Uighur-Dungan Rebellion of 1864–77

a national liberation rebellion of Uighurs, Dungans (Hui), and others against the rule of Manchu and Chinese feudal lords in Sinkiang. The rebellion was impelled by the urban poor and the peasantry, but the local feudal nobility and Muslim clergy quickly assumed leadership. The armed revolt of the oppressed nationalities ended the rule of the Chinese Ch’ing dynasty of Singkiang in eastern Turkestan and Dzungaria and in 1864 led to the formation of one Dungan and three Uighur khanates; the Tarachin (Ilian) sultanate was created in May 1867.

By the summer of 1867, the Uighur khanates were united under Iakub-bek, one of their rulers, into a single state—Iettishar (Dzetyshaar). The Dungan Khanate was annexed in 1870. Iakub-bek confiscated the lands and other property of the Manchu and Chinese feudal lords and, initially, lightened the tax burden of the local populace. His foreign policy was aimed at exploiting tensions between Great Britain and Russia and maneuvering between the two countries so as to resist Ch’ing China. Under the command of Tso Tsung-t’ang, the Ch’ing army brutally crushed the Uighur-Dungan rebellion in 1877.