The Äynu (also Ainu, Abdal, and Aini) are a people native to the Xinjiang region of western China. There are estimated to be fewer than 30,000 Äynu, mostly located on the fringe of the Taklamakan Desert.[1]
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The origins of the Äynu people are disputed. Some historians theorize that the ancestors of the Äynu were a nomadic people who came from Persia several hundred years ago[2], while others conclude that the Persian vocabulary of the Äynu language is a result of Persian being once the major trade language of the region, or Persian traders intermarrying with local women.[3]
Uyghur is spoken at home and in public, by Äynu men and women alike. Äynu men also speak Äynu, a Turkic language with mainly Persian vocabulary.[1]
The Äynu people engage mostly in agriculture, although in the past some were peddlers, circumcisers, or beggars.[1]
There is a tradition of discrimination against the Äynu by their neighbors, who identify the Äynu as Abdal, a name which carries a derogatory meaning.[1] Intermarriage with their neighbors the Uyghur people is uncommon.[4] However, the Chinese government counts the Äynu people as Uyghur.[4]
The predominant religion is Sunni Islam.[4]