Uyghurs
Rian Thum explored the concepts of identity among the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs in Altishahr (the native Uyghur name for eastern Turkestan or southern Xinjiang) before the adoption of the name "Uyghur" in the 1930s, referring to them by the name "Altishahri" in his article "Modular History: Identity Maintenance before Uyghur Nationalism". Thum indicated that Altishahri Turkis did have a sense that they were a distinctive group separate from the Turkic Andijanis to their west, the nomadic Turkic Kirghiz, the nomadic Mongol Qalmaq, and the Han Chinese Khitay before they became known as Uyghurs. There was no single name used by them to refer to themselves, the various native names Altishahris used to refer to themselves were Altishahrlik (Altishahr person), yerlik (local), Turki, and Musulmān (Muslim), the term Musulmān in this situation did not signify religious connotations, because the Altishahris would exclude other Muslim peoples like the Kirghiz when referring to themselves as Musulmān. Dr. Laura J Newby has also noted that the sedentary Altishahri Turkic people felt themselves as a separate group from other Turkic Muslims since at least the 19th century.
Uyghurs in Beijing
After Genghis Khan captured Beijing from the Jin dynasty in 1215, Uyghur noble families serving the Mongol court were sent to administer the city, then renamed Yanjing. These Uyghur nobles were from the Qocho Kingdom, which was formed in the Tarim Basin in 855 and submitted to the Mongols in 1209. Among the Uyghurs who came to Yanjing was Buluhaya, who was a lieutenant of Genghis Khan and given the rank of financial manager. He built a large estate outside the city along the Gaoliang River and moved his mother there. The settlement became known as the "Weiwuercun" or the "Uyghur Village." After Buluhaya's death, he was posthumously honored by Külüg Khan as the Duke of Wei. It is believed that "Weigongcun" or the Village of the Duke of Wei, was so-named because of Buluhaya (布鲁海牙).