Pacifying the Khoja Revolt; General of Ili Established

In the early Qing, the Dzungars of the northwest long held a separate regime. Taking advantage of Dzungar infighting, the Qianlong Emperor sent troops in 1755 and 1757 and put down the rebellions of Davachi and Amursana, unifying the area north of the Tianshan. The broad region south of the Tianshan was home to Uyghurs and others and was called the “Muslim Region” in Qing times. Its religious leaders, the elder Khoja Burhan al-Din and the younger Khoja Jahan, had been held captive by the Dzungars; the Qing released them and sent the elder Khoja back to administer southern Xinjiang. In 1757 the two brothers rebelled and killed Qing officials, and Khoja Jahan proclaimed himself “Baturu Khan,” intending to set up a separate state south of the Tianshan. Their brutal extortion aroused strong resentment. In 1758 the Qianlong Emperor ordered an attack, declaring that only the two Khojas would be captured and no one else implicated. With the support of Uyghurs and others, Qing forces took Kashgar and Yarkand in 1759 after two years of fighting; the Khojas fled to Badakhshan, where the local ruler captured and killed them. The Qing unified the area north and south of the Tianshan and named it “Xinjiang.” In 1762 it established the General of Ili, who governed the whole region including the area around Lake Balkhash from Huiyuan City in Ili, with military governors and ministers stationed elsewhere. The Qing also promoted military farming and irrigation to develop the frontier. These measures strengthened central control over Xinjiang and consolidated the northwest frontier.