View source for Hotan

{{Redirect-multi|3|Gosthana|Khotan|Hetian|other uses|He Tian (disambiguation)|and|Khotan (disambiguation)|and|Gosthana (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Khotons}}
{{use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
| name               = Hotan
| official_name      = <!-- Official name in English if different from 'name' -->
| native_name        = {{native name list |tag1=ug |name1=خوتەن شەھىرى |tag2=zh-hans |name2=和田市}}
| other_name         = Khotan, Hetian
| settlement_type    = [[County-level city]]
| pushpin_map        = Xinjiang#China#Continental Asia
| pushpin_relief     = yes
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Xinjiang
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|37|07|N|79|55|E|region:CN-65|display=inline,title}}
| image_skyline      = Kurban Tulum with Mao Zedong, Hotan, China.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_alt          = 
| image_caption      = [[Tuanjie Square]]
| image_map          = 
| mapsize            = 
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| mapsize1           = 
| map_alt1           = 
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| dot_map_base_alt   = 
| dot_map_alt        = 
| dot_map_caption    = 
| dot_x              = 
| dot_y              = 
| coor_pinpoint      = 
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = China
| subdivision_type1  = [[Autonomous regions of China|Autonomous region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Xinjiang]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Prefectures of China|Prefecture]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Hotan Prefecture|Hotan]]
| subdivision_type3  = Township-level divisions
| subdivision_name3  = 
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = 
| founder            = 
| named_for          = 
| seat_type          = Municipal seat
| seat               = [[Nurbagh Subdistrict]]
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_party       = 
| leader_title       = 
| leader_name        = 
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| total_type         = 
| unit_pref          = 
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="xzqhhotancity"/>
| area_total_km2     = 465.84
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| area_water_percent = 
| elevation_footnotes = 
| elevation_m        = 1382
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/en/china/xinjiang/admin/|title=China: Xīnjiāng (Prefectures, Cities, Districts and Counties) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map|website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>
| population_total   = 501,028
| population_as_of   = 2020
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_est     = 
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| population_note    = 
| population_demonym = Hotanese, Khotanese
| demographics_type1 = Demographics
| demographics1_title1 = [[List of ethnic groups in China|Ethnic groups]]
| demographics1_info1 = {{ubl|90.3% [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]]|9.4% [[Han Chinese]]|<0.3% other}}
| demographics1_title2 = Spoken languages
| demographics1_info2 = [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], [[Mandarin Chinese]]
| timezone1          = [[China Standard Time|China Standard]]{{efn|Locals in Xinjiang frequently observe [[UTC+6]] ([[Xinjiang Time]]), 2 hours behind Beijing.}}
| utc_offset1        = +8
| postal_code_type   = [[Postal code of China|Postal code]]
| postal_code        = 839000
| area_code_type     = 
| area_code          = 0903
| website            = {{URL|http://www.hts.gov.cn|Hotan Government Website}} {{in lang|zh}}
| blank_name         = [[Gross regional product|GDP]] (Nominal)<ref name="新疆）2018年和田市国民经济和社会发展统计公报">{{Cite web|date=12 November 2019|title=(新疆）2018年和田市国民经济和社会发展统计公报|url=http://m.ahmhxc.com/tongjigongbao/16523.html|access-date=12 March 2021|language=zh|archive-date=2 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902112010/https://m.ahmhxc.com/tongjigongbao/16523.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| blank_info         = 2018
| blank1_name        = {{nbsp}}– Total
| blank1_info        = ¥8.274 billion<br/>$1.247 billion
| blank2_name        = {{nbsp}}– Per Capita
| blank2_info        = ¥20,399<br/>$3,076
| blank3_name        = {{nbsp}}– Growth
| blank3_info        = {{increase}} 7.1%
| blank4_name        = [[License plates of the People's Republic of China|License plate]] prefix
| blank4_info        = 新R
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| ibox-order = ug, zh
| c = {{linktext|和田}}
| w = Ho²-tʻien²
| p = Hétián
| gr = Hertyan
| bpmf = ㄏㄜˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄊㄧㄢˊ
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|h|e|2|.|t|yan|2}}
| s2 = {{linktext|和阗}}
| t2 = {{linktext|和闐}}
| w2 = Ho²-tʻien²
| p2 = Hétián
| gr2 = Hertyan
| bpmf2 = ㄏㄜˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄊㄧㄢˊ
| mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|h|e|2|.|t|yan|2}}
| s3 = 于窴
| t3 = 于窴
| p3 = Yútián
| gr3 = Yutyan
| w3 = Yü²-tʻien²
| bpmf3 = ㄩˊ&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ㄊㄧㄢˊ
| mi3 = {{IPAc-cmn|yu|2|.|t|yan|2}}
| uig = خوتەن
| uly = Xoten
| uyy = Hotən
| sgs = Hotan
| usy = Хотән
| uipa = {{IPA|ug|χotʰǽn|}}
| order = st
| lang1 = kk
| lang1_content = {{nowrap|{{lang|kk-Arab|حوتان قالاسى}}<br />{{lang|kk|Хотан қаласы}}<br />{{lang|kk-Latn|Hotan qalasy}}}}<br />{{IPA|kk|(q)χotʰán q(χ)ɑlasɯ́|}}
| lang2 = ky
| lang2_content = {{nowrap|{{lang|ky-Arab|حوتەن شاارى}}<br />{{lang|ky|Хотан шаары}}<br />{{lang|ky-Latn|Hotan shaary}}}}<br />{{IPA|ky|(q)χòtʰan ɕǎːɾɤ|}}
}}

'''Hotan''' ({{langx|ug|خوتەن|Xoten}}; {{zh|c=和田|p=Hétián}}) is a major [[oasis]] town in southwestern [[Xinjiang]], an [[Autonomous regions of China|autonomous region]] in [[Northwestern China]]. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger [[Hotan County]] to become an administrative area in its own right in August 1984. It is the seat of [[Hotan Prefecture]].

With a population of 408,900 (2018 census),<ref>China Population: Xinjiang: Hotan: Hetian City https://www.ceicdata.com/en/china/population-county-level-region/population-xinjiang-hotan-hetian-city</ref> Hotan is situated in the [[Tarim Basin]] some {{convert|1500|km}} southwest of the regional capital, [[Ürümqi]]. It lies just north of the [[Kunlun Mountains]], which are crossed by the [[Sanju Pass|Sanju]], [[Hindutash]] and Ilchi passes. The town, located southeast of [[Yarkant County]] and populated almost exclusively by [[Uyghurs]], is a minor agricultural center. An important station on the southern branch of the historic [[Silk Road]], Hotan has always depended on two strong rivers, the [[Karakash River]] and the [[White Jade River]], to provide the water needed to survive on the southwestern edge of the vast [[Taklamakan Desert]]. The White Jade River still provides water and irrigation for the town and oasis.<ref>[[Marc Aurel Stein]]. (1907) ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Eastern Turkestan.'' Oxford. Pages 123-126.</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), pp. 306-319. Odyssey Publications. {{ISBN|962-217-741-7}}.</ref>

==Etymology==
Hotan and its surrounding area were originally known as ''Godana'' in ancient [[Sanskrit]] cosmological texts.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/philippines-public-policy-and-national-economic-development-by-frank-golay-ithaca-cornell-university-press-1961-xviii-455-map-tables-index-bibliographic-essay/7851EE3274E488CDE43901E06D281B54|doi=10.2307/2049929|jstor=2049929|title=The Philippines. Public Policy and National Economic Development. By Frank Golay. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1961. Xviii, 455. Map, Tables, Index, Bibliographic Essay|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=22|issue=1|pages=114–116|last1=Higgins|first1=Benjamin|date=November 1962|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The Chinese transcribed the name as {{lang|zh-hant|于窴}}, pronounced ''Gudana'' in [[Middle Chinese]] (''Yutian'' in modern [[Standard Chinese]]); the pronunciation eventually morphed into '''Khotan'''. In the 7th century, the Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar [[Xuanzang]] attempted to remedy this lexical change. Xuanzang, who was well-versed in Sanskrit, proposed that the traditional name was in fact ''Kustana'' ({{lang|sa|गौस्तन}}) and asserted it meant "breast of the earth". However, this was likely borrowed from the [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan]] name for the region, '''Gosthana''', which means "land of cows". It is therefore most likely that the original name of Hotan was Sanskritic in origin, a consequence of ancient Indian settlement in the region.<ref name="India and China: Interactions through Buddhism and Diplomacy: A Collection of Essays by Professor Prabodh Chandra Bagchi">{{cite book |last1=Wang |first1=Bangwei |last2=Sen |first2= Tansen|title=India and China: Interactions through Buddhism and Diplomacy: A Collection of Essays by Professor Prabodh Chandra Bagchi |publisher=Anthem Press |date=2011 |page=186 |isbn=9780857288219 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hrA1DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA186}}</ref><ref name="Puri1987">{{citation|last=Puri|first=Baij Nath|title=Buddhism in Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sluKZfTrr3oC&pg=PA52|year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0372-5|pages=52}}</ref>

An alternative etymology is proposed by [[Harold Walter Bailey]], an expert in the [[Saka language|Khotanese language]]. He believes the oldest indigenous name to be ''Hvatana''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bailey|first=Harold W.|title=The Culture of the Sakas in Ancient Iranian Khotan|publisher=Caravan Books|year=1982|isbn=0-88206-053-8|pages=2–3}}</ref>

Hotan was known to 19th-century European explorers as ''Ilchi''.

The official Uyghur-to-Latin transliteration, and therefore English spelling, of the modern city's name is "Hotan" according to the ''Register of Chinese Geographic Places''.<ref>(中国地名录, published in Beijing, ''[[SinoMaps Press]]'' {{lang|zh-hans|中国地图出版社}} 1997; {{ISBN|7-5031-1718-4}}; p.&nbsp;312.)</ref> The [[Hanyu pinyin]] romanization '''Hetian''' has been used on some maps and by some airports. The city's former Chinese name was written with a different character for ''tian'' ({{lang-zh|s=阗|t=闐|p=tián}}).

==History==
{{Further|Kingdom of Khotan}} 
[[File:Joppen 1907 India in the 2nd Century A.D.jpg|left|thumb|[[Kanishka]]'s Empire (2nd century AD) including Khotan|285x285px]]
[[File:Bronze coin of Wima Kadphises found in Khotan.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.90|Bronze coin of [[Kujula Kadphises]] found in Khotan.]]
The oasis of Hotan is strategically located at the junction of the southern (and most ancient) branch of the [[Silk Road]] joining China and the West with one of the main routes from ancient [[India]] and [[Tibet]] to [[Central Asia]] and distant China. It provided a convenient meeting place where not only goods, but technologies, philosophies, and religions were transmitted from one culture to another.

[[Tocharians]] lived in this region over 2000 years ago. Several of the [[Tarim mummies]] were found in the region. At Sampul, east of the city of Hotan, there is an extensive series of cemeteries scattered over an area about {{convert|1|km}} wide and {{convert|23|km|abbr=on}} long. The excavated sites range from about 300 BCE to 100 CE. The excavated graves have produced a number of fabrics of [[felt]], [[wool]], [[silk]] and [[cotton]] and even a fine bit of tapestry, the [[Sampul tapestry]], showing the face of a [[Caucasian race|Caucasoid]] man which was made of threads of 24 shades of color. The tapestry had been cut up and fashioned into trousers worn by one of the deceased. An Anthropological study of 56 individuals showed a primarily Caucasoid population.<ref>Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West'', pp. 132, 155-156. Thames & Hudson. London. {{ISBN|0-500-05101-1}}.</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), p. 317. Odyssey Publications. {{ISBN|962-217-741-7}}.</ref> A study in 2010 showed that an Eastern Eurasian lineage common in Siberia dominates the [[mitochondrial DNA]] of the mummies from the [[Xiaohe Cemetery]]. Their [[Y chromosome]] is distributed throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia, Central Asia, and Siberia.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chunxiang Li |author2=Hongjie Li |author3=Yinqiu Cui |author4=Chengzhi Xie |author5=Dawei Cai |author6=Wenying Li |author7=Victor H Mair |author8=Zhi Xu |author9=Quanchao Zhang |author10=Idelis Abuduresule |author11=Li Jin |author12=Hong Zhu |author13=Hui Zhou |title=Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age |journal=BMC Biology |volume=8 |issue=15 |pages=15|year=2010|pmid=20163704 |pmc=2838831 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-8-15 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

There is a relative abundance of information on Hotan readily available for study. The main historical sources are to be found in the Chinese histories (particularly detailed during the [[Han dynasty|Han]]<ref>Hill (2015), Vol. I, "The Kingdom of Yutian 于窴 (Khotan)", pp. 17-19 and nn.</ref> and early [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] dynasties) when China was interested in control of the [[Western Regions]], the accounts of several Chinese pilgrim [[bhikkhu|monks]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbeta.org/result/T50/T50n2053.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527054103/http://cbeta.org/result/T50/T50n2053.htm|url-status=dead|title=《大唐大慈恩寺三藏法師傳》|archivedate=May 27, 2013}}</ref> a few Buddhist histories of Hotan that have survived in [[Classical Tibetan]] and a large number of documents in the Iranian [[Saka language]] and other languages discovered, for the most part, early this century at various sites in the Tarim Basin and from the hidden library at the [[Mogao Caves]] near [[Dunhuang]].Additionally, Khotanese materials from the [[Dunhuang]] library cave provide insight into the region's interactions with its neighbors, particularly Dunhuang and the [[Tang dynasty]]. However, Cave 17 at Dunhuang does not record the fall of Khotan—overnight, it ceased being a Buddhist stronghold and became predominantly Islamic, marking a dramatic and largely undocumented shift in its religious landscape.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hansen |first=Valerie |title=The Silk Road : A New History with Documents. |publisher=New York: Oxford University Press |year=2017}}</ref>

=== Indo-Greek Khotan ===
In the Hellenistic period, there was an [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek]] colony in Khotan.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Christopoulos |first=Lucas |date=August 2021 |title=Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China |url=https://www.sinoptic.ch/textes/publications/2012/201208_Christopoulos.Lucas_Hellenes.and.Romans.in.Ancient.China-en.pdf |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |volume=230}}</ref> Hellenism in this region, as also in some parts of India, left a lasting mark with [[Greco-Buddhist art]]. Govett Ernest wrote an article on a ''Chinese Greco-Buddhist bronze head'', giving an example of this lasting impact.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Govett |first1=Ernest |title=Chinese Greco - Buddhist Bronze Head |journal=The Lotus Magazine |date=1919 |volume=10 |pages=81–83}}</ref>

===Buddhist Khotan===
{{main|Kingdom of Khotan}}[[File:于闐國 Yutian Khotan in Wanghuitu circa 650 CE (with portrait).jpg|thumb|Ambassador from Khotan ({{lang|zh-hant|于闐國}} ''Yutian'') to the [[Tang dynasty]], in ''[[Wanghuitu]]'' ({{lang|zh-hant|王會圖}}) circa 650 CE.]]
[[File:万国来朝图 Khotan 和阗 delegates in Beijing, China, in 1761.jpg|thumb|Khotan (和阗) delegates in Beijing, China, in 1761. ''[[万国来朝图 ]]'']]
The ancient Kingdom of Khotan was one of the earliest Buddhist states in the world and a cultural bridge across which Buddhist culture and learning were transmitted from India to China.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9040640 |title=Khotan - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |access-date=2012-04-06}}</ref>  Its capital was located to the west of the modern city of Hotan. The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Khotan, like those of early [[Shule Kingdom|Kashgar]] and [[Yarkant County|Yarkant]], spoke [[Saka language|Saka]], one of the [[Eastern Iranian languages]]. Khotan's indigenous dynasty (all of whose royal names are Indian in origin) governed a fervently Buddhist city-state boasting some 400 temples in the late 9th/early 10th century—four times the number recorded by [[Xuanzang]] around 630. The kingdom was independent but was intermittently under Chinese control during the Han and Tang dynasties.

After the Tang dynasty, Khotan formed an alliance with the rulers of Dunhuang. Khotan enjoyed close relations with the Buddhist centre at Dunhuang: the Khotanese royal family intermarried with Dunhuang élites, visited and patronized Dunhuang's Buddhist temple complex, and donated money to have their portraits painted on the walls of the Mogao grottos. Through the 10th century, Khotanese royal portraits were painted in association with an increasing number of deities in the caves. Besides this, a particular site, [[Melikawat]] functioned as a major Buddhist center in the [[Kingdom of Khotan]].

In the 10th century, Khotan began a struggle with the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]], a Turkic state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/1964/1964-1.pdf|title=Error|website=www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=1 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601154955/http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/1964/1964-1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>  The Kara-Khanid ruler, [[Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan]], had converted to [[Islam]]:
{{blockquote|Satuq's son, Musa, began to put pressure on Khotan in the mid-10th century, and sometime before 1006 Yusuf Qadir Khan of [[Kashgar]] besieged and took the city. This conquest of Buddhist Khotan by the Muslim Turks—about which there are many colourful legends—marked another watershed in the Islamicisation  and Turkicisation of the [[Tarim Basin]], and an end to local autonomy of this southern Tarim city state.<ref>Page55 Eurasian crossroads By James A. Millward</ref>}}

Some Khotanese Buddhist works were unearthed.<ref>Mark J. Dresden, The Jatakastava or 'Praise of the Buddha's Former Births' Philadelphia, 1955</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/khot/khotsak/khots.htm|title=TITUS Texts: Corpus of Khotanese Saka Texts: Frame|first=Jost|last=Gippert|website=titus.uni-frankfurt.de|access-date=5 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbeta.org/result/T04/T04n0202.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122183929/http://www.cbeta.org/result/T04/T04n0202.htm|url-status=dead|title=賢愚經|archivedate=November 22, 2014}}</ref>

The rulers of Khotan were aware of the menace they faced since they arranged for the Mogao grottoes to paint a growing number of divine figures along with themselves. Halfway in the 10th century Khotan came under attack by the Qarakhanid ruler Musa, and in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the [[Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang|Turkification and Islamification of the Tarim Basin]], the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan conquered Khotan around 1006.<ref name="Millward2007">{{cite book|author=James A. Millward|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA55|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3|pages=55–}}</ref>

===Islamic Khotan===
Yūsuf Qadr Khān was a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kashgar and [[Balasagun]], Khotan lost its independence and between 1006 and 1165, became part of the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]].  Later it fell to the [[Kara-Khitan Khanate]], after which it was ruled by the [[Mongols]].

When [[Marco Polo]] visited Khotan in the 13th century, he noted that the people were all Muslim.  He wrote that:
{{blockquote|Khotan was "a province eight days’ journey in extent, which is subject to the [[Kublai Khan|Great Khan]]. The inhabitants all worship [[Allah|Mahomet]]. It has cities and towns in plenty, of which the most splendid, and the capital of the province, bears the same name as that of the province…It is amply stocked with the means of life. Cotton grows here in plenty. It has vineyards, estates and orchards in plenty. The people live by trade and industry; they are not at all warlike".<ref>{{cite book|last=Latham|first=Ronald|title=Marco Polo: the travels|year=1958|page=80 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Frances|title=The Silk Road: two thousand years in the heart of Asia|year=2002|page=18 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520243408|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zvoCv3h2QCsC&pg=PA18}}</ref>}}

===Qing period===
[[File:Nar-Bagh pavilion.jpg|thumb|[[Amban]] Ch´ê Ta-jên's guests festing on a terrace in Nar-Bagh, 1912]]
[[Image:Hindutagh-pass-aksai-chin-center2-1873.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Central Asia]] (1878) showing Khotan (near top right corner) and the [[Sanju Pass]], [[Hindutash]], and Ilchi passes through the [[Kunlun Mountains]] to [[Leh]], [[Ladakh]]. The border claimed by [[British Raj]] is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band.]]

The [[Qing dynasty]] of China conquered the [[Dzungar Khanate]] during the final stage of the [[Dzungar–Qing Wars]] in the late 1750s. By 1760, Hotan became the territory of the Qing dynasty along with the rest of Xinjiang.<ref name="qing">{{cite book|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland|page=57|author=S. Frederick Starr|date=2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317451372}}</ref> The town suffered severely during the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)]] against the Qing rule and again a few years later when [[Yakub Beg of Yettishar|Yaqub Beg]] of [[Kashgar]] made himself master of Kashgaria,<ref>{{cite web |last=Stein |first=Aurel M. |year=1907 |title=Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols., p. 180. Clarendon Press. Oxford |url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/}}</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), p. 309. Odyssey Publications. {{ISBN|962-217-741-7}}.</ref> ruling the newly founded Turkic state known at the time as [[Yettishar]].<ref name="future">{{cite web|url=http://www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/chinas-uighur-strategy-and-south-asian-risk/|title=China's Uighur Strategy and South Asian Risk|date=29 January 2019|access-date=30 April 2020|author=Samah Ibrahim|website=Future Directions International|quote=The creation of the Islamic State of Yettishar (1865 – 1878), with its capital at Kashgar, which is in present-day Xinjiang, came about as the result of a series of uprisings in Xinjiang.|archive-date=30 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930114054/https://www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/chinas-uighur-strategy-and-south-asian-risk/|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqXnOBX4dREC|title=Soviet Russia and Tibet: The Debarcle of Secret Diplomacy, 1918-1930s|via=[[Google Books]]|author=Alexandre Andreyev|date=2003|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MqXnOBX4dREC&pg=PA16 16]|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004129529}}</ref> However, Xinjiang was [[Qing reconquest of Xinjiang|reconquered by the Qing dynasty]] by 1877 and was converted into a province in 1884.<ref name="qing" />

===Post-Qing===
[[File:Chinese Troops at Khotan.jpg|left|thumb|Chinese troops at Khotan, 1915]]
Qing imperial authority collapsed in 1912. During the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republican era in China]], warlords and local ethnic self-determination movements wrestled over control of Xinjiang. [[Abdullah Bughra]], [[Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra]], and [[Muhammad Amin Bughra]] declared themselves Emirs of Khotan during the [[Kumul Rebellion]]. [[Tunganistan]] was an independent administered region in the southern part of Xinjiang from 1934 to 1937. The territory included the oases of the southern Tarim Basin; the centre of the region was Khotan. Beginning with the [[Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)|Islamic rebellion in 1937]], Hotan and the rest of the province came under the control of warlord [[Sheng Shicai]]. Sheng was later ousted by the [[Kuomintang]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

===People's Republic of China===
Shortly after the Communists won the civil war in 1949, Hotan was incorporated into the People's Republic of China.

In 1983/4, the urban area of Hotan was administratively split from the larger [[Hotan County]], and from then on governed as a county-level city.<ref name="xzqhhotancity"/><ref name="cihai">{{cite book|editor1=夏征农|editor2=陈至立|script-title=zh:辞海：第六版彩图本 |trans-title=[[Cihai]] (Sixth Edition in Color) |date=September 2009|location=上海. [[Shanghai]]|publisher=上海辞书出版社. [[Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House]].|isbn=9787532628599| language=zh|page=866|quote={{lang|zh-hans|和田地区行署驻此。{...}1983年由和田县析置。}}}}</ref>

On July 11, 2006, the townships of [[Jiya Township|Jiya]] and Yurungqash (Yulongkashi) in [[Lop County]] and Tusalla (Tushala) in [[Hotan County]] were transferred to Hotan City.<ref name="xzqhhotancity"/>

Following the [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]], ethnic tensions rose in Xinjiang and in Hotan in particular. As a result, the city has seen occasional bouts of violence. In June 2011, Hotan opened its first [[Rail transport in China|passenger-train service]] to [[Kashgar]], which was established as a [[Special Economic Zones of China|special economic zone]] following the riots. In July of the same year, a [[2011 Hotan attack|bomb and knife attack]] occurred on the city's central thoroughfare. In June 2011, authorities in Hotan Prefecture sentenced Uyghur Muslim Hebibullah Ibrahim to ten years imprisonment for selling "illegal religious materials".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/nsia-CHINAINCLUDESTIBETHONGKONGANDMACAU2012InternationalReligiousFreedomReport/page/n9|title=CHINA (INCLUDES TIBET, HONG KONG, AND MACAU) 2012 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT|publisher=[[International Religious Freedom Act of 1998|International Religious Freedom Report]]|pages=10, 11|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/sentence-06192012143307.html|title=Uyghur Jailed Over Religious Materials|publisher=[[Radio Free Asia]]|date=19 June 2012|access-date=22 January 2020|translator=Luisetta Mudie|author1=Qiao Long |author2=Luisetta Mudie|quote=Authorities in the city of Hotan in the ethnically troubled Xinjiang region have handed a 10-year jail term to a Uyghur man convicted of selling "illegal religious materials" ahead of a sensitive anniversary. The sentence was passed on Sunday by the Hotan Municipal People's Court on Hebibullah Ibrahim, the People's Daily online news site reported.}}</ref> In June 2012, [[Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554]] was hijacked en route from Hotan to Ürümqi.

In a report from the [[Uyghur American Association]], in June 2012, notice was said to be given that police planned to undertake a search of every residence in Gujanbagh (Gujiangbage), Hotan. Hotan is the last municipality in Xinjiang with a majority Ugyhur presence in the core of the city. The UAA viewed this as an attempt to systematically intimidate the Uyghur population in Hotan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uyghuramerican.org/article/notice-informs-locals-mandatory-residence-searches-hotan-community-police-reserve-right-%E2%80%9Cuse|title=Notice informs locals of mandatory residence searches in Hotan community; police reserve the right to "use force" to enter homes|date=18 June 2012|access-date=7 May 2020|website=Uyghur American Association|archive-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802234527/https://uyghuramerican.org/article/notice-informs-locals-mandatory-residence-searches-hotan-community-police-reserve-right-%E2%80%9Cuse|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2020}}

The Sultanim Cemetery ({{coord|37|07|02|N|79|56|04|E}}) in central Hotan was a historical Uyghur graveyard that also included a religious shrine. According to a 2019 interview by the [[Uyghur Human Rights Project]], the cemetery entombed four commanders of Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan, who conquered the city around 960 CE and spread Islam. Due to space limitations after over a thousand years of burials, multiple bodies had to reuse the same grave, and additionals layers were dug underneath old ones.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.uhrp.org/pdf/UHRP_report_Demolishing_Faith.pdf|title=Demolishing Faith: The Destruction and Desecration of Uyghur Mosques and Shrines|author=Bahram K. Sintash|website=[[Uyghur Human Rights Project]]|pages=24–25|date=October 2019|access-date=11 August 2020|quote=The Sultanim Cemetery has a history of over 1,000 years. King Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan of the Kara-Khanid Khanate (999–1211) conquered Hotan (the Buddhist Kingdom Udun at that time), and spread Islam around 960 AD. During the conquest, four Kara-khan commanders, including Prince Sultan Kilich Khan, were killed and Muslims buried them at this location. Since then, the cemetery has been known as Sultanim Maziri (My Sultan Shrine) and became one of the most important cemeteries among Uyghur Muslims who have paid their respects here for over 1,000 years. In the center, the four commanders’ graves were still there until China completely bulldozed the entire cemetery in 2019. Many religious leaders, scholars and other important people in Hotan's far and recent history have been buried in this cemetery.}}</ref> Between 2018 and 2019, the [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|cemetery was demolished]] and the western part of the land turned into a parking lot.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/02/asia/xinjiang-uyghur-graveyards-china-intl-hnk/index.html|title=More than 100 Uyghur graveyards demolished by Chinese authorities, satellite images show|date=3 January 2020|access-date=11 August 2020|website=[[CNN]]|author=Matt Rivers|quote=The Sultanim Cemetery in the center of Hotan City is one of the most famous ancient cemeteries in Xinjiang. It was destroyed between January to March 2019.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/03/china-every-day-is-kristallnacht|title=In China, every day is Kristallnacht|date=3 November 2019|access-date=10 August 2020|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|author=Fred Hiatt|quote=Before After<br>Cemetery demolished<br>The site of Sultanim cemetery in Hotan, Xinjiang, in December, 2018 and March 2019.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/cemetery-05012020134504.html|title=Xinjiang Authorities Construct Parking Lot Atop Historic Uyghur Cemetery|date=1 May 2020|access-date=5 May 2020|website=[[Radio Free Asia]]|author1=Kurban Niyaz |author2=Joshua Lipes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_us-china-targets-uighur-mosques-eradicate-minoritys-faith/6180302.html|title=US: China Targets Uighur Mosques to Eradicate Minority's Faith|date=1 December 2019|access-date=11 August 2020|website=[[Voice of America]]|author=Asim Kashgarian|quote=37°7′2.13″N 79°56′2.96″E<br>Satellite imagery with a comparative analysis of Sultanim Cemetery in Hotan city, in China's northwest Xinjiang province.}}</ref>

==Geography and climate==
[[File:Collecting jade in the White Jade River near Khotan.jpg|thumb|Collecting jade in the White Jade River near Hotan in 2011]]
Hotan has a [[temperate]] zone, [[continentality|cold]] [[desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''BWk''), with a mean annual total of only {{convert|36.5|mm|2}} of precipitation falling on 17.3 days of the year. Due to its southerly location in Xinjiang just north of the [[Kunlun Mountains]], during winter it is one of the warmest locations in the region, with average high temperatures remaining above freezing throughout the year. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from {{convert|−3.9|°C|1}} in January to {{convert|25.8|°C|1}} in July, and the annual mean is {{convert|13.03|°C|1}}. The [[diurnal temperature variation]] is not large for a desert, averaging {{convert|11.8|C-change}} annually. Although no month averages less than half of possible sunshine, the city only receives 2,587 hours of bright sunshine annually, which is on the low end for Xinjiang; monthly percent possible sunshine ranges from 50% in March to 75% in October.

{{Weather box
| width = auto
| location = Hotan, elevation {{convert|1375|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–present)
| metric first = y
| single line = y
| collapsed = Y
| Jan record high C = 20.5
| Jan record low C = -21.0
| Feb record high C = 22.0
| Feb record low C = -19.3
| Mar record high C = 31.4
| Mar record low C = -7.0
| Apr record high C = 35.4
| Apr record low C = -0.2
| May record high C = 37.6
| May record low C = 4.3
| Jun record high C = 39.8
| Jun record low C = 9.5
| Jul record high C = 41.4
| Jul record low C = 12.2
| Aug record high C = 40.2
| Aug record low C = 10.2
| Sep record high C = 35.9
| Sep record low C = 4.3
| Oct record high C = 31.1
| Oct record low C = -2.1
| Nov record high C = 25.4
| Nov record low C = -12.3
| Dec record high C = 18.3
| Dec record low C = -19.3
| year high C = 
| year low C = 
| year high F = 
| year low F = 
| Jan high C = 1.2
| Feb high C = 7.3
| Mar high C = 16.7
| Apr high C = 24.1
| May high C = 28.1
| Jun high C = 31.2
| Jul high C = 32.9
| Aug high C = 31.6
| Sep high C = 27.6
| Oct high C = 21.0
| Nov high C = 12.1
| Dec high C = 3.4
| Jan mean C = -3.8
| Feb mean C = 1.9
| Mar mean C = 10.6
| Apr mean C = 17.6
| May mean C = 21.6
| Jun mean C = 24.8
| Jul mean C = 26.4
| Aug mean C = 25.2
| Sep mean C = 21.0
| Oct mean C = 14.0
| Nov mean C = 5.7
| Dec mean C = -1.7
| Jan low C = -7.9
| Feb low C = -2.8
| Mar low C = 5.1
| Apr low C = 11.8
| May low C = 15.8
| Jun low C = 19.3
| Jul low C = 21.0
| Aug low C = 20.0
| Sep low C = 15.5
| Oct low C = 8.0
| Nov low C = 0.8
| Dec low C = -5.7
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 1.9
| Feb precipitation mm = 2.1
| Mar precipitation mm = 3.1
| Apr precipitation mm = 3.4
| May precipitation mm = 7.3
| Jun precipitation mm = 10.4
| Jul precipitation mm = 6.1
| Aug precipitation mm = 6.0
| Sep precipitation mm = 4.5
| Oct precipitation mm = 1.2
| Nov precipitation mm = 1.1
| Dec precipitation mm = 1.5
| Jan humidity = 53
| Feb humidity = 42
| Mar humidity = 29
| Apr humidity = 27
| May humidity = 33
| Jun humidity = 36
| Jul humidity = 40
| Aug humidity = 42
| Sep humidity = 41
| Oct humidity = 37
| Nov humidity = 41
| Dec humidity = 53
| unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 2.6
| Feb precipitation days = 1.4
| Mar precipitation days = 0.9
| Apr precipitation days = 1.4
| May precipitation days = 2.4
| Jun precipitation days = 3.7
| Jul precipitation days = 3.2
| Aug precipitation days = 2.2
| Sep precipitation days = 1.2
| Oct precipitation days = 0.3
| Nov precipitation days = 0.5
| Dec precipitation days = 1.8
| year precipitation days = 
| Jan sun = 175.4
| Feb sun = 176.0
| Mar sun = 208.5
| Apr sun = 225.0
| May sun = 263.8
| Jun sun = 263.2
| Jul sun = 246.0
| Aug sun = 231.0
| Sep sun = 240.4
| Oct sun = 267.3
| Nov sun = 222.4
| Dec sun = 183.2
| year sun = 
| Jan percentsun = 57
| Feb percentsun = 57
| Mar percentsun = 55
| Apr percentsun = 57
| May percentsun = 60
| Jun percentsun = 60
| Jul percentsun = 56
| Aug percentsun = 56
| Sep percentsun = 66
| Oct percentsun = 79
| Nov percentsun = 74
| Dec percentsun = 62
| year percentsun = 
| Jan snow days = 5.0
| Feb snow days = 2.6
| Mar snow days = 0.6
| Apr snow days = 0
| May snow days = 0
| Jun snow days = 0
| Jul snow days = 0
| Aug snow days = 0
| Sep snow days = 0
| Oct snow days = 0
| Nov snow days = 0.6
| Dec snow days = 3.8
| year snow days = 
| source 1 = [[China Meteorological Administration]]<ref name="cma graphical">{{cite web |url=http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data |publisher=[[China Meteorological Administration]] |language = zh-hans |access-date=10 October 2023}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web|url=https://experience.arcgis.com/template/e724038fda394e9d9b7921f10fd1aa55/page/%E7%BA%AF%E8%A1%A8%E6%A0%BC%E7%BB%9F%E8%AE%A1-(%E5%AF%B9%E6%AF%948110%E5%8F%98%E5%8C%96)/?org=UQmaps |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网|publisher=[[China Meteorological Administration]] |language = zh-hans | access-date =10 October 2023 |title=Experience Template }}</ref><ref name="CMA old">{{cite web|url=http://old-cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/search1.jsp?dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&tpcat=SURF&type=table&pageid=3 |script-title=zh:中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年）|publisher=[[China Meteorological Administration]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055035/http://old-cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/search1.jsp?dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&tpcat=SURF&type=table&pageid=3|archive-date=2013-09-21}}</ref>[[NOAA]]<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0216/0253808/5.5/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/China/CSV/HOTAN_51828.csv
|title = Hotan Climate Normals 1991-2020
|publisher = [[NOAA]]
|language = en-us
}}</ref>
| source = 
}}According to the World Air Quality Report 2024, Hotan is one of the world's 20 most polluted cities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-03-12 |title=With 13 of 20 most polluted cities, India ranks 5th globally |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/with-13-of-20-most-polluted-cities-india-ranks-5th-globally/articleshow/118909491.cms |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
[[File:Txu-oclc-6654394-nj-44-3rd-ed.jpg|thumb|Map of Hotan (labeled as HO-TIEN (HO-T'IEN) (KHOTAN)) and surrounding region from the [[International Map of the World]] ([[U.S. Army Topographic Command|USATC]], 1971){{efn|From map: "DELINEATION OF INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARIES MUST NOT BE CONSIDERED AUTHORITATIVE".}}]]
The city includes four [[Subdistrict (China)|subdistricts]], three [[Town (China)|towns]], five [[Township (China)|townships]] and two other areas:<ref name="xzqhhotancity">{{cite web |url=http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xj/22441.html|script-title=zh:和田市历史沿革 |trans-title=Hotan City Historical Development |publisher=XZQH.org |date=2 December 2014 |language=zh-hans |access-date=20 December 2019 |quote={{lang|zh-hans|1984年和田县析置和田市。{...}2003年，和田市总面积155.04平方千米，{...}2006年7月11日，洛浦县吉亚乡、玉龙喀什镇与和田县吐沙拉乡正式划归和田市管辖。两乡一镇划归和田市管辖后，和田市管辖区域变为五乡、两镇、一个管理区、一个工业园区和四个街道办事处。和田市的行政区域面积由155.04平方千米扩大至465.84平方千米，{...}2010年第六次人口普查，和田市常住总人口322300人，其中：奴尔巴格街道24134人，古江巴格街道34567人，古勒巴格街道27919人，纳尔巴格街道37338人，拉斯奎镇25231人，玉龙喀什镇22614人，肖尔巴格乡39331人，伊里其乡22646人，古江巴格乡13680人，吐沙拉乡48468人，吉亚乡22071人，阿合恰管理区4301人。}}}}</ref><ref name="statshotancity">{{cite web |url=http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjbz/tjyqhdmhcxhfdm/2018/65/32/653201.html |script-title=zh:2018年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：和田市 |trans-title=2018 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Hotan City |language=zh-hans |publisher=[[National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China]] |date=2018 |access-date=20 December 2019 |quote={{lang|zh-hans|统计用区划代码 名称 653201001000 努尔巴格街道办事处 653201002000 古江巴格街道办事处 653201003000 古勒巴格街道办事处 653201004000 纳尔巴格街道办事处 653201100000 拉斯奎镇 653201101000 玉龙喀什镇 653201102000 吐沙拉镇 653201200000 肖尔巴格乡 653201201000 伊里其乡 653201202000 古江巴格乡 653201204000 吉亚乡 653201205000 阿克恰勒乡 653201401000 北京工业园区 653201402000 和田市京和物流园区|}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hts.gov.cn/jinrihetian/show.php?itemid=8|script-title=zh:和田市概况|language=zh-hans|date=12 December 2018|access-date=20 December 2019|quote={{lang|zh-hans|辖6乡2镇，4个街道办事处和1个工业园区}}|website={{lang|zh-hans|和田市人民政府网}}}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="width:50%; border="1"
|-
! Name
! Simplified Chinese
! Hanyu Pinyin
! [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] ([[Uyghur Arabic script|UEY]])
! Uyghur Latin ([[Uyghur Latin alphabet|ULY]])
! [[Administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China|Administrative division code]]
! Notes
|-
| colspan="8"  style="text-align:center; background:#d3d3d3;"|'''Subdistricts'''
|----------
| [[Nurbagh Subdistrict]]<br>(Nurbag)
| {{lang|zh-hans|努尔巴格街道}}<br>({{lang|zh-hans|奴尔巴格街道}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hts.gov.cn/bendixinwen/show.php?itemid=1256|script-title=zh:奴尔巴格街道|date=25 September 2017|access-date=21 December 2019|language=zh-hans|website={{lang|zh-hans|和田市人民政府网}}}}</ref>)
| {{Transliteration|zh|Nǔ'ěrbāgé Jiēdào}}
| {{lang|ug|نۇرباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|nurbagh kocha bashqarmisi}}
| 653201001
| 
|-
| [[Gujanbagh Subdistrict]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|古江巴格街道}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Gǔjiāngbāgé Jiēdào}}
| {{lang|ug|گۇجانباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|gujanbagh kocha bashqarmisi}}
| 653201002
| 
|-
| [[Gulbagh Subdistrict]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|古勒巴格街道}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Gǔlèbāgé Jiēdào}}
| {{lang|ug|گۈلباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|gülbagh kocha bashqarmisi}}
| 653201003
| 
|-
| [[Narbagh Subdistrict]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|纳尔巴格街道}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Nà'ěrbāgé Jiēdào}}
| {{lang|ug|نارباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|narbagh kocha bashqarmisi}}
| 653201004
| 
|-
| colspan="8"  style="text-align:center; background:#d3d3d3;"|'''Towns'''
|----------
| [[Laskuy|Laskuy Town]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|拉斯奎镇}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Lāsīkuí Zhèn}}
| {{lang|ug|لاسكۇي بازىرى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|laskuy baziri}}
| 653201100
| 
|-
| [[Yurungqash|Yurungqash Town]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/17/c_139373591.htm|title=Full Text: Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang|date=17 September 2020|access-date=20 September 2020|website=[[Xinhua News Agency]]|editor=huaxia|quote=Yusan Hasan from Yurungqash Town, Hotan City|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920221946/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/17/c_139373591.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| {{lang|zh-hans|玉龙喀什镇}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Yùlóngkāshí Zhèn}}
| {{lang|ug|يۇرۇڭقاش بازىرى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|yurungqash baziri}}
| 653201101
| 
|-
| [[Tusalla|Tusalla Town]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|吐沙拉镇}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Tǔshālā Zhèn}}
| {{lang|ug|تۇساللا بازىرى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|tusalla baziri}}
| 653201102
| formerly Tusalla Township ({{lang|ug|تۇساللا يېزىسى}}, {{lang|zh-hans|吐沙拉乡}})
|-
| colspan="8"  style="text-align:center; background:#d3d3d3;"|'''Townships'''
|----------
| [[Shorbagh Township]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|肖尔巴格乡}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Xiào'ěrbāgé Xiāng}}
| {{lang|ug|شورباغ يېزىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|shorbagh yëzisi}}
| 653201200
| 
|-
| [[Ilchi Township]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|伊里其乡}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Yīlǐqí Xiāng}}
| {{lang|ug|ئىلچى يېزىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|Ilchi yëzisi}}
| 653201201
| 
|-
| [[Gujanbagh Township]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|古江巴格乡}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Gǔjiāngbāgé Xiāng}}
| {{lang|ug|گۇجانباغ يېزىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|gujanbagh yëzisi}}
| 653201202
| 
|-
| [[Jiya Township]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|吉亚乡}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Jíyà Xiāng}}
| {{lang|ug|جىيا يېزىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|jiya yëzisi}}
| 653201204
| 
|-
| [[Aqchal Township]]
| {{lang|zh-hans|阿克恰勒乡}}
| {{Transliteration|zh|Ākèqiàlè Xiāng}}
| {{lang|ug|ئاقچال يېزىسى}}
| {{Transliteration|ug|Aqchal yëzisi}}
| 653201205
| 
|-
|}

Others:
* Beijing Industrial Park ({{lang|zh-hans|北京工业园区}}), Hotan City Jinghe Logistics Park ({{lang|zh-hans|和田市京和物流园区}})

==Demographics==
[[Image:Khotan-mezquita-d03.jpg|thumb|A [[mosque]] in Hotan]]
Hotan is largely dominated by the Uyghurs, and as of 2015, 311,050 of the 348,289 residents of the county were [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]], 35,897 were [[Han Chinese]] and 1,342 were from other ethnic groups.<ref>{{cite web|date=15 March 2017|script-title=zh:3-7 各地、州、市、县(市)分民族人口数|url=http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539450.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101904/http://www.xjtj.gov.cn/sjcx/tjnj_3415/2016xjtjnj/rkjy/201707/t20170714_539450.html|archive-date=11 October 2017|access-date=3 September 2017|publisher={{lang|ug|شىنجاڭ ئۇيغۇر ئاپتونوم رايونى}} {{lang|zh-hans|新疆维吾尔自治区统计局}} Statistic Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region|language=zh-hans}}</ref>

In 1940, [[Owen Lattimore]] quoted the population of Khotan to be estimated as 26,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/innerasianfronti00lattrich/page/157|title=Inner Asian frontiers of China|publisher=[[American Geographical Society]]|date=1940|page=157|author=Owen Lattimore|location=[[New York City|New York]]|via=[[Internet Archive]]|quote=Khotan, 1600 sq. km., city population 26,000}}</ref>

In 1998 the urban population was recorded at 154,352, 83% of which were Uyghurs, and 17% were Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stanley W. Toops|title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland|date=15 March 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0765613189|editor=S. Frederick Starr|pages=256–257|chapter=The Demography of Xinjiang}}</ref>

In 1999, 83.01% of the population was Uyghur and 16.57% of the population was Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/44961/9780295804057.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|title=Governing China's Multiethnic Frontiers|date=2004|publisher=[[University of Washington Press]]|isbn=0-295-98390-6|editor=Morris Rossabi|editor-link=Morris Rossabi|page=180}}</ref>

In the 2000 census, the population was recorded as 186,123. In the 2010 census figure, the figure had risen to 322,300. The increase in population is partly due to boundary changes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citypopulation.de/php/china-xinjiang-admin.php?adm2id=653201 |title=HÉTIÁN SHÌ (County-level City) |work=City Population}}</ref>

==Transportation==
===Air===
[[Hetian Kungang Airport]] (IATA: '''HTN''') serves the city. It serves regional flights to [[Ürümqi]]. Originally a military use airport, it was expanded significantly in 2002 to accommodate higher passenger volumes. It is located {{convert|12|km|abbr=on}} south of the city proper.

===Road===
[[File:Khotan-mercado-d09.jpg|thumb|right|Locals at a busy Hotan market]]Hotan is served by [[China National Highway 315]], which runs along the southern Tarim Basin from Ruoqiang to Kashgar, and the Trans-Taklamakan Desert Highway, which run north to Luntai. An expressway is being built between Hotan and [[Karakax County]] (Moyu) as of 2014.

===Rail===
Hotan is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the [[Kashgar–Hotan Railway]], which opened to freight traffic in December 2010, and passenger service in June 2011.  The railway station was constructed by a company under the [[Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps]], and is located in the town of Lasqi ({{lang|zh|拉斯奎}}) northwest of the city proper.  Passenger train service on this line is limited, with only one train per day, local service 5828/5825, linking the city with Kashgar (8~ hours) and Ürümqi (~34 hours).

===Buses===
Regular bus services link Hotan with Kashgar. There is also an express bus to Aksu via the {{convert|430|km|abbr=on}} 'Hotan-Aksu Cross-Desert Highway' which was opened in 2007, travels alongside the intermittent [[Hotan River]], and which takes about 5 or 6 hours. This same bus then goes on to Urumchi taking a total of about 21 hours from Hotan.<ref>Harper et al. (2009), p. 840.</ref>

==Economy==
[[File:'Mutton fat' jade for sale at Khotan Jade Market.jpg|thumb|right|Light coloured or "Mutton fat" jade for sale at Hotan Jade Market]]
{{as of|1885}}, there was about 100,000 acres (662,334 ''[[Mu (unit)|mu]]'') of cultivated land in Khotan.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Cultivation Development and Expansion in China's Colonial Realm in Central Asia|author=Herold J. Wiens|journal=[[The Journal of Asian Studies]]|volume=26|issue=1|date=November 1966|page=75|doi=10.2307/2051832 |jstor=2051832|s2cid=162339064 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Nephrite jade===
Chinese historical sources indicate that Hotan was the main source of the [[nephrite]] jade used in [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient China]]. For several hundred years, until they were defeated by the [[Xiongnu]] in 176 BCE, the trade of Khotanese jade into China was controlled by the nomadic [[Yuezhi]]. The Chinese still refer to the Yurungkash as the [[White Jade River]], alluding to the white [[jade]] recovered from its [[alluvium|alluvial deposits]]. The light-colored jade is called "Mutton fat" jade. Most of the jade is now gone, with only a few kilos of good quality jade found yearly. Some is still mined in the [[Kunlun Mountains]] to the south in the summer,<ref name="autogenerated1">Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), pp. 307-308. Odyssey Publications. {{ISBN|962-217-741-7}}.</ref> but it is generally of poorer quality than that found in the rivers.<ref>[[Marc Aurel Stein]]. (1907) ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Eastern Turkestan.'' Oxford. Pages 132-133.</ref><ref>Laufer, Berthold. ''Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology & Religion''. (1912) Reprint: Dover Publications, New York, N.Y. (1974), pp. 24, 26, 291-293, 324. {{ISBN|0-486-23123-2}}.</ref>

===Fabrics and carpets===
[[File:Silk weaving in Khotan.jpg|thumb|right|[[Silk]] weaving in Hotan]]
Khotanese textiles were mentioned by [[Xuanzang]], who visited the oasis in 644 CE. In his Biography it is stated: "It produced carpets and fine felt, and the felt-makers also spun coarse and fine silk."<ref>''A Biography of the Tripiṭaka Master of the great Ci'en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty''. Śramaṇa Huili and Shi Yancong. Translated by Li Rongxi. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. (1995), p. 163. {{ISBN|1-886439-00-1}}.</ref>

Ancient Chinese-Khotanese relations were so close that the oasis emerged as one of the earliest centres of silk manufacture outside China. There are good reasons to believe that the silk-producing industry flourished in Hotan as early as the 5th century.<ref>[[Susan Whitfield|Whitfield, Susan]]. ''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''. Serindia Publications Inc., 2004. {{ISBN|1-932476-12-1}}. Page 47.</ref> According to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk-manufacture, "hiding [[Bombyx mori|silkworms]] in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the 1st century CE.<ref>Hill (2015), Vol. II, pp. 1-2. "Appendix A: Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan."</ref><ref>Sarah Underhill Wisseman, Wendell S. Williams. ''Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials ''. Routledge, 1994. {{ISBN|2-88124-632-X}}. Page 131.</ref> It was from Khotan that the eggs of silkworms were smuggled to [[Iran]], reaching [[Justinian I]]'s [[Constantinople]] in 551.<ref>"From Khotan, silk culture is believed to have passed by way of [[Kashmir]] to India and then westwards into central Asia and Persia". Quoted from Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Oxford University Press, 1950, article "Silk".</ref>[[File:Khotanese silks on display in shop.jpg|thumb|Khotanese silks on display in shop|left]]Silk production is still a major industry employing more than a thousand workers and producing some 150 million metres of silk annually. Silk weaving by [[Uyghurs|Uyghur women]] is a thriving [[Putting-out system#Cottage industry|cottage industry]], some of it produced using traditional methods.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

[[Silk in the Indian subcontinent#Tanchoi|Atlas]] is the fabric used for traditional Uyghur clothing worn by Uyghur women. It is soft, light and graceful tie-dyed silk fabric. It comes various colors, the brighter and rich colors are for small children to young ladies. The gray and dark colors are for elderly women.

The oldest piece of [[kilim]] which we have any knowledge was obtained by the archaeological explorer [[Aurel Stein]]; a fragment from an ancient settlement near Hotan, which was buried by sand drifts about the fourth century CE. The weave is almost identical with that of modern kilims.

Hotanese pile carpets are still highly prized and form an important export.<ref>Bennett, Ian. Rugs & Carpets of the World. (1978). Ferndale Edition (1981). Quarto Publishing, London, pp.182-189. {{ISBN|0-905746-24-4}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045345/Khotan-rug |title=Khotan rug - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |access-date=2012-04-06}}</ref>

==Notable persons==
* [[Islam Akhun]]
* [[Muhammad Amin Bughra]]
* [[Nur Ahmadjan Bughra]]
* [[Abdullah Bughra]]
* [[Yonderland|Scribe Elder Ho-Tan]]

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center">
File:Khotan-mercado-d49.jpg|Market in Hotan
File:Khotan-mercado-gente-uigur-d01.jpg|Uyghur people at Sunday market
File:Khotan-fabrica-alfombras-d12.jpg|Carpet weaving in Hotan
File:Entrance to the Khotan Jade Market Center.jpg|Entrance to the Khotan Jade Market Center
File:Photo of the front of the Hotan Museum.jpg|Entrance to the [[Hotan Cultural Museum]]
File:Large mutton fat jade displayed in Hotan Cultural Museum lobby.jpg|Local jade displayed in the [[Hotan Cultural Museum]] lobby.
File:Plate 23. Sect. II- Chinese Turkistan, Kashmir & Jamu of maps of Constables 1893 hand atlas.jpg|Map of the region including Khotan (Ilchi) (1893)
File:NJ-44-10 Khotan, China.jpg|Map including Hotan (Ho-t'ien, Khotan) ([[Defense Mapping Agency|DMA]], 1983)
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Atlas silk]]
*[[Dandan Oilik]]
*[[Hotan Cultural Museum]]
*[[Khatana]]
*[[Kingdom of Khotan]]
*[[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Harper, Damian ''et al.'' (2009). ''Lonely Planet China: 11th Edition''. Lonely Planet. {{ISBN|978-1-74104-866-7}}.
* {{cite journal | last = Hill | first = John E. | year = 1988 | title = Notes on the Dating of Khotanese History | journal = Indo-Iranian Journal | volume = 31 | issue = 3| pages = 179–190 | doi = 10.1163/000000088790083016 | s2cid = 161410483 }} Updated version of this article is available for free download (with registration) at: [https://independent.academia.edu/JHill/Papers/439945/Notes_on_the_Dating_of_Khotanese_History independent.academia.edu]
* Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC − AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. E. J. Brill, Leiden. {{ISBN|90-04-05884-2}}.
* Legge, James 1886. ''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline''. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965.
* Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. Thames & Hudson. London. 2000.
* Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin's Archaeological Collections from Khotan: Terra-cottas from Yotkan and Dandan-Uiliq'', The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 7 (1936), pp.&nbsp;145–221.
* Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin's Archaeological Collections from Khotan II'' (appendix by Helmer Smith (pp.&nbsp;101–102)), The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 10 (1938), pp.&nbsp;83–113.
* Puri, B. N. ''Buddhism in Central Asia'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987. (2000 reprint).
* Stein, Aurel M. 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/ dsr.nii.ac.jp] [https://books.google.com/books?id=FaMMAQAAMAAJ 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.]<ref name="dsr.nii.ac.jp">[http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/creator/marc_aurel_stein.html.en M. A. Stein – Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books<!-- bot-generated title -->] at dsr.nii.ac.jp</ref> [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-7/V-1/ Ancient Khotan : vol.1] [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-7/V-2/ Ancient Khotan : vol.2]
* Stein, Aurel M. 1921. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/ dsr.nii.ac.jp]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ra3AAAAIAAJ 1904  ''Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan'', London, Hurst and Blackett, Ltd.] Reprint Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 2000 [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-5/V-1/ Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1]
* Watters, Thomas 1904–1905. ''On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India''. London. Royal Asiatic Society. Reprint: Delhi. Mushiram Manoharlal. 1973.
* Yu, Taishan. 2004. ''A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Khotan}}
{{Wiktionary|Hotan|Khotan}}
{{Wikivoyage|Khotan}}
*[http://www.hts.gov.cn/ Official government site (in Chinese)]
*[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle - University of Washington] (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works)
*[http://idp.bl.uk/education/buddhism/khotanese/khotanese.html Site devoted to the Buddhism of Khotan with a copy of Sir Aurel Stein's map of the Tarim Basin and Khotan region]
*[http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/karten-rollover/western-tibet-highway_satellitenbild_grossplus.jpg  Satellite image of region which can be enlarged] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306203505/http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/karten-rollover/western-tibet-highway_satellitenbild_grossplus.jpg |date=2009-03-06 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929115233/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35406 China:  Taklamakan - Desert With No Ocean Underground]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Khotan | volume= 15 |last= Bealby |first=John Thomas | page = 781 |short=1}}
* "Khotan", [[Encyclopaedia Iranica]] [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khotan Welcome to Encyclopædia Iranica]

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