈrʲetɕje) or Heptopotamia is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan. Name Jetisu is also transcribed Jeti-Suu (, ), Zh ...

region which means "seven rivers". The name of Aksu Prefecture's

Onsu County Onsu County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency () and from Mandarin Chinese Wensu County ( zh, s=温宿县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Aksu Prefecture, borderin ...

(Wensu) means "ten water" in Uyghur and other Turkic languages, and 'Kizilsu' in

Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in western Xinjiang, China, bordering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Its Capital (political), capital is Artush. The prefecture is home to 622,222 people () and covers an area of . Mo ...

means 'red water'- all of these names consist of a descriptor followed by 'su' (river; water).

History

In 717 AD, the Arabs, guided by their Turgesh allies, besieged Buat-ɦuɑn (撥換, roughly modern Aksu) and Dai-dʑiᴇk-dʑiᴇŋ (大石城, roughly modern

Uqturpan Uqturpan County, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or Uchturpan County ( transliterated from ; zh, s=乌什吐鲁番县), also Wushi County ( zh, s=乌什县), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region under the ad ...

) in the Battle of Aksu. On August 15, the Arabs,

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

, and Suluk Khan of the

Türgesh Khaganate The Türgesh or Türgish (; ; Old Tibetan: ''Du-rgyas'') were a Turkic tribal confederation. Once belonging to the Duolu wing of the Western Turkic ''On Oq'' elites, Türgeshes emerged as an independent power after the demise of the Western Tur ...

formed an alliance to besiege the city of Dai-dʑiᴇk-dʑiᴇŋ (now

Usi County Usi County is a ''kun'', or county, in westernmost Chagang Province, North Korea. It looks across the Yalu River into the People's Republic of China. Within North Korea, it borders Chosan and Kopung to the east, Songwon to the south, and North ...

). The Tang army, commanded by Tang Jiahui ( zh, 汤嘉惠), allied with

Karluks The Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, , Qarluq, Para-Mongolic languages, Para-Mongol: Harluut, zh, s=葛逻禄, t=葛邏祿 ''Géluólù'' ; customary phonetic: ''Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo'', , ''Khallokh'', ''Qarluq'') were a prominent no ...

and

Ashina Xian Ashina Xian was a Western Turk khagan, also a general of Protectorate General to Pacify the West from 708 to 717, appointed by the Tang dynasty. Life When his father was executed by Lai Junchen in 692, he was exiled to Yazhou. However, he was r ...

of Western Turkestan to alleviate the siege. The Arab army faced a counterattack and withdrew to

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, where numerous Arab soldiers were captured but later released upon the payment of a ransom by the Umayyad caliphs. Subsequent to the conflict, the Arabs were displaced from the northern section of the Hezhong region. The Turks re-engaged with the Tang and then launched an assault on the Arabs in

Fergana Fergana ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Fargʻona, Фарғона, ), () or Ferghana, also Farghana is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 320 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km southwest of A ...

. Following 720, the Tubo forces advanced northward into the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern 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, Ch ...

, while the Tang army re-entered Anxi in the 740s. The

Battle of Talas The Battle of Talas (; ) was an armed confrontation between the Abbasid Caliphate along with the Tibetan Empire against the Tang dynasty in 751. In July of that year, the Tang and Abbasid armies clashed at the Talas River over control of the r ...

in 751 inflicted severe losses on the Tang army, resulting in the original four towns of Anxi falling under the influence of the

and Qocho. The city of Togang was reestablished under Tubo control in 790. By 840, the Qocho disintegrated, with a portion of the Qocho population establishing the Qocho Empire (present-day

Turpan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...

) as their base and adopting the Turkic designation Aksu. Following the eleventh century, Aksu commenced its

Islamization The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

under the influence of the Kura Khanate. In the twelfth century, Aksu, together with the Gaochang Qocho, became incorporated into

Western Liao The Qara Khitai, or Kara Khitai ( zh, t=喀喇契丹, s=哈剌契丹, p=Kālā Qìdān or zh, c=黑契丹, p=Hēi Qìdān, l=Black Khitan, links=no), also known as the Western Liao ( zh, t=西遼, p=Xī Liáo, links=no), officially the Great L ...

Geography

The prefecture occupies the northwestern part of the

and the southern slopes of the

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

. The southern part of the prefecture is within the

Taklamakan desert The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the ...

. Agriculture is only possible in the areas irrigated by the

Tarim River The Tarim River ( zh, p=Tǎlǐmù Hé, c=塔里木河; ), known in Sanskrit as the Śītā, is an endorheic river in Xinjiang, China. It is the principal river of the Tarim Basin, a desert region of Central Asia between the Tian Shan and Kunlu ...

and its glacier-fed tributaries, the Aksu River and the

Muzart River The Muzart River () or Muzat River (; ) is a river in Aksu Prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, a left tributary of the Tarim River. An early 20th-century source also gives an alternative name for this river, ...

. Aksu Prefecture surrounds

Aral, Xinjiang AralThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); is a sub-prefecture-level city surrounded by Aksu Prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Aral means "island" in Uyghur. The city's name is often w ...

Administrative divisions

Aksu Prefecture is divided into 2

county-level cities , map = , category = Third level administrative division of a unitary state , territory = People's Republic of China , upper_unit = Prefectures, Provinces , start_date = , current_number = 411 (408 controlled, 3 claimed) , number_da ...

and 8

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Demographics

As of 2020, 2,051,412 (80.1%) of the 2,561,674 residents of the county were

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

, 475,323 (18.6%) were

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

and 34,939 were from other ethnic groups. As of 1999, 75.0% of the population of Aksu (Aqsu, Akesu) Prefecture was Uyghur and 23.7% of the population was Han Chinese.

References

External links

{{Authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Xinjiang