Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873; vol

Bai Yanhu (, dng, Биянхў ; d.1881)) also known as Mohammed Ayub (), was a

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

military commander and rebel from

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

, China. He was known for leading a group of Hui people across the vast lands of northwestern China to

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

under Russian rule. The descendants of him and his followers live in still Central Asia to this day and are known as the

Dungan people Dungan, Xiao'erjing: ; zh, s=东干族, t=東干族, p=Dōnggān zú, w=Tung1kan1-tsu2, , Xiao'erjing: ; russian: Дунгане, ''Dungane''; ky, Дуңгандар, ''Duñgandar'', دۇنغاندار; kk, Дүңгендер, ''Düñgende ...

Life

Bai Yanhu was a commander of a battalion of Hui Muslim forces from Shaanxi during the Dungan Revolt. After being pushed out of Shaanxi by

Qing 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 ...

forces under the command of Zuo Zongtang, he fled to the Jahriyya stronghold of Jinjipu (near modern-day Wuzhong, Ningxia). After the surrender of Jinjipu, Bai and his followers fled to Hezhou (today's Linxia). After the surrender of Hezhou, he fled to

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and wa ...

. In 1873, Bai decided to leave Xining and flee to

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 northwest ...

. The exact number of his followers at this time is unknown but it was likely several thousand, and some sources claim that it was between thirteen and thirty-five thousand. After entering Xinjiang, troops led by Bai managed to take control of Hami, but they abandoned the city shortly thereafter, fleeing from the approaching Qing army. In late 1873, they entered territory controlled by Yaqub Beg. Bai agreed to submit to Yaqub Beg and his followers were permitted to live in the area around Urumqi and

Manas Manas may refer to: Philosophy and mythology *Manas, the Pali and Sanskrit term for "mind"; see ** Manas (early Buddhism) ** Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism *''Ramcharitmanas'', a retelling of the Ramay ...

. When Zuo Zongtang's forces advanced into Xinjiang, Bai was placed in charge of defending Urumqi. In August of 1876, When Zuo's army approached the city, Bai fled, and Urumqi fell to the Qing. Some sources record that around this time, Zuo's army requested that Yaqub Beg hand Bai Yanhu over to them. This request received no response from Yaqub Beg.

Fight from Kashgaria and legacy

After the fall of Urumqi, Bai fled from city to city in Xinjiang, until he eventually fled to Russian territory with several thousand of his followers. They settled in the Chu Valley, in what is now

. Zuo attempted to convince Russia to extradite Bai Yanhu, but Russia refused, as it wanted to benefit from letting it's frontier be populated by a community that was fiercely hostile to the Qing. Bai lived in Russian territory until his death several years later. Bai Yanhu's tribe's first settlement was located 8 kilometres from Tokmak. Bianhu named the colony "Yingpan"(Literally "Camp"). After the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Yingpan lies within the border of

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 ...

. Today, the town is known as Masanchi (Karakunuz), named after the Dungan Communist revolutionary Magaza Masanchi. The Dungan poet Ia. Shivaza claimed in 1985 that Bai died in Masanchi, and a wooden dummy was buried in his grave. The Dungans then took his body to

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

where they buried him in the yard of his son's house at Dzerzhinsky Avenue (today called Erkindik Boulevar
Бульвар Эркиндик
.

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline *https://www.google.com/maps/place/Erkindik+Ave,+Bishkek,+Kyrgyzstan/@42.8698377,74.6043872,696m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x389eb7ce046982bd:0x70a21ba2bb6419d5!8m2!3d42.8698377!4d74.6065759 Hui people History of Xinjiang Russian people of Hui descent