Historic city · Cultural centre · Border city · Xinjiang
Kashgar
喀什
Oasis city where the Silk Roads met at the foot of the Pamirs
Kashgar (Kashi) is a county-level city and the seat of Kashgar Prefecture in the far west of Xinjiang, an oasis at the western end of the Tarim Basin where the northern and southern Silk Roads converged before crossing the Pamirs. For more than a millennium a centre of Uyghur and Central Asian Islamic culture, it is known for the Id Kah Mosque, its old city and its bazaars.
Key facts
Overview
Kashgar lies near the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, with the Tianshan to the north and the Pamirs to the west. For caravans it was the last great oasis before the mountain passes to Ferghana, Bactria and India, and it remains the starting point of the Karakoram Highway to Pakistan.
The city is overwhelmingly Uyghur. Its old city of mud-brick houses and lanes was largely demolished and rebuilt from 2009 under a government programme justified by earthquake safety; conservationists and Uyghur groups criticised the loss of historic fabric, while the authorities point to improved housing and infrastructure. The Id Kah Mosque and the surrounding bazaar streets remain the centre of the city.
Names and nicknames
疏勒
The name of the oasis kingdom in Han and Tang sources; it survives as the name of a neighbouring county.
喀什噶尔
The full form of the name, Qeshqer in Uyghur.
History
The kingdom of Shule was one of the oasis states of the Western Regions. The Han general Ban Chao campaigned from here in the late first century. In the tenth and eleventh centuries Kashgar was a capital of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, the first Turkic dynasty to adopt Islam, and a centre of Turkic literature. Later it was ruled by the Chagatai khans, the Yarkand Khanate and the Khoja families. The Qing took it in 1759. In the 1860s and 1870s it was the base of Yaqub Beg's state, and in 1933 the short-lived First East Turkestan Republic was proclaimed here. British and Russian consulates made it a listening post of the “Great Game”.
1st century
Ban Chao in Shule
The Han general restored Chinese influence over the Western Regions from Kashgar.
10th–11th century
Kara-Khanid capital
Kashgar was a seat of the Kara-Khanid rulers, who adopted Islam and patronised Turkic scholarship.
1069
Kutadgu Bilig
Yusuf Khass Hajib presented his didactic poem to the Kara-Khanid ruler in Kashgar.
1442
Id Kah Mosque
The mosque was founded on the central square; it has since been enlarged many times.
1865–1877
Yaqub Beg
The Kokandi commander ruled a state in the Tarim Basin from Kashgar until the Qing reconquest.
1933–1934
First East Turkestan Republic
A short-lived Islamic republic was proclaimed in Kashgar.
2010
Special economic zone
Kashgar was designated a special economic development zone for trade with Central and South Asia.
Landmarks
Temple or shrine
Id Kah Mosque
艾提尕尔清真寺
The principal mosque of Kashgar, with a yellow-tiled gate flanked by minarets on the central square.
Temple or shrine
Afaq Khoja Mausoleum
阿帕克霍加麻扎
Seventeenth-century tiled tomb of the Khoja family, linked by legend with Iparhan, the “Fragrant Concubine”.
Historic site
Tomb of Yusuf Khass Hajib
玉素甫·哈斯·哈吉甫墓
Mausoleum of the eleventh-century poet in the south of the city.
Street or quarter
Old City
喀什古城
The rebuilt lanes east of the Id Kah Mosque, with craft workshops, teahouses and bakeries.
Neighbourhoods
Ostangboyi
吾斯塘博依路
Street of coppersmiths, knife-makers and hat sellers near the mosque.
East Gate Bazaar
东大门巴扎
The large covered market of the city, with textiles, dried fruit and household goods.
Food
Samsa
烤包子
Lamb pastries baked on the wall of a tonur oven.
Polo
抓饭
Pilaf with lamb, carrots and raisins.
Yoghurt rice cakes
酸奶粽子
Sticky rice cakes served with yoghurt and syrup, a summer street snack.
Culture
Kashgar is regarded by many Uyghurs as the cultural heartland of their people, a centre of Islamic learning, crafts and music. Traditional trades — copper, knife-making, musical instruments, hats and nan baking — are still practised, and the Sunday livestock market on the edge of town draws farmers from across the oasis.
Getting around
- Kashgar station is on the Southern Xinjiang railway from Urumqi and the line to Hotan.
- Kashgar Laining International Airport lies north-east of the city.
- The Karakoram Highway runs south-west to Tashkurgan and the Khunjerab Pass on the Pakistan border.
Day trips
Karakul Lake
卡拉库勒湖
High lake on the Karakoram Highway beneath Muztagh Ata, with Kyrgyz herders' yurts in summer.
Tashkurgan
塔什库尔干
Tajik town in the Pamirs with the ruins of the stone fortress that gave it its name.
Mor Buddhist ruins
莫尔寺遗址
Remains of a stupa and temple of the pre-Islamic period in the desert north-east of the city.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Kashgar Prefecture Administrative Office — Kashgar Prefecture Administrative Office (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Kashgar — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Xinjiang
- Urumqi乌鲁木齐Capital · Industrial centreTianshan capital at the heart of Asia
- Turpan吐鲁番Historic city · Scenic areaGrape oasis in China's lowest and hottest basin
- Hotan和田Historic city · Cultural centreKhotan, the oasis of jade, silk and carpets
- Yining (Ghulja)伊宁Historic city · Border city · Scenic areaGarden city of the green Ili valley
- Kuqa库车Historic city · Cultural centreAncient Kucha, kingdom of music and Buddhist caves
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