Dungan uprisings
The Dungan uprisings were Muslim uprisings in the northwestern part of the Chinese Empire , specifically the provinces of Shaanxi , Gansu and Xinjiang (1862–1873).
Beginning
The Dungans were Sinized Muslims, mostly followers of Sufism . They spoke Chinese and were of Chinese origin or had mixed with the Chinese for many centuries (cf. Hui Chinese ).
The uprisings were triggered by the ever-existing tensions with the Han Chinese and especially an attack by the Taiping rebels on Shaanxi, including Xi'an, in April 1862. Although the Taiping withdrew quickly, the imperial officials therefore allowed the formation of local self-defense - Organizations ( tuanlian ), a common practice at the time that militarized the province. Han promptly burned down a Muslim city, whereupon a Dungan leader murdered the responsible imperial commissioner and feuds broke out along the Wei River . Proclamations that all Muslims should be killed without trial did the rest, and the Muslims rebelled.
The individual riot spots
The insurgents in Shaanxi were decentralized and concentrated in three centers. The provincial capital Xi'an was blocked or isolated for a year until it was detained by imperial troops under the Manchu general Dolonga in August 1863. The Dungans were then defeated within a few months and their remnants fled to Gansu.
In Gansu, Ma Hualong , a descendant and successor of the founder of the militant Xinjiao sect, dominated the uprising. In December 1863, he captured Lingzhou and massacred an estimated 100,000 Chinese. The insurgents soon controlled the entire province, but Ma Hualong was opposed because many Muslims did not agree with his views and teachings. He then switched back to the imperial side in May 1866 and surrendered some of his weapons. Even so, the riots continued and spread to Xinjiang.
The following year, General Zuo Zongtang (Tso Tsung-t'ang) took action against the Dungans in southern Shaanxi, and at the beginning of 1869 he attacked Gansu Province with just under 100,000 men. Although Zuo Zongtang prepared as best he could and did not act until he had all the cards in hand, his sub-commander Liu Songshan was defeated and killed (1870). He then regrouped his troops and was able to include Ma Hualong in Jinjibao in the fall of 1870. The fortress was shelled with Krupp artillery, Ma Hualong surrendered and was executed (1871).
Despite the victory over Ma Hualong, it took three more years to defeat the other leaders and to finally crush the Dungan uprisings in Gansu. Zuo Zongtang suffered another defeat against Ma Zhanao near Hezhou in 1872. It was not until October 1873 that Suzhou, the last fortress of the Dungans (under Ma Wenlu), fell, and 7,000 survivors of the siege were executed.
Remarks
- ↑ See Cambridge History of China, Vol. 11, p. 217. It is not clear whether these proclamations were official or illegal.
- ↑ The leaders of the revolting herd there (including in Ürümqi , in the Ili area ) were eclipsed by Jakub Bek (d. 1877), who soon ruled the region.
literature
- Ho-dong Kim: Holy War in China. The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia 1864–1877. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 2004, ISBN 0-8047-4884-5 .
- Bruce A. Elleman: Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989. Routledge, London et al. 2001, ISBN 0-415-21473-4 .
