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

Chinese Tatar Chinese Tatars ( zh, s=塔塔尔族, t=塔塔爾族, p=Tǎtǎ'ěrzú; tt-Cyrl, Кытай татарлары, translit=Qıtay tatarları) form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The number of ...

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

Second East Turkestan Republic The East Turkestan Republic (ETR) was a short-lived satellite state of the Soviet Union in northwest Xinjiang (East Turkestan), between November 12, 1944, and December 22, 1949. To differentiate it from the First East Turkestan Republic (1933� ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He defected to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the 1962 Yi–Ta incident, amid the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

. He died in Alma-Ata (Almaty),

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, in 1992.

Biography

Iskhakov was born to an ethnic

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

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

family in the Chinese city of

Ghulja YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...

in 1923. A

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, Iskhakov was imprisoned for two years under the regime of

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 o ...

, after which he joined the

Ili Rebellion The Ili Rebellion () (Üch Wiläyt inqilawi) was a Uyghur separatist movement backed by the Soviet Union against the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China in 1944. After the start of the rebellion, the rebels established the Provision ...

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

Ili National Army The East Turkistan National Army, also known as the Ili National Army (), was the army of the East Turkestan Republic (ETR) that originally consisted of six regiments: the Suidun Infantry Regiment, the Ghulja Regiment, the Kensai Regiment, the ...

of the

. Following the

Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China The incorporation of Second East Turkestan Republic/Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China in 1949, known in Chinese historiography as the Peaceful Liberation of Xinjiang, refers to the takeover of the Republic of China's Xinjiang Provin ...

in 1949, Iskhakov joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

and accepted a commission in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

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

Xinjiang Military Region The Lanzhou Military Region was one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directed all People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Ngari Prefecture i ...

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

Sino-Soviet Split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

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

, 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 ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...

in 1962.

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