Jakub Bek

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Jakub Beg in a book from 1898
Nocturnal conversation with Jakub Beg of Kashgaria, 1868

Yaqub Beg (often Jakub Beg , actually Jakub Mohammedbek Badaulet , engl. Yakoob Beg , Yakub Beg or Jakoob Beg * 1820 or 1826 / 1827 in Piskent near present-day Tashkent , † May 16 or May 31 1877 in Korla ) was a Central Asian warlord and ruler.

biography

He was the military commander in the service of a vassal of China , the Khan of Kokand, and in 1851 became the commander of Akmetschet fortress (also Ak Meschet , later Fort-Perowski and Perovsk, since 1925 Kyzyl -Orda ). He came - possibly in view of the Russian conquest of the fortress in 1853 - in conflict with the Khan Hudayar (r. 1845-1858, 1862/63 and 1866-1875), was drawn into his power struggles and had to flee temporarily to Bukhara .

On his return in 1864 he took part in the defense of the Tashkent fortress against the Russians General Chernyayev .

Finally, the Khan or his regent Alim-qul wanted to get rid of him and ordered him in early 1865 to join the retinue of Makhdumzada - Hodschas Buzurg Khan. He took advantage of an uprising by the Dungans (in Gansu since 1862) against Qing China to return to Kashgar from his exile in Kokander and to eliminate the remaining Chinese bases and other rivals. Jakub Bek became the military commander of the Hodja.

After the dismissal of his employer in 1867, he set himself up as the emir of Kashgar or the empire of Jetti-Schahr and gathered a large number of dissatisfied or already rebellious Muslims around him (Dungans, Uyghurs, Kirghiz, Kokander, etc.). He overcame two rivals in Aksu / Kutscha and Jarkent and declared the religious war against the Dungan leader T'o Ming (also a Sunni, but not a Hanafi school of law ). By December 1870 he outplayed T'o Ming and occupied his country ( Karashar , Turfan and Ürümqi , where Ürümqi rebelled again in 1872).

Until 1873 Jakub Bek recognized Kokand's sovereignty by using the name Molla Khan (r. 1858–1862) on his coins, then he used the name of the Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz (r. 1861–1876), who recognized him as an emir . He called himself the 'Emir of Kashgaria'.

Jakub Bek carried the titles Atalik Ghasi (father and religious warrior ) and Badaulet (darling of fate). His government was highly autocratic and shaped by the traditions of the Hodjas of centuries past. Knowing that he could not survive without contacts abroad, he tried to find support in Istanbul and concluded treaties with Russia (1872) and Great Britain (1874), both rivals in the Great Game of Central Asia. Russia or General Kaufmann was concerned about his rise or his possible support from Great Britain and, as a precaution, occupied the Kuldscha region in 1871 so that it would not fall into his hands.

In view of the well-prepared Chinese offensive under General Tso Tsung-t'ang (左宗棠), he tried to negotiate vassal status with British mediation. But Tso Tsung-t'ang's troops advanced faster than the negotiations and wrested the eastern part of his possessions around Urumqi and Manas from him in the summer and autumn of 1876 .

After Turfan and Toksun also succumbed to the continued Chinese offensive in spring 1877 , Jakub Bek retired to Korla and was murdered there by a court official on May 16 (31?) 1877 (according to Brockhaus 1894), other sources cite a death Suicide (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Its failure was u. a. also because the Dungans found it difficult with his rule and deserted, while the Chinese tried, for tactical reasons, to treat the people well. Jakub Beck's sons did not agree, but continued the fight. In December 1877 Kashgar fell , in January 1878 Khotan and his empire was destroyed.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd Edition Vol. XI, keyword "Yakub Beg"
  2. ^ Svatopluk Soucek: A History of Inner Asia, p. 265; Boulger: The Life of Yakoob Beg, pp. 82ff.
  3. ↑ Boulger: The Life of Yakoob Beg , p. 84: Jakub Bek dared an open battle off Tashkent, was defeated and had to withdraw into the city. For logistical reasons, however, the Russians did not attack again until 1865.
  4. ↑ Fischer Weltgeschichte , Vol. 16: Central Asia, p. 307.
  5. ^ Cambridge History of China , Volume 11, pp. 223-224.
  6. ↑ Svatopluk Soucek: A History of Inner Asia , p. 265.
    Cambridge History of China, Volume 11, p. 225. It should be noted that in the course of his formal appointment through the Porte he also received 3,000 rifles, 30 cannons and three military advisers. These trained his troops on the European model.
  7. ↑ After the end of Jakub Beg's rule, Russia returned the area to China in the Treaty of St. Petersburg in 1881, albeit in return for compensation.
  8. ↑ Tso Tsung-t'ang had spared no effort. He took out extensive loans on the capital market, had grain grown and bought, provided 5,000 wagons, 29,000 camels and 5,500 donkeys or mules for the logistics in Sinkiang , and equipped his troops with cannons (especially from Krupp) and around 15,000 European rifles . After all, even the Russians offered him cheap grain.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Jakub Bek
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jakub Beg; Badaulet, Jakub Mohammedbek (real name); Yakoob Beg; Yakub Beg; Jakoob Beg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Central Asian warlord and ruler
DATE OF BIRTH 1820 or 1826 or 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Tashkent
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1877 or May 31, 1877
Place of death Korla