The 1795 Khoqand Mission and Its Negotiations with the Qing Political and Diplomatic Space of Qing Kashgaria

The 1795 Khoqand Mission to Qing kashgaria 91 Chapter 5 The 1795 Khoqand Mission to Qing kashgaria The 1795 Khoqand Mission and Its Negotiations with the Qing Political and Diplomatic Space of Qing Kashgaria Takahiro Onuma Studies of the century-long Qing-Khoqand relationship,1 which began after the Qing conquest of Kashgaria (modern Southern Xinjiang)2 in 1759 (QL 243), have mainly focused on the conflicts following the “holy war” of Jahāngīr Khwāja in 1826 (DG 6). Decades later, the Khoqand Khanate gradually expanded its economic influence into Kashgaria. However, before these confused times, relations were relatively peaceful, which fostered interregional trade. It was under these circumstances that the Khoqand mission, dispatched by the Khoqand ruler Narbuta Bī (r. 1768/69–98/99) and led by Muḥammad Sharīf, arrived in Kashgar in October, 1795 (QL 60). As described below, its arrival gave rise to a minor controversy. The mission submitted a request, and the Qing authority of Kashgar was forced to take appropriate measures. As a result, the Qing’s response was successful, and the mission returned without any trouble. It may not be an event worth noting within the framework of Qing-Khoqand relations ; however, from the perspective of Qing rule over the oases of Kashgaria, this event raises some interesting problems that can help us understand previously unknown phases of the political and social conditions at the oasis level. This chapter considers how local officials of Qing Kashgar reacted to the 1795 Khoqand mission. It is based on three documents written in the Arabic script in Turki (i.e. Chaghatay) by Narbuta Bī, which are now stored at the First Historical Archives of China (hereinafter FHAC) in Beijing. The aim of this 1 Representative studies of the Qing-Khoqand relationship are Saguchi 1963:345–530; Saguchi 1965; Fletcher 1978a:58–90; Fletcher 1978b:360–395; Pan 1991, 2006; and Newby 2005. 2 This chapter deals with the oasis towns around the Tarim basin to the south of the Tianshan Ranges, known as the ‘Six Cities’ (Altishahr), often referred to as “Kashgaria” in Western writ- ings after the 19th century (e.g. Kuropatkin 1882). Although there are differences among sources, the cities composing the ‘Six Cities’ include Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Aqsu, Kucha, and Yangi-hisar (or Ush; or Qara-shahr). 3 Dates such as “the 24th year of the Qianlong reign” will be expressed below in the form “QL 24”. QL = Qianlong, JQ = Jiaqing, DG = Daoguang, XF = Xianfeng. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004330078_007 92 Onuma chapter is to provide new insights into the social background of these negotiations as well as into the Qing administrative process through an analysis of these documents and to take a closer look at the features of the political and diplomatic space of Qing Kashgaria. The Qing-Khoqand Relationship in the Late 18th Century As a premise for the argument that follows, this section outlines the Qing- Khoqand relationship in the late 18th century. In the summer of 1759, immediately after demolishing the resistance of the Makhdūm-zāda Khwājas and completing the conquest of Kashgaria, the Qing dispatched an envoy to the Ferghana Valley and made contact with Irdana Bī (r. 1758?–68/69?), who was expanding his power base in Khoqand at that time. Irdana accepted the Qing’s offer to establish diplomatic relations. In early 1760, his envoys arrived in Beijing and received an audience with the Qianlong emperor.4 From then onwards, Khoqand frequently dispatched missions to the Qing throughout the late 18th century. There were two types of missions: (1) those to the Qing court in Beijing or Chengde, also known as ‘tribute missions’ (Chin. gongshi), and (2) those to Kashgar once every 2–3 years.5 The 1795 mission was of the latter type. Prior to the Qing advance, the Khoqandi merchants were already engaged in commercial activities in the towns of Kashgaria. They were referred to as the “Andijanis” (Chin. Anjiyanren) by the Qing government and were permitted to engage in continuous trade in Kashgaria. The Qing tax rate for foreign merchants in Kashgaria was set lower than that of Kashgarian merchants. In addition, with the gradual stabilization of political conditions after the Qing conquest, the traffic of Khoqandi merchants developed and their “diaspora community” in the towns of Kashgaria increased. However, the sphere of their commercial activities was confined to western Kashgaria, namely the “Six Cities” to the west of Aqsu.6 After the mid-1780s, the Qing-Khoqand relationship began to change slightly. A rumor spread that Sarimsaq (or Samsaq), a descendant of the Makhdūm-zādas who had been raised in Western Turkestan, was in contact with the Kashgaris and was raising money. In 1788 (QL 53), because Sarimsaq 4 For the process of the establishment of the Qing-Khoqand relationship in 1759–1760, see Onuma et al. 2014. 5 From 1760 to 1809, Khoqand dispatched eight missions to the Qing court and twenty-three to Kashgar. See Saguchi 1963:348–349. 6 See Saguchi 1963:363–369; Di Cosmo 1997:164..

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