The Treaty of Kulja (also spelled Kuldja) () was an

unequal treaty Unequal treaty is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, between China (mostly referring to the Qing dynasty) and various Western powers (specifically the British Empire, France, the ...

between

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, signed in 1851, opening Kulja ( Huiyuan and later Ningyuan) and

Chuguchak TachengThe official spelling according to (), as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Qoqak, is a county-level city (1994 est. pop. 56,400) and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh ...

to Sino-Russian trade. Prepared by the first Russian consul to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Ivan Zakharov Ivan Ilyich Zakharov (russian: Иван Ильич Захаров; 1816 - 1885) was a Russian diplomat who worked in the Peking Orthodox Mission between 1839 and 1850. As the first Russian consul in China he prepared the Treaty of Kulja (1851) a ...

, the treaty was preceded by a gradual Russian advance throughout the nineteenth century into

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

in direct competition with British efforts to impose self-advantageous trade terms on China.

Historical context

Cross-border trade became increasingly important to Russia and China in the 19th century with Russian merchants trading illegally at Kulja in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

’s Yili River Valley. In 1803, Tsar Alexander I attempted to negotiate the opening of the entire Sino-Russian border to trade. This effort failed, however, when the Tsar’s representative refused to

kow-tow A kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverence ...

to a tablet representing the Emperor. Preceded by a gradual Russian advance throughout the 19th century into

, in direct competition with British efforts to impose self-advantageous trade terms on China, the treaty was signed on July 25th 1851 by the General of Ili and his assistant. Under its terms Kulja ( Huiyuan and later Ningyuan) and Chuguchak (modern

Tacheng TachengThe official spelling according to (), as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Qoqak, is a county-level city (1994 est. pop. 56,400) and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh A ...

) were opened to Russian trade. However the Qing court denied the Russian request to include trading in Kashgar. The treaty also allowed Russian merchants to trade and Russian consuls to reside in the Xinjiang towns of Yili ( Huiyuan before 1863 and Ningyuan after 1882) and Tarbagatai. Russian trade with Xinjiang flourished and Alma Ata was founded in 1854 to become an important link in this trade. While the treaty primarily legalized ongoing practice, it also recognized the growing Russian presence in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. China’s defenses on this border had been greatly neglected since the start of the 19th century. The official text of the treaty was written in Russian,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...

; the original treaty did not have an official Chinese version.

Historical context

See also

References

Further reading