Uyghurs
Contemporary scholars consider modern Uyghurs to be the descendants of a number of people, including the ancient Uyghurs of Mongolia who arrived at the Tarim Basin after the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate, Iranic Saka tribes, and other Indo-European peoples who inhabited the Tarim Basin before the arrival of the Turkic Uyghurs. DNA analyses indicate that the peoples of central Asia such as the Uyghurs are all mixed Caucasian and East Asian. Uyghur activists identify with the Tarim mummies, remains of an ancient people who inhabited the region, but research into the genetics of ancient Tarim mummies and their links with modern Uyghurs remains problematic, both to Chinese government officials concerned with ethnic separatism, and to Uyghur activists concerned that the research could affect their people's claim of being indigenous to the region.
History of the Uyghur people
The Khojijans were originally the Aq Tagh tariqa of the Naqshbandi order, which originated in Timurid Transoxiana. Struggles between two prominent Naqshbandi tariqas, the Aq Taghlik and the Kara Taghlik, engulfed the Eastern Chagatai domain in the late 17th century. Apaq Khoja triumphed both as a national religious and political leader. The last ruling Chagatay princess married one of the ruling Khojijan princes (descendants of Apaq) and became known as Khanum Pasha. She ruled brutally after the death of her husband, and singlehandedly slaughtered many of her Khojijan and Chagatayid rivals. She was known to have boiled alive the last Chagatayid princess who could have continued the dynasty. The Khojijan dynasty fell into chaos, despite the brutality of Khanum Pasha.