Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang

Kara-Khanid conquest of Khotan
Date late 10th to early 11th centuries Location Tarim Basin (in modern Xinjiang, China) Result Kara-Khanid victory
Belligerents
Kara-Khanid Khanate	Kingdom of Khotan
Commanders and leaders
Satok Bughra Khan Ali Arslan Musa Yusuf Qadir Khan

Khizr Khoja's attack on Turfan and Qocho
Date 1390s Location Tarim Basin and Turfan Basin (in modern Xinjiang, China) Result Chagatai victory
Belligerents
Chagatai Khanate	Kingdom of Qocho and Qara Del
Commanders and leaders
Khizr Khwaja Mansur

The historical area of what is modern day Xinjiang consisted of the distinct areas of the Tarim Basin and Dzungaria, and was populated by Indo-European and Saka peoples, who practiced Buddhism. They came under Chinese rule in the Han dynasty as the Protectorate of the Western Regions due to wars between the Han dynasty and the Xiongnu and again in the Tang dynasty as the Protectorate General to Pacify the West due to wars between the Tang dynasty and the Turkic Khaganates. The Tang dynasty withdrew its control of Xinjiang in the Protectorate General to Pacify the West and the Four Garrisons of Anxi after the An Lushan Rebellion, the area was subjected to Islamification at the hands of Turkic Muslims.

The Indo-European and Saka populated Tarim Basin became the place of settlement by two different Turkic Kingdoms, the Buddhist Turkic Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho and the Muslim Turkic Karluk Kara-Khanid Khanate.

The Turfan and Tarim Basins were populated by speakers of , with "Europoid" mummies found in the region. The oases were populated by Iranian and Tocharian language speakers. Different historians suggest that either the Sakas or Tokharians made up the Yuezhi people who lived in Xinjiang. The northern Tarim Basin is where Tokharian language records were found.

The inhabitants of the Tarim Basin consisted of Buddhist Indo-European, divided between and Eastern Iranian Sakas. The influx of Turkic migrants was triggered by the collapse of the Mongolia-based Uyghur Khaganate which sent Buddhist Turkic Uyghurs migrating down into the Turfan and Tarim Basins of Xinjiang and resulted in the extincation of the Tocharians. Muslim Turkic Karluks from Transoxania in Central Asia settled in the Tarim Basin from the west and dealt the final blow to the last Indo-European Buddhists, the Saka Kingdom of Khotan, Turkicising them and converting them to Islam.

...
Wikipedia