Xaidulla

Shahidulla, also spelt Xaidulla from Mandarin Chinese, (altitude ca. 3,646 m or 11,962 ft), was a nomad camping ground and historical caravan halting place in the Karakash River valley, close to Khotan, in the southwestern part of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. The site contains the ruins of a historical fort which was demolished by the Chinese administration of Xinjiang between 1890 and 1892. The site lies next to the Chinese National Highway G219 between Kashgar and Tibet, 25 km east of Mazar and 115 km west of Dahongliutan.

The modern town of Saitula (Xeyidula) is located next to the old fort of Suget Karaul built by the Qing administration (of China) about 10 km (30 " Chinese miles") southeast of the original site. A modern People's Liberation Army barracks named Sanshili Yingfang or Sanshili Barracks () is also located here. "Sanshili Barracks" is a more common name used by motorists along the G219 highway.

Etymology

The Uyghur name ''Shahidulla'' simply means "witness of Allah" or "martyr of Allah" depending on the interpretation of the heteronym "shahid".

During the 1800s, the place was a sepulcher or shrine for a person known as Shahidulla Khoja,

or Shahid Ullah Khajeh.

He was said to be a Khoja from Yarkand who was killed by "his Khitay pursuers" during the 1700s Qing conquest of Xinjiang. His real name is lost to history. Kirghiz nomads at the locale venerated the shrine and Muslim travellers, in particular Central Asian pilgrims to Mecca who regularly traversed this route, would pray for blessings at the shrine on their journey.

Geography and caravan trade

Shahidulla is situated between the Kunlun Mountains and the Karakoram range, "close to the southern foot of the former". It is at the western bend of the Karakash River, which originates in the Aksai Chin plains, flows northeast and makes a sharp bend to the west at the foot of the Kunlun range. After making another bend near Shahidulla, it flows northeast again, cutting through the Kunlun Mountains towards Khotan. The traditional site of Shahidulla is located northwest of the modern town, about downstream.

Caravaners talk about a "southern branch" of the Kunlun range at the foot of which the Karakash flows, and a "northern branch" (also called the "Kilian range") which has various passes (from the west to east, Yangi, Kilik, Kilian, Sanju, Hindu-tagh and Ilchi passes). The Kilian () and Sanju () passes are the most often mentioned, which lead to Kashgar.

To the south of Shahidulla, the trade route passed through the site of Suget Karaul (the modern 'Saitula' town), ascended the valley of a stream to the Suget Pass () and, after crossing a junction point of Ak-tagh (), went over the Karakoram Pass into Ladakh. An alternative route to Ladakh from Shahidulla (called the "Chang Chenmo route") went along the Karakash river till reaching the Aksai Chin plains and then to Ladakh via the Chang Chenmo valley. This route was never really popular with the traders, despite the best efforts of the British Raj to promote it.

The entire area between the Karakoram range and the Kunlun Mountains is mostly uninhabited and has very little vegetation, except for the river valleys of Yarkand and Karakash. In these valleys, during the summer months, cultivation was possible. Kanjutis from Hunza used to cultivate in the Yarkand valley (called "Raskam" plots) and the Kirghiz from Turkestan used to cultivate in the area of Shahidullah. Shahidullah is described as a "seasonal township" in the sources, but it was little more than a campground in the 19th century.

Kulbhushan Warikoo states that, of the two trade routes between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ("western route" through Chitral and the "eastern route" through Shahidulla), the eastern route was more favoured by the traders as it was relatively safe from robberies and political turmoil:

The absence of turmoil was not a given. In fact, the traders applied pressure on the rulers to avoid conflict. The Ladakhi rulers especially heeded such warnings, dependent as they were on trade for their prosperity.

History

There is legendary and documentary evidence that indicates that Indians from Taxila and the Chinese were among the first settlers of Khotan. In the first century BC, Kashmir and Khotan on the two sides of the Karakoram range formed a joint kingdom, which was ruled by either Scythian or Turki (Elighur) chiefs. Towards the end of the first century AD, the kingdom broke up into two parts: Khotan being annexed by the Chinese and Kashmir by Kanishka.

Some modern scholars believe the Kingdom of Zihe () in Chinese historical records was situated at Shahidulla. This is not universally attested.

16th century

In late 15th century, Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat from the Dughlat tribe founded an independent kingdom for himself from the fragmentation of Moghulistan. The kingdom encompassed Khotan and Kashgar. However, he was deposed in the 1510s by Sultan Said Khan who founded the Yarkand Khanate. While attempting to flee to Ladakh, Abu Bakr was intercepted and killed. His tomb is located about north of modern-day town of Xaidulla.

19th century

In the nineteenth century, Shahidulla became the centre of a multi-pronged game between Kashmir, the British Indian Empire, China, Kashgaria and the Russian Empire.

About 120 Kirghiz nomad families lived in Shahidulla in forty tents. Their head-man was called Turdi Kul. The British regarded the Kirghiz as Chinese subjects and believed that they "always" paid taxes to Yarkand. Yet there is evidence that this may not have occurred till 1881, and the Chinese considered them to be living beyond their boundaries.
The Kirghiz faced periodic raids from the Kanjutis of Hunza, who controlled the Yarkand River valley (called "Raskam") and had protection from China. The Kanjutis also carried off people and sold them into slavery.

The Dogra ruler of Jammu, Raja Gulab Singh, then a vassal of the Sikh Empire, conquered Ladakh in 1834. According to Francis Younghusband, all the area up to Shahidulla was immediately taken under control by the Dogras. This was apparently of no consequence to the Chinese in Turkestan (present day Xinjiang) as they viewed the northern Kunlun range as their border. In 1846, Gulab Singh came under the suzerainty of the British, who established him as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. The British were inclined to view the Karakoram range as the natural boundary of the Indian subcontinent and they viewed the Maharaja's claim to Shahidulla with trepidation.

This left the tract between the Karakoram and Kunlun ranges as a no-man's land. Since regular trade caravans passed through the area, which were open to robber raids, securing it became important to the Dogra regime in Jammu and Kashmir. A fort at Shahidulla was apparently constructed by the Dogras at an uncertain date.
George Hayward later described it as 'a stone fort and several ruined huts'.
Around 1864, when the Chinese authority in Turkestan was overthrown by the Kokand chieftain Yakub Beg, the Dogra governor of Ladakh stationed a garrison of troops at the fort. Described as a ''chauki'' (police post), it had a contingent of 25 men including customs officials. The post was abandoned in 1866, apparently due to the difficulty of maintaining it at a great distance.

In 1865, the British surveyor W. H. Johnson, tasked with surveying all the Ladakhi territory "up to Chinese frontiers", received an invitation for a visit from the then chief of Khotan named Haji Habibullah. Johnson spent a few weeks in Khotan and returned via Sanju Pass and Shahidulla. The border of Ladakh he drew was along the northern Kunlun range (on which the Kilian and Sanju passes lay). It included the Karakash valley along with Shahidullah in Ladakh.

Soon afterwards, Habibullah of Khotan was deposed by Yakub Beg, who took control of the entire Yarkand region ( Kashgaria). He is also said to have stationed Kokandi troops at the fort in Shahidullah. In 1873, Douglas Forsyth was dispatched by the British on a diplomatic mission to Yakub Beg. The Forsyth Mission recognised Shahidullah as part of the "Khan's akub Beg'sdominion", and placed the boundary of the British Empire at Ak-tagh, south of the Suget Pass. (See Map 1) From this time onwards, the British officials began to reject Dogra claims to Shahidulla.

In 1877, Yakub Beg died and the Chinese reasserted their authority in Turkestan (renaming it as Xinjiang—"new dominion"). They however stuck to their original posts (''karawals'') on the north side of the Kilian and Sanju passes, and showed no interest in occupying Shahidulla. As late as 1889, the Turdi Kol reported that Chinese officials told him that Shahidulla was "British territory".

In 1889, Francis Younghusband, who was tasked with finding measures to counteract a potential Russian advance in the area, proposed that the Chinese be encouraged to occupy all the no man's land between the British and Russian territories and serve as a buffer zone. This was agreed by the British administration, and the British envoy in Peking was instructed to discuss the matter with the Chinese government. Simultaneously, Younghusband was sent on a second mission to Yarkand to "induce" the Chinese officials to expand and fill out the no man's land.
The means which he used to induce them are not precisely known, but by the end of his mission, the Chinese officials showed a firm commitment to occupy Shahidulla, and even all the area up to the Karakoram Pass.
It appears that they stationed troops at the Shahidulla fort during the summer months of 1890, but the troops viewed this fort with distaste. In 1892, the Chinese knocked down the Shahidulla fort and built a new fort at Suget Karaul (), about 10 km. southeast of Shahidulla closer to Suget Pass. Younghusband reported that the Chinese were asserting authority all the way to the Karakoram range, and described the site of the new fort as the closest place to the Karakoram range with the availability of grass and fuel.

20th and 21st centuries

By the early 20th century, the Shahidullah region was under Chinese control and considered part of Xinjiang Province, and has remained so ever since. Xaidulla is well to the north of any territories claimed by either India or Pakistan, while the Sanju and Kilian passes are further to the north of Xaidulla. A Sinkiang–Tibet road (or "Aksai Chin road", now part of G219) was laid by China in the 1950s, which runs from Yecheng in the Tarim Basin, south through Xaidulla, and across the Aksai Chin region, controlled by China but claimed by India, into northwestern Tibet.

Current status

Sometime after the construction of the road, Chinese administration built a village at Suget Karaul and named it "Saitula". The nomad population of the former Shahidula apparently took up residence in the new village. In May 2010, Saitula was made a township.

The township includes one village, which was formerly part of Kangir Kirghiz Township:

* Sarikia (), also called Ilinagar. . It is in the Karakash River valley to the north of Shahidulla at the base of the route to the Sanju Pass. A hamlet called Ali Nazar is also in its vicinity, where Yakub Beg is said to have a built a fort.

Transportation

China National Highway 219 passes through the town of Saitula as well as the historical Shahidullah site. A mountain road runs from the historical site to the town of Sanju in the Tarim basin via the Sanju Pass.Modern travel route between Saitula and Sanju via the Sanju Pass
OpenStreetMap, retrieved 12 October 2022.

See also

* List of township-level divisions of Xinjiang

Notes

References

Bibliography

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* . For a downloadable early draft of this book see the Silk Road Seattle website hosted by the University of Washington at: https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/texts.html
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Further reading

*''National Geographic Atlas of China'' (2008). National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. .

{{Authority control

Sites along the Silk Road
Hotan Prefecture
Township-level divisions of Xinjiang