By Michael WINES, Published: May 27, 2009 KASHGAR, China — A thousand years ago, the northern and southern branches of the Silk Road converged at this oasis town near the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Traders from Delhi and Samarkand, wearied by frigid treks through the world’s most daunting mountain ranges, unloaded their pack horses here and sold saffron and lutes along the city’s cramped streets ...

Introduction to Uyghur literature The Uyghur have a long and rich literary history befitting a people that once ruled a great empire in Central Asia. As soldiers and diplomats and as educators they have always been known as an educated people. The Uyghur have been printing their own books for many hundreds of years prior to the invention of the Guttenberg press. The earliest Uyghur literature revolved aroun ...