History of Yinchuan

Yinchuan was originally a county under the name of Fuping in the 1st century BCE; its name was changed to Huaiyuan in the 6th century CE. After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, it was occupied by the Tangut Western Xia Empire and was made the capital of the empire, also causing a mass immigration of the entire native Chinese population from their newly proclaimed capital. After the destruction of the Xi-Xia dynasty by the Mongols in 1227, Yinchuan was mercilessly pillaged by the Mongols with its population totally slaughtered. The Mongols called the city Iryai.

With the collapse of their empire, the native Tanguts of Yinchuan completely assimilated into the Han population as Lan-Yin speakers and largely continued remaining in this city. Genghis Khan died here in 1227, in a battle. Under the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, it was a prefecture of Ningxia. During the Dungan revolt, Dungan forces massacred 100,000 people in Yinchuan.

In 1928, when the province of Ningxia was formed from part of Gansu, it became the capital city. In 1954, when Ningxia province was abolished, the city was put in Gansu province; but, with the establishment of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in 1958, Yinchuan once again became the capital.

Traditionally, Yinchuan was an administrative and commercial center. In the 1950s it had many commercial enterprises, and there were some handicrafts but no modern industry. The city has since grown considerably. Extensive coal deposits discovered on the eastern bank of the Yellow River, near Shizuishan, 100 km (62 mi) to the north, have made Shizuishan a coal-mining center.

Yinchuan, however, remains largely non-industrial. The immediate plains area, intensively irrigated by a system developed as long ago as the Han (206 BC–AD 220) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, is extremely productive. Yinchuan is the chief agricultural market and distribution center for this area and also deals in animal products from the herds tended by nomads in the surrounding grasslands. It is a market for grain and has flour mills, as well as rice-hulling and oil-extraction plants. The wool produced in the surrounding plains supplies a woolen-textile mill.

On July 23, 1993, China Northwest Airlines Flight 2119 crashed into a lake and broke apart while attempting its second takeoff. At least 59 of the 113 persons aboard the craft were killed.

Source From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinchuan#History