History of Ningxia

The region south of the Huang He was incorporated into the Qin empire in the 3rd century bce, at which time walls were built throughout the area. Irrigation canals on the Ningxia plains of the Huang He dating from the Qin (221–207 bce), Han (206 bce–220 ce), and Tang (618–907) dynasties provide further evidence that the area has long been inhabited. In the 11th century the area became part of the Xi Xia kingdom of the Tangut people. Yinchuan was captured by Chinggis Khan early in the 13th century and thereafter remained tributary to China.

As Mongol power declined and Turkish-speaking Muslims migrated from oasis settlements to the west, Ningxia came increasingly under Islamic influence. The descendants of Muslim settlers maintained their separateness from Chinese society. In the mid-19th century Ningxia became embroiled in the general Muslim revolt in the northwest, and tension between the Han and the Hui continued well into the 20th century. After 1911 the region came under the control of Muslim warlords, and Ningxia, as part of the “Muslim” belt, became part of the political base of the Ma clan of Hezhou, Gansu. Wooed by the Nationalist Party—to which they declared nominal allegiance—as well as the Japanese and the Russians, the region remained an arena of conflict throughout the period between World Wars I and II.

In 1914 the Ningxia area became a part of the province of Gansu, and in 1928 it was constituted as the province of Ningxia. During the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) parts of Ningxia were incorporated into the Shaan-Gan-Ning border region, where communist authorities appealed for minority support by proclaiming their cultural and political rights. Although some Hui leaders joined the communists and rose to positions of influence in the region, most Ningxia Hui supported the Ma clan. In the end, a communist victory in Ningxia was won by the People’s Liberation Army in battle with the armies of the Ma clan.

From 1949 to 1954 the province was subject to the authority of the Northwest Military Administrative Committee. Ningxia was then made directly subordinate to the central government as part of Gansu. At the same time, autonomous Hui prefectures were established on the east and west bank sections of the Ningxia irrigated plain and in the foothills of the Liupan Mountains. In 1958 these areas were combined to form the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia. Part of the Tengger Desert region incorporated into Ningxia in 1969 reverted to Inner Mongolia in 1979. The autonomous region has experienced considerable economic development, led by exploitation of its mineral resources, and its transportation infrastructure has been expanded significantly.