Margub Timergalievich Iskhakov (13 March 1923 – 1992) was a

Chinese Tatar The Chinese Tatars (), or simply Tatars ( zh, s=塔塔尔族), are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Xinjiang, China. They are one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, ethnic groups officially recognized by the Chinese government. ...

military officer who held several important commands in the armies of the

Second East Turkestan Republic The East Turkestan Republic (ETR) was a satellite state of the Soviet Union in northern Xinjiang (East Turkestan) that existed from 1944 to 1946. It is often described as the Second East Turkestan Republic to differentiate it from the First E ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He defected to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the 1962

Yi–Ta incident The Yi–Ta incident ( zh, c=伊塔事件) was a mass exodus of people from China to the Soviet Union in early 1962. At least 60,000 Chinese citizens migrated to the Soviet Union by crossing the border between the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous R ...

, amid the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

. He died in Alma-Ata (Almaty),

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, in 1992.

Biography

Iskhakov was born to an ethnic

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

family in the Chinese city of

Ghulja YiningThe official spelling according to ( zh, s=伊宁), also known as Ghulja () or Kulja ( Kazakh: ), is a county-level city in northwestern Xinjiang, China. It is the administrative seat and largest city of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture ...

in 1923. A

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, Iskhakov was imprisoned for two years under the regime of

Sheng Shicai Sheng Shicai ( zh, c=盛世才; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Xinjiang from 1933 to 1944. Sheng's rise to power started with a coup d'état in 1933 when he was appointed the ''duban'' (Military Governor) of Xinjia ...

, after which he joined the

Ili Rebellion The Ili Rebellion () was a Separatism, separatist uprising by the Turkic peoples of northern Xinjiang (East Turkestan) against the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China, from 1944 to 1946. The Ili Rebel ...

as a political commissar. In 1945, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the

Ili National Army The East Turkestan National Army () was the armed forces of the Second East Turkestan Republic (ETR). It was active from 1945 to 1949, beyond the dissolution of the ETR in 1946, when it was renamed the Ili National Army (INA; zh, t=伊犁民� ...

of the

. Following the

Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China The incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China, known in Chinese historiography as the Peaceful Liberation of Xinjiang (), was the takeover of Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its People's Liberation Army (PL ...

in 1949, Iskhakov joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and accepted a commission in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA). He was eventually appointed Chief of Staff of the

Xinjiang Military Region The Xinjiang Military District (新疆军区) is a special military area of the PLA at the Theater Deputy-grade.(副战区级). It is one of three districts (Tibet and Beijing being the other two) that are directly under the Central Military C ...

and in 1955 became the youngest general in the PLA. In 1956, the

Sino-Soviet Split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

began, and during this period of political dispute many Tatars and ethnic Muslims in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, including Iskhakov, sided with the

and were granted Soviet citizenship. However, Iskhakov's relocation to the Soviet Union was handled legally and with few political consequences, resulting in his peaceful immigration to the

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic The Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Kazakhstan, the Kazakh SSR, KSSR, or simply Kazakhstan, was one of the transcontinental country, transcontinental Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Un ...

in 1962. Following his immigration to the Soviet Union, the PLA removed the title of youngest general from Iskhakov and retroactively awarded it to Major General Wu Zhong.

References

1923 births 1992 deaths People's Liberation Army generals Chinese emigrants to the Soviet Union People from Yining County Ili National Army Chinese Tatars {{China-mil-bio-stub