THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE MUSLIM REVOLT IN XINJIANG, 1860-1870s by Alexandr Shtumpf A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Eurasian Studies at NAZARBAYEV UNIVERSITY - SCHOOL OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 2021 2 THESIS APPROVAL FORM NAZARBAYEV UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE MUSLIM REVOLT IN XINJIANG, 1860-1870s BY Alexandr Shtumpf NU Student Number: 201342110 APPROVED BY Dr. NIKOLAY TSYREMPILOV, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ON The 9th day of June, 2021 Signature of Principal Thesis Adviser In Agreement with Thesis Advisory Committee Second Adviser: Dr. Rozaliya Garipova, Assistant Professor External Reader: Dr. Matthew W. Mosca, Associate Professor i Abstract In 1864 a revolt by Muslim communities of Xinjiang precluded for more than a decade Qing presence in the region. The Muslim rebels eventually made attempts at establishing new political entities throughout Xinjiang. The uprising placed the neighboring Russian empire, whose Central Asian territories shared an extensive border with Xinjiang, in a sensitive situation. This thesis aims to discuss Russian views and perceptions of the Muslim revolt and its participants. In particular the research focuses on shedding light on what were some of the strategies adopted by Russian regional authorities in Western Siberia and Turkestan general- governorships with regards to the Qing loyalist forces, Muslim rebels, and refugees. The research explores ethnic and religious policies established by colonel Kolpakovskii in the Ili region and discusses diplomatic efforts undertaken by the Russian administration in Turkestan. The research argues that the policies and measures adopted by regional Russian administrations were flexible, prone to shifts as the Muslim revolt progressed, and were influenced by a number of internal and external factors. Those include concerns regarding the allegiances of Russia’s own Muslim population in the borderlands, the desire to maintain favorable commercial relations with the Qing, to act as a neutral power and ultimate broker between the Muslim rebels and the Qing loyalists, and finally to minimize British political and economic influence in Central Asia. ii Acknowledgements First of all I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my principal supervisor Professor Nikolay Tsyrempilov for his continuous support, encouragement, and patience during my studies. Not less significant were Pr. Tsyrempilov’s advice and expertise in guiding me to relevant scholarship and helping me formulate my research topic and research questions as well as his assistance in obtaining access to the Central State Archive (TsGA RK) in Almaty. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Professor Rozaliya Garipova for her extensive and insightful comments and valuable advice which contributed to my academic development and improvements in my writing style. I also extend my gratitudes to Professor Matthew W. Mosca from the University of Washington for his review of and comments on further improvements of this thesis. I am also thankful to Professor Niccolò Pianciola for proofreading parts of my thesis and providing some thought-provoking comments. Finally I would like to thank Dr. Aminat Chokobaeva for pointing me to an important scholarship on the topic of my thesis. Throughout my studies at Nazarbayev University and writing this thesis I have received ample support and opportunities for academic and intellectual growth from the faculty at the School of Sciences and Humanities for which I am thankful. I am also thankful to my friends and fellow students at the Eurasian Studies program who supported me through this challenging time. iii Table of contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. ii Table of contents .................................................................................................................... iii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Russian Central Asia and Xinjiang in the mid-19th century ......................... 16 1.1 The Russian Advance into Central Asia ........................................................................ 17 1.2. Xinjiang under the Qing Administration ....................................................................... 24 1.3. Xinjiang in Russian Intellectual Discourse of 1850s - 1870s ....................................... 32 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 40 Chapter 2: Xinjiang in Revolt as a Frontier Space ............................................................. 42 2.1 The Muslim Revolt in Xinjiang ..................................................................................... 42 2.2 Frontier Interactions in the Late 1860s – mid 1870s Ili Region ..................................... 51 2.3 Russo-Qing Interaction and the Muslim Revolt ............................................................. 61 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 3: Diplomats to Kashgar, Administrators to Kulja ............................................. 69 3.1 Kashgar and Russian Diplomacy ................................................................................... 70 3.2 Ethnic and religious policies in the Ili region ................................................................ 82 3.3 Russia in the aftermath of the Revolt ............................................................................. 90 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 93 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 96 iv Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 101 Primary Sources ................................................................................................................. 101 Secondary Sources ............................................................................................................. 103 1 Introduction The Muslim revolt during the late Qing empire was a complex conflict which affected the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and almost the entirety of Xinjiang. However, it was not merely an internal conflict in the Qing empire; the neighboring Russian empire observed closely the violence in Xinjiang and eventually took active part in this conflict pursuing objectives of its own. Russia’s attention to the revolt was not only due to its proximity but also because it and the Qing empire shared some commonalities. The Qing empire was a multiethnic and multi-religious political entity under the rule of a Manchu dynasty. During the 18th century the empire expanded its territories considerably by conquering the former Zunghar Khanate and the oasis cities in the Tarim basin. The new territory was called Xinjiang where the Qing government instituted military administration. One of the goals for conquering Xinjiang was to expand the security buffer around the core territories of the empire. However, as internal issues in the Qing partially spurred by its encounter with the West in the mi-19th century coupled with peculiar and estranged status of the Muslim Hui community the dissatisfaction with the Qing rule grew in these distant regions while Qing control diminished which culminated in a massive uprising. The Muslim revolt affected not only the Hui people in the Qing Empire’s northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, or the populations of Xinjiang but also exerted influence beyond on the Russian Empire and Central Asia. For Russia, which shared an extensive border with the Qing, the scale and initial success of the uprising was unexpected and troubling. The nation had suffered a humiliating defeat a decade prior to the Muslim revolt and was at the moment trying to fortify its position in Central Asia. The sudden revolt and violence across the border opened insecurities regarding Russia’s position in Central Asia, the appeal of the rebels’ cause on Russian subjects in the Kazakh Steppe. The Muslim revolt was a challenge not only for the 2 Qing but also for Russia; the challenge of Russia’s ability to understand and navigate the complexities of ethnic and religious identities in Central Asia and beyond. There have been several important studies pertaining to the Muslim revolt in particular and to various aspects of Inner Asian historiography tangentially concerning the revolt such as the Qing conquest of Xinjiang, its administration of the territory in the century preceding the revolt, Russian expansion into Central Asia, the historiography of Russia’s borders with China (including the Qing dynasty) and its diplomatic activities with the British. Peter Perdue’s China Marches West: the Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia is a seminal work on the strategies, tactics and the timeline of the Qing expansion westwards. It addresses such issues as the apparent successes of the Qing compared to previous