Treaty Of Kulja
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The Treaty of Kulja (also spelled Kuldja; ; ) was a treaty between
Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...
and the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, signed in 1851, opening Kulja ( Huiyuan and later Ningyuan) and Chuguchak 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. 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 ...
, Ivan Zakharov, the treaty was preceded by a gradual Russian advance throughout the nineteenth century into
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 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 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' ...
'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 to a tablet representing the Emperor. Preceded by a gradual Russian advance throughout the 19th century into
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 direct competition with British efforts to impose self-advantageous trade terms on China, the treaty was signed on July 25, 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 (), also known as Tarbagatay, Chuguchak or Qoqek, is a county-level city and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. The Chinese name "Tach ...
) 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 is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
. 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 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, French and
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
; the original treaty did not have an official Chinese version.


See also

*
Treaty of Tarbagatai The Treaty of Tarbagatai () or Treaty of Chuguchak () of was a border protocol between Qing dynasty, Qing China and the Russian Empire that defined most of the western extent of their border in central Asia, between Outer Mongolia and the Khanate ...
(1864) which defined the new border *
Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881) The Treaty of Saint Petersburg or Treaty of Ili was an unequal treaty between the Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty that was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on . It provided for the return to China of the eastern part of the Ili River, Ili ...
which returned the temporarily occupied Kulja country * Economic history of China *
Unequal treaties The unequal treaties were a series of agreements made between Asian countries—most notably Qing China, Tokugawa Japan and Joseon Korea—and Western countries—most notably the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Unit ...
* Imperialism in Asia


References


Further reading

* * Unequal treaties Economic history of China Economy of the Russian Empire 1851 in China 1851 treaties Kulja Kulja 1851 in the Russian Empire China–Russia treaties China–Russian Empire relations {{Treaty-stub