The Wish Might Possibly Have Been No More
Attained Than Theirs, Had He Not Secured The Support Of The Most Capable
Soldier In Khokand, Mahomed Yakoob, The Defender Of Ak Musjid Against The
Russians.
It was not until the early part of the year 1865 that this Khoja
pretender, with his small body of Khokandian officers and a considerable
number of Kirghiz allies, appeared upon the scene.
Then, however, their
success was rapid. The Tungan revolt in Altyshahr resolved itself into a
movement for the restoration of the Khoja dynasty. In a short time Buzurg
was established as ruler, while his energetic lieutenant was employed in
the task of crushing the few remaining Chinese garrisons, and also in
cowing his Tungan allies, who already regarded their new ruler with a
doubtful eye. By the month of September in the same year that witnessed
the passage of the invading force through the Terek defile, the triumph of
the Khoja's arms was assured. A few weeks later Mahomed Yakoob deposed his
master, and caused himself to be proclaimed ruler in his stead. The voice
of the people ratified the success of the man; and in 1866 Mahomed Yakoob,
or Yakoob Beg, received at the hands of the Ameer of Bokhara the proud
title of Athalik Ghazi, by which he was long known. The Mohammedan rising
spread still further within the limits of Chinese authority in Central
Asia.
While the events which have been briefly sketched were happening in the
region south of the great Tian Shan range, others of not less importance
had taken place in Ili or Kuldja, which, under Chinese rule, had enjoyed
uninterrupted peace for a century. It was this fact which marked the
essential difference between the Tungan rebellion and all the disturbances
that had preceded it. The revolution in the metropolitan province was
complicated by the presence of different races, just as it had been in
Kashgaria by the pretensions of the Khoja family. A large portion of the
population consisted of those Tarantchis who were the descendants of the
Kashgarians deported on more than one occasion by the Chinese from their
own homes to the banks of the Ili; and they had inherited a legacy of ill-
will against their rulers which only required the opportunity to display
itself. The Tungan - or Dungan, as the Russians spell it - element was also
very strong, and colonies of the Sobo and Solon tribes, who had been
emancipated from their subjection to the Mongols by the Emperor Kanghi for
their bravery, further added to the variety of the nationalities dwelling
in this province. It had been said with some truth that the Chinese ruled
in this quarter of their dominions on the old principle of commanding by
the division of the subjected; and it had been predicted that they would
fall whenever any two of the dependent populations combined against them.
There is little difficulty in showing that the misfortunes of the Chinese
were due to their own faults. They neglected the plainest military
precautions, and the mandarins thought only of enriching themselves. But
the principal cause of the destruction of their power was the cessation of
the supplies which they used to receive from Pekin. The government of
these dependencies was only possible by an annual gift from the imperial
treasury. When the funds placed at the disposal of the Ili authorities
were diverted to other uses, it was no longer possible to maintain the old
efficiency of the service. Discontent was provided with a stronger
argument at the same time that the executive found itself embarrassed in
grappling with it.
The news of the Mohammedan outbreak in China warned the Tungani in Ili
that their opportunity had come. But although there were disturbances as
early as January, 1863, these were suppressed, and the vigilance of the
authorities sufficed to keep things quiet for another year. Their
subsequent incapacity, or hesitation to strike a prompt blow, enabled the
Mohammedans to husband their resources and to complete their plans. A
temporary alliance was concluded between the Tungani and the Tarantchis,
and they hastened to attack the Chinese troops and officials. The year
1865 was marked by the progress of a sanguinary struggle, during which the
Chinese lost their principal towns, and some of their garrisons were
ruthlessly slaughtered after surrender. The usual scenes of civil war
followed. When the Chinese were completely vanquished and their garrisons
exterminated, the victors quarreled among themselves. The Tungani and the
Tarantchis met in mortal encounter, and the former were vanquished and
their chief slain. When they renewed the contest, some months later, they
were, after another sanguinary struggle, again overthrown. The Tarantchis
then ruled the state by themselves, but the example they set of native
rule was, to say the least, not encouraging. One chief after another was
deposed and murdered. The same year witnessed no fewer than five leaders
in the supreme place of power; and when Abul Oghlan assumed the title of
Sultan the cup of their iniquities was already full. In the year 1871 an
end was at last put to these enormities by the occupation of the province
by a Russian force, and the installation of a Russian governor. Although
it is probable that they were only induced to take this step by the fear
that if they did not do so Yakoob Beg would, the fact remains that the
Russian government did a good thing in the cause of order by interfering
for the restoration of tranquillity in the valley of the Ili.
The Mohammedan outbreaks in southwestern and northwestern China resulted,
therefore, in the gradual suppression of the Panthay rebellion, which was
completed in the twelfth year of Tungche's reign, while the Tungan rising,
so far as the Central Asian territories were concerned, remained unquelled
for a longer period. The latter led to the establishment of an independent
Tungan confederacy beyond Kansuh, and also of the kingdom of Kashgaria
ruled by Yakoob Beg. The revolt in Ili, after several alternations of
fortune, resulted in the brief independence of the Tarantchis, who were in
turn displaced by the Russians under a pledge of restoring the province to
the Chinese whenever they should return.
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of 191255
