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.
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Page 591 of 704
Words from 160325 to 160579
of 191255
