General of Ili
Chinese:伊犁將軍
Government Flag
Mingrui, a respected general and the nephew ofQianlong Emperor, served as the first General of Ili
Style	Governor
Status	Head of state Head of government
Residence	Office of General of Ili (in present-dayHuocheng,Xinjiang)
Term length	undefinitive
Formation	1762-1911
First holder	Mingrui
Final holder	Elehun

TheGeneral of Ili (Chinese:伊犁將軍;pinyin:Yīlí Jiāngjūn Officially總統伊犁等處將軍), also known as theViceroy of Ili, and in western sources as theKulja Military Governor, was a position created during the reign of theQingQianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1799) to "pacify"Dzungaria (now part ofXinjiang) and suppress uprisings by theKhoja "Rebels". The General of Ili governed the entirety of Xinjiang duringQing rule until it was turned into aprovince.

Based in Huiyuan City (惠远城;惠遠城; nowHuiyuan Town,Huocheng County),^[1] in the Qing delineated greaterXinjiang region in the northwest of China, the general was the senior military commander in the area.^[2] In 1759, Qing generalZhao Hui [zh] (Manchu: Zhaohuui) suppressed theRevolt of the Altishahr Khojas and reestablished Qing control over the western part ofXinjiang. As a result, in 1762 the Qing court established the position of General of Ili withMing Rui as the first incumbent.^[2]

At the same time, the offices of Military Attache orDūtǒng (都統) andImperial Resident (駐紮大臣) were created under the general to manage military affairs north and south of theTian Shan range of mountains. The northern circuit (天山北路) orTarim Basin was administered by the Ili Ministerial Attache (伊犁參贊大臣), five Ministerial Leaders (領隊大臣), a Tarbagatai Ministerial Attache (塔尔巴哈台参赞大臣;塔爾巴哈臺參贊大臣)^[A] and a Minister of Affairs (辦事兼領隊大臣). In the south (天山南路) orAltishahr there was a General Minister for Altashahr Affairs (總理回疆事務參贊大臣) responsible forKashgar, Ye 'erqiang (葉爾羌; nowYarkant County), Yingjisha'er (英吉沙尔; nowYengisar County),Uqturpan County,Aksu,Kuqa County, Hetian (和闐; nowHotan) and Kalash'er (喀喇沙爾 nowKarasahr) amongst others. In the western circuit (東路 theUrumqi Military Command (烏魯木齊都統) was responsible for Gucheng (Chinese:古城; nowQitai County),Barköl Kazakh Autonomous County,Hamiting [zh] (nowHami City) andKur Qara Usu [zh] (nowWusu) among other locations.

In 1763, theQianlong Emperor ordered the construction of the new city of Huiyuan on the north bank of theIli River as a base and headquarter for the General of Ili. Thereafter, Huiyuan became the capital of the Qing Xinjiang Region. A further eight fortified cities were then constructed across theIli or Dzungarian Basin: Ningyuan City (寧遠城; nowYining City), Huining City (惠寧城; now Bayandai Township [巴彥岱鎮) 10–18 kilometres (6.2–11.2 mi) west of Yining), Taleqi City (塔勒奇城; now part ofHuocheng County), Zhande City (瞻德城; now part ofQingshuihe County), Guangren City (廣仁城; now Lucaogou Town (蘆草溝鎮 in Huocheng County), Gongchen City (拱宸城; nowKhorgas City), Xichun City (熙春城; now part of Yining City) and Suiding City (綏定城; nowShuiding Town).

The headquarters of theManchu bannermen was in Huiyuan and Huining while theGreen Standard Army was distributed across the remaining towns with their commander in Suiding.Uyghur merchants (including theTaranchi) resided in Ningyuan. Their affairs were managed by the General of Ili through the EastYamen (东衙门;東衙門;Dōng Yámén).

In 1864, during the reign of theTongzhi Emperor, theXinjiang Hui Rebellion [zh] broke out concurrent with theDungan Revolt of 1862-77 further east. On 8 March 1866, a large force of Hui Muslims captured the General of IliMingsioi's Yamen. He committed suicide by blowing himself up but his predecessor Cangcing (Chinese:常清;pinyin:Cháng Qīng) was captured and paraded through the streets.^[3]

AfterTzarist Russia invaded the Ili Basin in 1865 they demolished Huiyuan then in 1876 Qing GeneralZuo Zongtang, at the head of a large army, endedYaqub Beg's occupation of the southern part of Xinjiang. In 1881 the Qing army recaptured the Ili Basin and two years later rebuilt Huiyaun 7.5 km (4.7 mi) north of its former site. This new settlement was known historically as "New Huiyuan" (新惠遠).

Xinjiang officially became aprovince in 1883 with its capital at Dihua Fu (迪化府 modern dayUrumqi) and Huiyuan gradually lost its political importance; the General was to defend the north of the new province until the position was abolished following the 1911Xinhai Revolution.

• Xinjiang under Qing rule
• Mongolia under Qing rule

• Military history of the Qing dynasty
• History of Xinjiang

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