| Dzungar conquest of Altishahr | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Dzungar Khanate Turfan Khanate Kumul Khanate | Yarkent Khanate | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Galdan Boshugtu Khan[1] 5th Dalai LamaAfaq Khoja | Ismā'il Khan (POW) Prince Bābak Sultān † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 120,000[2] | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
TheDzungar conquest of Altishahr resulted in theOirat ledDzungar Khanate inDzungaria conquering and subjugating theGenghisid-ruledYarkent Khanate inAltishahr (theTarim Basin insouthern Xinjiang). It put a final end to the independence of the Yarkent Khanate (the last Chagatai successor state).[3]
Altishahr, referring to the southern Tarim Basin, was the core territory of theChagatai Yarkent Khanate. By the mid-17th century, the Khanate, resisted the rising Oirat power Uunder Abdull ̄ah Khan, beating back Oirat inroads into theKhotan region andAksu.[4] The pressure from the Oirats began to increase in Abdull ̄ah Khan’s later years, under the Dzungar khong taiji,Sengge (1653–71). A bitter battle between Sengge and Abdull ̄ahKhan ended in a truce; but the Dzungars now began to encouragec Abdull ̄ah’s son Yolb ̄arsto rebel against him.[5][6]
The Naqshbandi SufiKhojas, descendants of the ProphetMuhammad, had replaced the Chagatayid Khans as the ruling authority of the Tarim Basin in the early 17th century. There was a struggle between two factions of Khojas, the Afaqi (White Mountain) faction and the Ishaqi (Black Mountain) faction.
In 1678,Ismail Khan drives out to the Aq Taghliq Khoja ofAfaq Khoja, seeking assistance from the5th Dalai Lama, who in turn writes a letter to theDzungar Khanate's leaderGaldan Boshugtu to intervene on his behalf.[3]
After reaching his letter, Galdan had moved to the cities ofHami andTurpan, capturing or sieging the cities by 1679.[7][8] Later the following year Galdan led 120,000 Dzungar cavalry into the Tarim basin, advancing through Aksu and Uch- Turfan,Kashghar,Yarkand[9] and Khotan killing Ismail's family and establishingAbd ar-Rashid Khan II as the regional ruler.[10][11]The 5th Dalai Lama received war spoils from the Dzungar Khan Galdan which were seized from the Muslims. The Muslims were called "heretics" by them.[12]
After Galdan had occupied Yarkand, he did not hand over power to Afaq Khoja, who had rendered outstanding service to him, but appointed one of the members of the old Chaghatay family, Abdu’l Rash ̄ıd Khan II, son of B ̄ab ̄a Khan of Turfan, as khan and made him his vassal. He then led his troops back to the north of theTian Shanattacking theKazakh Khanate. Tensions soon arose between Abdu’l Rash ̄ıd Khan and Afaq Khoja, however, with the latter fleeing the region once again. In 1682 riots erupted in Yarkand and Abdu’l Rash ̄ıd Khan fled toIli; his younger brother Muhammad Am ̄ın was thereupon established as khan.[13]
Muhammad sought help from theQing dynasty,Khanate of Bukhara, and theMughal Empire in combating the Dzungars. In 1693, Muhammad conducted a successful attack on the Dzungar Khanate, taking 30,000 captives. Unfortunately Afaq Khoja appeared again and overthrew Muhammad in a revolt led by his followers. Afaq's son Yahiya Khoja was enthroned but his reign was cut short in 1695 when both he and his father were killed while suppressing local rebellions. In 1696,Akbash Khan was placed on the throne, but thebegs of Kashgar refused to recognize him, and instead allied with theKyrgyz to attack Yarkand, taking Akbash prisoner. The begs of Yarkand went to the Dzungars, who sent troops and ousted the Kyrgyz in 1705. The Dzungars installed a non-Chagatayid ruler Mirza Alim Shah Beg, thereby ending the rule of Chagatai khans forever. Abdullah Tarkhan Beg ofHami also rebelled in 1696 and defected to the Qing dynasty.[14]