The Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET) was a breakaway state centered on the city of Kashgar, located in the far west of China's Xinjiang Province. It is often described as the First East Turkestan Republic to differentiate it from the Second East Turkestan Republic (1944–1946) established exactly a decade later.
It emerged from the Kumul Rebellion following the abolition of the semi-autonomous Kumul Khanate by Xinjiang Governor Jin Shuren. Lasting from 12 November 1933 to 16 April 1934, it was primarily the product of a pan-Turkic independence movement in the region, which consisted of Turkic, mostly Uyghur, intellectuals. With the sacking of Kashgar in 1934 by Hui warlords nominally allied with the Kuomintang-led nationalist government in Nanjing, the TIRET was effectively destroyed. Its example, however, served to some extent as inspiration for the founding of the Second East Turkestan Republic a decade later in the north of Xinjiang and continues to influence modern Uyghur nationalist support for the creation of an independent East Turkestan.
Background
The beginnings of Uyghur independence during the early 20th century were greatly influenced by the Turkic jadidist movement, which spread as wealthier Uyghurs, inspired by notions of Pan-Turkism, traveled abroad to Turkey and Europe, and returned home determined to modernize and develop the educational system in Xinjiang. The first major school founded on the new model was located outside of Kashgar and, unlike the traditional curricula, focused on more technical areas of study such as science, mathematics, history, and language studies. Jadidism emphasized the power of education as a tool for personal and national self-advancement, a development sure to disturb the traditional status quo in Xinjiang. The ruler of Xinjiang, Governor Yang Zengxin, responded by closing down or interfering with the operations of several of the new schools.
The birth of the Soviet Union influenced the Uyghurs, increasing the popularity of nationalist independence movements and the spread of the communist message. A local Communist revolutionary organization was established in Xinjiang in 1921 (Revolutionary Uyghur Union, member of Comintern), the area also served as a refuge for many intellectuals fleeing the advent of Soviet Communism in Central Asia, which formed a division within the Xinjiang Turkic independence movement.
The situation in Xinjiang deteriorated with the assassination of Yang Zengxin in 1928 and the rise to power of his deputy, Jin Shuren, who declared himself governor after arresting and executing Yang's assassin, a rival official named Fan Yaonan (樊耀南) who had planned to assume the position for himself. Autocratic, corrupt, and ineffective at managing the province's development, Jin further antagonized the populace by reinstituting Sinicization policies, increasing taxes, prohibiting participation in the hajj and bringing in Han Chinese officials to replace local leaders.
Rebellion
The situation came to a head in March 1930, when Maqsud Shah, the Khan of Kumul Khanate in eastern Xinjiang, died, leading Jin to abolish its autonomy and permit waves of Han migration from the neighboring Gansu. Jin then proceeded to impose direct taxes on the Turkic population, expropriated their farmland, and distributed it among Han newcomers from Gansu, sometimes compensating Uyghurs on poorer-quality land. Additionally, Han were made exempt from taxation for two years, with one year's amount of tax being levied retroactively for the local Muslim population.
The new garrison stationed in Hami proved even more antagonizing, and by 1931, scattered revolts, mobs, and resistance movements were emerging throughout the area. According to British missionaries Mildred Cable and Francesca French, who were resident in the Kumul area during and shortly after Jin's annexation of the Kumul Khanate, a rising against Jin Shuren was being systematically planned by prominent Kumulliks. Camels and mules were requisitioned to transport weapons, ammunition and stocks of food over little-known tracks to two former summer Khan's palaces in Aratam on the foot of Karlik Tagh Mountains and one at the natural fortress of Bardash set high in Karlik Tagh. The final straw was in April 1931 when an ethnic Chinese officer and tax collector named Chang MuYulbars Khan " A record of the memories of Yulbars " Taipei, Taiwan, 1969, page 78 wished to marry a Uyghur girl from a village Hsiao-Pu outside Hami. Uyghur accounts usually claim that the girl was raped or the family coerced, but as Islamic law forbids Muslim girls to marry non-Muslim men it was clearly offensive to the Uyghur community.
Rebellion broke out on the night of 4 April 1931, with a massacre of Chang and his 32 soldiers at the wedding ceremony; 100 Han Chinese families of refugees from Gansu also were killed, altogether with Chinese garrisons in outposts at villages Tu-lu-Hu and Lao-mao-hu near Kumul. It was not confined to the ethnic Uyghur population alone; Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Han and Hui commanders all joined in revolt against Jin's rule, though they would occasionally break to fight one another.
The Soviet government further complicated the situation by dispatching troops to come to the aid of Jin and his military commander Sheng Shicai, as did White Russian refugees from the Soviet Union living in the Ili river valley region.
The main fighting initially centered around Ürümqi, which Hui forces laid under siege until Sheng Shicai's troops were reinforced by White Russian and Manchurian soldiers who had previously fled the Japanese invasion of northeast China. In April 1933, Jin was deposed by a combination of these forces and succeeded by Sheng, who enjoyed Soviet support. Newly bolstered, Sheng split the opposing forces around Ürümqi by offering several Uyghur commanders (led by Khoja Niyaz Hajji, an advisor to the newly elected Kumul Khan Nazir (聶滋爾), the second son of recently deceased Kumul Khan Maqsud Shah, and to Nazir's eldest son and his designated heir Bashir (伯錫爾) with whom he studied together in religious school " Khanliq " in Kumul in their childhood) positions of power in Southern Xinjiang if they would agree to turn against the Hui armies in the north, led by Ma Zhongying.
Another Hui faction in Southern Xinjiang under command of Ma Zhancang, meanwhile, had struck an alliance with Uyghur forces located around Kucha under the leadership of Timur Beg, occupied Kucha without hostilities and proceeded to march towards Aksu, capturing the small town of Baicheng en route. On 25 February 1933 rebel forces entered Aksu Old City, shot all the Chinese residents and seized their property; it seemed probable that this was the work of Temur's men, as the Hui (Tungan) forces of Ma Zhancang are reported to have peacefully occupied Aksu New City, where they took possession of both the Arsenal and the Treasury, their contents were reportedly sent to the Hui headquarters in Kara Shar. Later Ma Zhancang at the head of approximately 300 well-armed Hui troops and Temur at the head of an estimated 4,700 ill-armed Uyghur irregulars resumed their advance on Maral Bashi and Kashgar. On 13 April 1933 Ma Shaowu (馬紹武), the Head of Chinese administration in Southern Xinjiang, ordered Chinese Brigadier Yang to leave Maral Bashi front and return to Kashgar with troops because of rapidly deteriorating of the situation in Southern Xinjiang, that was not improved by the refusal of the British Indian Government to send troops to the assistance of the Chinese at Kashgar despite an official request made to the British Consul-General at Kashgar N.Fitzmaurice (was in office from May 1922 to July 1922 and again from September 1931 to November 1933) by Ma Shaowu on 25 February 1933. It was all too apparent that no help would be forthcoming from Ürümqi, after the cutting of telegraph links between Kashgar and Ürümqi at Aksu. Brigadier Yang troops were attacked by Hui and Uyghur rebels on march and of his original force, estimated well over 1,000 troops, a mere sixty five had straggled back to Kashgar by 27 April. Later the joint Uyghur and Hui force surrounding Kashgar split again, as Ma Zhancang allied with the local provincial authority representative, a fellow Hui named Ma Shaowu, and attacked the Uyghur forces, killing Timur Beg.
A Kyrgyz rebellion had earlier broken out in Xinjiang in 1932, led by the Kyrgyz leader Id Mirab. Ma Shaowu had crushed and defeated the Kyrgyz rebels. The Soviet Union had been involved in also fighting against the rebels, who had spilled over to the Soviet side. In March 1932, large number of Kyrgyz were driven across the Xinjiang frontier by pursuing Soviet forces. A series of guerrilla counter-attacks against the Soviets were mounted from Chinese territory and in raids on Koksu and two other Soviet posts a total of thirty seven Soviet troops were killed.
While this was transpiring, in the nearby southern Tarim Basin city of Khotan, three brothers of rich Bughra family, Muhammad Amin Bughra, Abdullah Bughra and Nur Ahmadjan Bughra, educated in the jadidist tradition, in February 1933 had led a rebellion of gold miners who worked in Surghak mines near Keriya city, also in Yurunkash and Karakash mountain rivers, and established themselves as emirs of the city, having declared the Khotan Emirate and independence from China on 16 March 1933.
Establishment Leader of Karakash gold miners Ismail Khan Khoja sent message to Governor Jin Shuren: "Foolish infidels like you are not fit to rule.... You infidels think that because you have rifles, guns... and money, you can depend on them, but we depend of God in whose hands are our lives." Local provincial authorities and troops were annihilated by the miners throughout Khotan vilayet, rare Chinese population in most cases saved their lives and property, but was forced to accept Islam under the threat of execution. Old City of Khotan fell to rebels on 28 February 1933 with minimal resistance, the same day when rebels entered the city, while Khotan New City came under siege before surrendering on 16 March 266 Han soldiers of its garrison were spared and reportedly converted to Islam, while both the Treasury and Arsenal were captured by rebels, delivering to their hands several thousands of rifles and almost a ton of gold.
The Khotan Emirate dispatched one of the three brothers, Shahmansur, known also as Emir Abdullah, and a former publisher named Sabit Damolla to Kashgar, where they established the Kashgar Affairs Office of the Khotan Government, led by Muhammad Amin Bughra, in July 1933. By the fall of that year, the office had shed many of its links to the Khotan government and reformed itself into the multi-ethnic, quasi-nationalist East Turkestan Independence Association, which drew heavily on ideas of Islamic reformism, nationalism and jadidism.
On 12 November 1933, Sabit Damolla declared the establishment of the East Turkestan Republic with Khoja Niyaz as its president — despite the fact that the respected commander was engaged in fighting in northern Xinjiang and had allied his forces with those of Sheng Shicai. Original proclamation was extremely anti-Hui and anti-Han and contained such words: