[MUSLIMS IN CHINA] Çin'de din-i mübin ve Çin müslümanlari. [i.e. Religion in Islam and Chinese Muslims in China]

KÖLCELI [KOLÇALI] ABDÜLAZIZ, (1863-?)., Mahmud Bey Matbaasi., Istanbul, [AH 1319] = 1901. 

Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (19 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 38, [1] p. Hegira: 1319 = Gregorian: 1902.

First and only edition in book format of this rare early description of the situation of Muslims in China.

While the relationships with Chinese civilization, one of the oldest neighbors of Turks in Central Asia, with a history that consisted of the dynasties of the families, continued for Eastern Turks, there were limited relations, mainly due to legations and certain economic concerns for the Turks who had moved to the west. In the period of Abdulhamit II, the interest in China rose due to the Muslims living there as part of the Pan-Islamism policy followed by the caliph, in line with the attempts for raising the influence of the caliph over Muslims. During the Second Constitutional Era, such relationships were maintained, and various news and newspaper articles were published in the press towards creating a national awareness among the Muslim Turks of the region with various news and articles on the subject being published in the press. Among those were Kolcali's articles in Ikdam Newspaper.

Kolcali (Kölceli - Kulcali - Gulcali - Gölceli) was born in 1863 in Kulca city of Xin-xiang, the Uighur autonomous region in Eastern of People's Republic of China. He compiled all his articles in his book titled 'Çin'de din-i mübin ve Çin müslümanlari' [= Religions and Chinese Muslims in Chinaa] on Chinese Muslims in 'Ikdam' newspaper. In this work, Abdulaziz wrote that Islam came to China along three distinct paths: The first was as Mohammad had sent a companion named Wahhab b. Ra'shah after Mohammad's exodus; the second was the arrival of those who escaped the pressure of the administration during the Umayyad period, and the last, in Hegira 138, occurred as the Chinese emperor sent a delegation to Baghdad because of the turmoil in Chinese lands in response to which Abu Jaafar al-Mansur al-Abbasid sent a force of five thousand to his aid. After these, in the last period of the South Song Dynasty in South China (1127-1279), China's foreign trade became very well developed and the Indian Ocean became the main road for Chinese-Arab trade, so the Arab and Muslim population in China increased and thus Islam spread in China. This intense relationship has not only become prominent in the economic field but also brought about the exchange of culture and civilization. These relations continued during the era of the Ming and Yuan (Mongol) Dynasties, and the Chinese authorities have even designated Muslims to significant positions in some customs offices.

OCLC: 34049552. Özege 3363 / 1. TBTK 444.