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Introduction |
Kashgar Prefecture,
with a total area of 162,000
kilometers, lies between latitude
350 to 408 north and longitude 730 to 797 east
in the southern part of Xinjiang. Kashi
city, a place of strategic importance in
south Xinjiang, has an area of 15 square
kilometers with an average elevation of 1289.5
meters. The city is located between latitude 395
to 295 north and longitude 756 to 764 east and
lies 1,473 kilometers from the city of Urumqi.
Located in the plain climate zone with the clear
four seasons, Kashi
has a long summer and a short winter. The annual
mean temperature in Kashi is 11.7 , with the lowest temperature of
-24.4 in January and the hottest 40.1 in July.
The frost-free period averages 215 days.
Kashi prefecture was called Shule in ancient times and
it has a history of more than two thousand years.
According to the record of the Persian Epic, Afulabuseyav, an ancient Tulan hero, established
the capital of his kingdom here. In the
beginning of the Han Dynasty, it belonged to the
Zhuangpu Prefecture General's Office of the Hun.
In the latter half of the second century B.C.,
after the Han Dynasty Emperor Wudi sent Zhang
Qian as his special envoy to the Western Region,
Kashi submitted to the
authorities of the Western Han Dynasty. During
the first century, Kashi was the supreme headquarters of Ban Chao,
an imperial general who administered the Western
Region. But at the end of the Sui Dynasty and
in early Tang Dynasty,
Kashi had
to pay taxes and levies frequently to the
Western Turkish Khanate. During the reign of the
Tang Dynasty Emperor Taizong and afterwards, it
was an important military stronghold of the Tang
government. Kashi was one of the four
important towns in Anxi at the time; thus it was
made the seat of the Shule Superintendent's
Office. The Karakhanid Dynasty also established
its capital in Kashgar. Before Genghis Khan went
on his western expedition, Kashgar was the south
capital of the Western Liao Regime established
by Khitans. After Khan's western expedition was
over, Kashgar became the fief of the crown
prince of Chagatai. During the reign of the Qing
Dynasty Emperor Qianlong, Kashgar became the
seat of government of the Kashgar Councilor of
the Qing government.
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