Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan, the people of Kashgar, the capital of Shule, spoke Saka, one of the Eastern Iranian languages.Xavier Tremblay, "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia: Buddhism Among Iranians, Tocharians and Turks before the 13th Century", in The Spread of Buddhism, eds Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacker, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2007, p. 77. According to the Book of Han, the Saka split and formed several states in the region. These Saka states may include two states to the northwest of Kashgar, Tumshuq to its northeast, and Tushkurgan south in the Pamirs. Kashgar also conquered other states such as Yarkand and Kucha during the Han dynasty, but in its later history, Kashgar was controlled by various empires, including Tang China,Whitfield 2004, p. 47.Wechsler, Howard J.; Twitchett, Dennis C. (1979). Denis C. Twitchett; John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part I. Cambridge University Press. pp. 225–228. . before it became part of the Turkic Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 10th century. In the 11th century, according to Mahmud al-Kashgari, some non-Turkic languages like Kanchaki and Sogdian were still used in some areas in the vicinity of Kashgar, and Kanchaki is thought to belong to the Saka language group. It is believed that the Tarim Basin was linguistically Turkified before the 11th century ended.
Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan the people of Kashgar the capital of Shule spoke Saka one of the Eastern Iranian languagesXavier Tremblay "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia Buddhism Among Iranians Tocharians and Turks before the 13th Century" in The Spread of Buddhism eds Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacker Leiden Koninklijke Brill 2007 p 77 According to the Book of Han the Saka split and formed several states in the region These Saka states may include two states to the northwest of Kashgar Tumshuq to its northeast and Tushkurgan south in the Pamirs Kashgar also conquered other states such as Yarkand and Kucha during the Han dynasty but in its later history Kashgar was controlled by various empires including Tang ChinaWhitfield 2004 p 47Wechsler Howard J; Twitchett Dennis C (1979) Denis C Twitchett; John K Fairbank eds The Cambridge History of China Volume 3 Sui and T'ang China 589–906 Part I Cambridge University Press pp 225–228  before it became part of the Turkic Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 10th century In the 11th century according to Mahmud al-Kashgari some non-Turkic languages like Kanchaki and Sogdian were still used in some areas in the vicinity of Kashgar and Kanchaki is thought to belong to the Saka language group It is believed that the Tarim Basin was linguistically Turkified before the 11th century ended