The term Central Asia is not precisely defined. In this paper, we will consider it to cover the territory of the present-day Chinese province of Xinjiang, former Soviet Central Asia, the northern parts of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the eastern parts of Iran. We will concentrate on Xinjiang and the areas that border on it. The term Islamic Central Asian History covers the period from the Arab conquest until the end of the 19th century. China has a long tradition of Islamic Central Asian studies..
