[11] British archaeologist Aurel Stein (1862–1943) argued that the name Kashgar came into use in 716, sometime after the raids on the city by Qutayba ibn Muslim, the then Arab governor of Khurasan.

[20] The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han dynasty envoy travelled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.

[citation needed] Ptolemy speaks of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a "Kasia Regio", probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar and Kashgaria (often applied to the district) are formed.

"[25]: 43 However, it was not very long before the Chinese began to reassert their authority in the region: In the second Yongjian year (127), during Emperor Shun's reign, Chenpan sent an envoy to respectfully present offerings.

[25]: 43 From an earlier part of the same text comes the following addition: In the first Yangjia year (132), Xu You sent the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Yutian (Khotan).

Then, during Emperor Ling's reign, in the first Jianning year [168], the king of Shule (Kashgar) and Commandant-in-Chief for the Han (i.e. presumably Chenpan), was killed while hunting by the youngest of his paternal uncles, Hede.

In the third year (170), Meng Tuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, sent the Provincial Officer Ren She, commanding five hundred soldiers from Dunhuang, with the Wuji Major Cao Kuan, and Chief Clerk of the Western Regions, Zhang Yan, brought troops from Yanqi (Karashahr), Qiuci (Kucha), and the Nearer and Further States of Jushi (Turpan and Jimasa), altogether numbering more than 30,000, to punish Shule (Kashgar).

[citation needed] Chapter 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms says that after the beginning of the Wei Dynasty (220) the states of the Western Regions did not arrive as before, except for the larger ones such as Kucha, Khotan, Kangju, Wusun, Kashgar, Yuezhi, Shanshan and Turpan, who are said to have come to present tribute every year, as in Han times.

[citation needed] The "Songji" of the Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 5th month of 435, nine states: Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all came to the Wei court.

[26] The kingdoms of Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all began sending envoys to present tribute in the Taiyuan reign period (435–440).

[citation needed] At around the same era, Nestorian Christians were establishing bishoprics at Herat, Merv and Samarkand, whence they subsequently proceeded to Kashgar, and finally to China proper itself.

In 646, the Turkic Kagan asked for the hand of a Tang Chinese princess, and in return the Emperor promised Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, Karashahr and Sarikol as a marriage gift, but this did not happen as planned.

In a series of campaigns between 652 and 658, with the help of the Uyghurs, the Chinese finally defeated the Western Turk tribes and took control of all their domains, including the Tarim Basin kingdoms.

[31][32] Although the Muslim religion from the very commencement sustained checks, it nevertheless made its weight felt upon the independent states of Turkestan to the north and east, and thus acquired a steadily growing influence.

The fall of Kashgar to Qutayba ibn Muslim is claimed as the start of Islam in the region by Mustafa Setmariam Nasar[34] and by an article from Al-Qaeda branch Al-Nusra Front's English language "Al-Risalah magazine" (مجلة الرسالة), second issue (العدد الثاني), translated from English into Turkish by the "Doğu Türkistan Haber Ajansı" (East Turkestan News Agency) and titled Al Risale: "Türkistan Dağları" 1.

Kashgar endured a troubled time, and in 1514, on the invasion of the Khan Sultan Said, was destroyed by Mirza Ababakar, who with the aid of ten thousand men built a new fort with massive defences higher up on the banks of the Tuman river.

Rumours flew around Central Asia that the Qing planned to launch expeditions towards Transoxiana and Samarkand, the chiefs of which sought assistance from the Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali.

He also dispatched an ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation of the Afaqi Khojas, but the representative was not well received, and Ahmed Shah was too busy fighting off the Sikhs to attempt to enforce his demands through arms.

A revolt in 1829 under Mahommed Ali Khan and Yusuf, brother of Jahanghir resulted in the concession of several important trade privileges to the Muslims of the district of Altishahr (the "six cities"), as it was then called.

The area enjoyed relative calm until 1846 under the rule of Zahir-ud-din, the local Uyghur governor, but in that year a new Khoja revolt under Kath Tora led to his accession as the authoritarian ruler of the city.

There were eras in Xinjiang's history where intermarriage was common, and "laxity" set upon Uyghur women led them to marry Chinese men in the period after Yakub Beg's rule ended.

[citation needed] Uyghur and Kyrgyz forces, led by the Bughra brothers and Tawfiq Bay, attempted to take the New City of Kashgar from Chinese Muslim troops under General Ma Zhancang.

[citation needed] Tawfiq Bey, a Syrian Arab traveller, who held the title Sayyid (descendant of Muhammed) and arrived at Kashgar on 26 August 1933, was shot in the stomach by the Chinese Muslim troops in September.

Previously Ma Zhancang arranged to have the Uyghur leader Timur Beg killed and beheaded on 9 August 1933, displaying his head outside of Id Kah Mosque.

[53] The 36th division General Ma Fuyuan led a Chinese Muslim army to storm Kashgar on 6 February 1934, attacking the Uyghur and Kyrgyz rebels of the First East Turkestan Republic.

[64] Following the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, the government focused on local economic development in an attempt to ameliorate ethnic tensions in the greater Xinjiang region.

Over the last two decades, similar demolition of historic architecture followed by their replacement by more commercialized properties have also been ongoing in the rest of China, often with inadequate consultation of local residents.

[91] Critics, however, questioned the government's decision to choose Kashgar, citing the city's undesirable location and the predominance of agriculture in the local economy rather than heavy industry.

[92] For example, scholars Bill Chou and Xuejie Ding note that Kashgar is unattractive to both domestic and foreign investors because it is thousands of kilometres away from China's major commercial hubs and borders developing countries.

Kashgar–Hotan Railway opened for passenger traffic in June 2011, and connected Kashgar with cities in the southern Tarim Basin including Shache (Yarkand), Yecheng (Kargilik) and Hotan.