The Bonan people () are a distinct ethno-linguistic group from all other Mongolic peoples, living in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in Northwestern China. They are one of the "titular nationalities" of Gansu's Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County, which is located south of the Yellow River, near Gansu's border with Qinghai. Bonan are the 10th-smallest (ranked in 47th-position, out) of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. 95% of Bonan live in Jishishan County, numbering 21,400 of the county's population. History The Bonan people are believed to be descended from Mongol and Central Asian soldiers stationed in Qinghai during the Yuan dynasty. They are agriculturalists and also knife makers. They are mixed between Mongols, Hui, Han Chinese and Tibetans and wear Hui attire. The ancestors of today's Bonan people were Lamaist and it is known that around 1585 they lived in Tongren County (in Amdo Region; presently, in Qinghai Province), north of the Tibetan Rebgong Monastery. It was in that year that the town of Bao'an was founded in that area. Later on, some of the members of the Bonan-speaking community converted to Islam and moved north, to Xunhua County. It is said that they have been converted to Islam by the Hui Sufi master Ma Laichi (1681? – 1766). Later, in the aftermath of the Dungan Rebellion (1862–1874) the Muslim Bonans moved farther east, into what's today Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County of Gansu Province. It were the members of this Muslim part of the original Bonan community who are officially recognized as the separate "Bonan" ethnic group in today's PRC. Their brethren who have remained Lamaists and stayed in Tongren, are now officially classified as part of the Monguor (Tu) ethnic group, even though they speak essentially the same Bonan language. The official concept of the "Bonan ethnic group" still remains somewhat artificial for the Bonans themselves. Hui, Baoan and Dongxiang troops served under Generals Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang in the Boxer Rebellion, defeating the invading Eight Nation Alliance at the Battle of Langfang. Hui, Baoan, Dongxiang, Salar and Tibetan troops served under Ma Biao in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese. Language Both the Muslim Bonans in Gansu and their Buddhist cousins in Qinghai (officially classified as Monguor) have historically spoken the Bonan language, a Mongolic language. The Buddhist Bonan of Qinghai speak a slightly different dialect