Dongxiangs

Dongxiang
دْوݣسِيْاݣ

A Dongxiang student in school.
Total population
(621,500)
Regions with significant populations
621,500 (2010 census) in Gansu
Languages
Santa
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Bonan, Hui

The Dongxiang people (autonym: Sarta or Santa (撒尔塔); simplified Chinese: 东乡族; traditional Chinese: 東鄉族; pinyin: Dōngxiāngzú; Xiao'erjing: دْوݣسِيْاݣذُ) are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Most of the Dongxiang live in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and surrounding areas of Gansu Province in northwestern China. According to the 2010 census, their population numbers 621,500.

The Dongxiang are closely related to other Mongolic peoples like the Monguor and Bonan. Scholars speculate that their identity as an independent ethnic group arose through contact with Central Asians, due to whom the Dongxiang converted to Sunni Islam in the 13th century.

They are believed to be descendants of Mongolian troops posted in the Hezhou area by Genghis Khan (1162-1227 AD) during his journey westward, mixed with Sarts, which are merchants from Central Asia. Another possibility is that they could be a mixture of many peoples including Mongolian, Han, and Tibetan groups.

The American Asiatic Association published an account of the Dongxiang's origins in the "Asia, Volume 40". A Muslim Mongol, Ma Chuanyuan, who was the supermagistrate of five districts, was interviewed, and gave a story on his people's origins. The conversion to Islam by a clan descended from Genghis Khan angered their relatives, who drove them all the way to Eastern Linxia. This occurred at the twilight of the Yuan dynasty. East Linxia was described as a land of "thorns and yellow earth". The author estimated a number of 100,000 Mongolian Muslims. They spoke Mongolian but were all illiterate. The account described them as a community of one hundred thousand, Mongol by race, Islam by religion and Chinese by culture. The majority of them were monolingual.