Khoja Niyaz, also Khoja Niyaz Haji ( ug, خوجا نىياز ھاجى, Xoja Niyaz Haji; ; 1889 – 21 August 1941), was a
Uyghur independence movement leader who led several rebellions in
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 northwes ...
against the
Kumul Khanate, the Chinese governor
Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren (; c. 1883–1941) was a Chinese Xinjiang clique warlord who served as Governor of Xinjiang between 1928 and 1933.
Biography
Jin Shuren was born in Yongjing, Hezhou, Gansu. He graduated at the Gansu provincial academy and ...
and later the
Hui warlord
Ma Chung-ying. He is best remembered as the first and only president of the short-lived
Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan from November 1933 until the republic's defeat in 1934.
Early life and uprisings
Khoja was born in 1889 in a small mountainous village in
Kumul Prefecture,
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 northwes ...
. He participated in his first rebellion at the age 18, joining a 1907 uprising of peasants and mountaineers against
Shah Maqsud, hereditary ruler of Kumul (who was allowed semi-autonomous rule by
Qing China
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-speak ...
). After being defeated, he fled to the
Turpan
Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015).
Geonyms
The original name of the cit ...
region, where he entered "Astana," religious school and became acquainted with future prominent
Uyghur Turpan revolutionary leaders, brothers Maksut and
Mahmut Muhiti. After one year of studying, he left Turpan and went on the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...
to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...
, adding to his name the title "
Hajji
Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...
".
In 1912, Khoja returned 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 northwes ...
where another uprising against the
Kumul Khanate, led by Temur Halpa, was developing and he joined the rebellion, quickly being promoted to the position of an adviser to the leader of uprising. Following the treacherous killing of Temur Halpa at the banquet on September 06 1913, held by Xinjiang Governor
Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin (; March 6, 1864 – July 7, 1928) was the ruler of Xinjiang after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 until his assassination in 1928.
Life
Yang Zengxin was born in Mengzi, Yunnan Province, in 1864. Though a Han Chinese, he had ...
, who previously had mediated the conflict and raised Temur Halpa to the position of Commander of Provincial Troops in the Kumul Region, Hoja Niyaz was forced again to flee.
In 1916, he came to the then-
Russian boundary town of
Jarkent,
Semiryechye Oblast, founded and populated by
Ili Uyghurs who had escaped to Russia after 1881, when
Qing troops re-took the
Ili valley of Xinjiang. In
Jarkent, he served under local Uyghur leader and wealthy merchant Valiahun Yuldashev and, after the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
erupted in 1917, helped to organize small, local Uyghur self-defense groups. After the
Russian Civil War came to Semiryechye, Hoja Niyaz met Uyghur revolutionary Abdulla Rozibakiev, one of the founders of the ''Inqlawi Uyghur Ittipaqi'' ("Revolutionary Uyghur Union") in 1921, a revolutionary nationalistic organization under umbrella of the
Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
.
Revolutionary leader
In 1923, Khoja Niyaz returned to Xinjiang, first to
Ghulja, then to
Urumchi, where he was involved in organizing underground revolutionary groups and preparing a new rebellion. In 1927, he returned to Kumul for the funeral of his father, and after the death of Kumul Khanate ruler Shah Mahsut in March 1930, Hoja Niyaz was appointed to the high position of adviser to new ruler of the Kumul Khanate.
Nevertheless, the Xinjiang Governor
Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren (; c. 1883–1941) was a Chinese Xinjiang clique warlord who served as Governor of Xinjiang between 1928 and 1933.
Biography
Jin Shuren was born in Yongjing, Hezhou, Gansu. He graduated at the Gansu provincial academy and ...
(1928–1933), sought to take advantage of the power vacuum left after the death of Shah Mahsut and decreed the abolition of the
Kumul Khanate, preventing the new ruler, Shah Mahsut's son Nazir, from assuming control. At the same time,
Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren (; c. 1883–1941) was a Chinese Xinjiang clique warlord who served as Governor of Xinjiang between 1928 and 1933.
Biography
Jin Shuren was born in Yongjing, Hezhou, Gansu. He graduated at the Gansu provincial academy and ...
arranged for Han Chinese migrants from
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...
to settle in the abolished Khanate. These events sparked the
Kumul Rebellion
The Kumul Rebellion (, " Hami Uprising") was a rebellion of Kumulik Uyghurs from 1931 to 1934 who conspired with Hui Chinese Muslim Gen. Ma Zhongying to overthrow Jin Shuren, governor of Xinjiang. The Kumul Uyghurs were loyalists of the Kum ...
in 1931, which was led by
Hui warlord
Ma Chung-ying in
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...
after his June 1931 meeting with Hoja Niyaz and
Yulbars Khan. Ma Chung-ying agreed to add his troops to the campaign to topple Jin Shuren. Hoja Niyaz also received support from the
Mongolian People's Republic
The Mongolian People's Republic ( mn, Бүгд Найрамдах Монгол Ард Улс, БНМАУ; , ''BNMAU''; ) was a socialist state which existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia in East Asia. It ...
: in autumn 1931 they provided him 600 sets of winter clothes, felt tents and 120 rifles (which were actually bartered for horses, one rifle was given for two horses).
Rebellion soon spread from the East of Xinjiang throughout the whole province and by February, 1933, when Urumqi was laid siege by joint Uyghur and Hui troops, the Provincial Government controlled no more than 10% of Xinjiang's territory. On April 12, 1933, General
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 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'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule ...
came to power in Xinjiang after former Governor
Jin Shuren
Jin Shuren (; c. 1883–1941) was a Chinese Xinjiang clique warlord who served as Governor of Xinjiang between 1928 and 1933.
Biography
Jin Shuren was born in Yongjing, Hezhou, Gansu. He graduated at the Gansu provincial academy and ...
was toppled off in March by the mutinied Russian Cossack troops ( retreated to Northern Xinjiang in 1921 after losing civil war in Russia), who previously were mobilized by Jin Shuren into Provincial Army in late 1931 in desperate attempt to quell Rebellion. Sheng Shicai gained support from USSR after confirming all secret agreements that previous Governor concluded with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
and in June 1933 he made an alliance with Hoja Niyaz against
Ma Chung-ying. Previous alliance between Hoja Niyaz and Ma Chung-ying was destroyed following the battle of
Jimsar. On this battle Hoja-Niyaz forces suffered heavy casualties, but forced garrison of Jimsar to surrender. Ma Chung-ying forces during the battle guarded mostly the flanks and the back of joint troops, while Uyghur troops were put into the frontal attack on Jimsar fortress. Hoja-Niyaz agreed to provide the free retreat of besieged garrison in exchange of weapons of the fortress' Arsenal. But at night, Ma Chung-ying suddenly came to the fortress, seized all Arsenal (12,000 rifles, 6 machine guns and 500,000 bullets) and joined Chinese garrison to his Tungan troops. He refused to share weapons of the seized Arsenal with Hoja-Niyaz, that outraged the latter. This happened on May 28, 1933 and on the next few days Hoja-Niyaz already met with the representatives of Soviet Consul-General in Urumchi Apressoff to start peaceful talks with Sheng Shicai. Agreement of alliance between
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 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'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule ...
i and Hoja-Niyaz was signed on June 4, 1933 and at this time the Soviets gave Hoja Niyaz "nearly 2,000 rifles with ammunition, a few hundred bombs and three machine guns." The newly appointed Soviet Consul in Urumqi, Garegin Apresoff, who arranged negotiations, forced Hoja Niyaz to turn his troops against Tungans (Hui) forces, and that eventually led to the rebellion's turning into massacres between different national groups, and its defeat in the hands of Provincial troops.
Hoja Niyaz marched his troops across Dawan Ch'eng to Toksun, where he was defeated at the
Battle of Toksun
The Battle of Toksun () occurred in July 1933 when Khoja Niyas Hajji, a Uighur leader, defected with his forces to the newly enthroned government of Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 3 December 189513 July 1970) was a Chinese warlord who rule ...
by Tungans under General Ma Shih-ming.
Hoja Niyaz then fell back to Kashgar on January 13, 1934, retreating from
Aksu through a 300 miles-long march by
Tengri Tagh mountain road along the Soviet/Chinese border, bypassing this way general
Ma Fuyuan's Tungan forces who waited him on the main road from Aksu to Kashgar, and assumed the Presidency of the self-proclaimed Turkish Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan or
First East Turkestan Republic
The Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET; ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان تۈرك ئىسلام جۇمھۇرىيىتى, , Шәрқий Түркистан Түрк-Ислам Җумхурийити; ) was a short-lived breakaway ...
. Joining the break-away republic went against his deal of June 4, 1933 with Sheng Shicai (the so-called ''
Jimsar Agreement'' in 7 articles, in this Agreement Hoja-Niyaz dropped his claims to Northern Xinjiang or
Jungaria in exchange of recognizing his rights for the whole territory south of
Tengri Tagh, including
Kashgaria,
Turpan Depression and
Kumul Depression, in this Agreement all this vast territory was granted " Autonomy " and Chinese promised not to cross Tengri Tagh, that divides Xinjiang onto two parts ). However, offensive of Tungan forces, direct Soviet military intervention into Xinjiang and Soviet ultimate support of Sheng Shicai led to the defeat of East Turkestan Republic by June 1934.
Death
There are contradictory statements about his death. Though appointed by
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 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'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule ...
as the Vice-Chairman of the Xinjiang Government and "Civil Governor for life" of the Xinjiang province in 1934, Khoja Niyaz actually was separated from his troops and held in Urumchi as a puppet under close supervising of Soviet agents. He was denied his request to meet
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
in person and to settle the Xinjiang issue in accordance with the
Right of nations to self-determination, which was officially supported by the USSR in its revolutionary doctrine. In November 1937, following the Rebellion of the 6th Uyghur Division under general
Mahmut Muhiti against the Provincial Xinjiang Government at
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
,
Artush,
Yarkand,
Aksu,
Kucha
Kucha, or Kuche (also: ''Kuçar'', ''Kuchar''; ug, كۇچار, Кучар; zh, t= 龜茲, p=Qiūcí, zh, t= 庫車, p=Kùchē; sa, कूचीन, translit=Kūcīna), was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road ...
and
Karashar in April-October 1937 in Southern Xinjiang, Khoja Niyaz was arrested in
Urumchi and allegedly executed in 1938. The death penalty was approved by
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, Khoja Niyaz and his 120 followers were labeled as counter-revolutionary "
Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...
sts" and "Japanese agents." Khoja Niyaz rejected all accusations against him saying that they were all fabricated by
Sheng Shicai
Sheng Shicai (; 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'' or Military Governor of Xinjiang. His rule ...
. Being sentencing to the death penalty, Khoja Niyaz said in his last words: ''This death sentence is not new for me. Actually, I have died in a day when I came to Urumchi'' (he meant his departure from
Aksu in August 1934 after negotiations with Soviet Consul-General in
Urumchi Garegin Apresov, who urged him to come to Urumchi and accept the offer from Sheng Shicai to become a Vice-Chairman of Xinjiang Government, Commander of 6th Uyghur Division Mahmut Muhiti was against this move, considering that it will affect badly Uyghur cause for independence),'' I will die, but my People will continue to live...Revolution will not be terminated''. He reportedly told a visitor (Ziyauddin) that "''I trusted Apresoff and relied on his guarantee, now look what Sheng Shih-ts'ai has done to me. I'm his prisoner. Go tell Apresoff of my predicament''", but Apresov was nowhere to be found.
Other versions speculate he was held alive in prison as far as summer 1943, when he was executed on the orders of
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
, who restored
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
control over Xinjiang in 1943 following Sheng Shicai expelling Soviet military personnel and advisers from the province. It is reported that he was strangled to death in his cell after spending 14 months in jail.
The name Niyas was used for a son of
Yulbars Khan.
See also
*
Islamic Republic of East Turkestan
*
Sabit Damolla
References
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoja Niyaz
1889 births
1941 deaths
Uyghurs
East Turkestan independence activists
History of Xinjiang