In early 1755, the Qianlong Emperor sent major Qing forces into Dzungaria (north of the Tian Shan) to defeat the Dzungar Khanate. The campaign aimed to end a long frontier rivalry and bring the region under Qing control.
After the initial Qing victory, the Oirat leader Amursana turned against the Qing in 1755 and rallied remaining Dzungar forces. His revolt forced the Qing to return in strength and escalated fighting across the Ili valley and surrounding steppe.
In 1756, Qing armies retook Ili and continued campaigns aimed at dismantling Dzungar political power. Amursana fled toward the Kazakh steppe, widening the conflict and turning the conquest into a regional security operation.
Starting in 1757, the Altishahr Khojas led an uprising in the Tarim Basin’s oasis cities (southern Xinjiang). The revolt showed that controlling Dzungaria did not automatically secure the Muslim-majority south, pushing the Qing to expand governance deeper into the region.
By 1759, Qing forces defeated the Khoja rebellion and brought both Dzungaria and the Tarim Basin under Qing authority. This marked the effective completion of the Qing conquest of what later became known collectively as Xinjiang.
In 1762, the Qing court created the office of General of Ili to oversee military and administrative control across the newly conquered region. The post anchored Qing rule from the Ili basin and coordinated separate systems for areas north and south of the Tian Shan.
In 1851, the Treaty of Kulja (Kuldja) regulated Qing–Russian trade in the Ili and Tarbagatai areas and opened specific towns to Russian commerce. It increased Russia’s economic foothold in Qing Central Asia and set the stage for deeper Russian involvement during later crises.
From 1862 to 1877, widespread Muslim-led revolts and related fighting (often grouped under the “Dungan Revolt”) destabilized Qing authority across northwest China, including Xinjiang. In many places Qing administration collapsed or survived only in isolated strongholds.
Beginning in 1864, Yakub Beg took advantage of the unrest to establish control over much of southern Xinjiang, centered at Kashgar, creating a rival regime often called Kashgaria. This challenged Qing authority and drew attention from neighboring empires that wanted influence in the region.
In 1864, Qing China and the Russian Empire signed the Treaty of Tarbagatai (also called the Chuguchak protocol) to demarcate much of their Central Asian border. The agreement transferred a large area to Russian control and narrowed Qing strategic depth in the northwest.
In July 1871, Russia occupied the Ili (Yili) region, claiming it was protecting its citizens while Qing authority was weakened. The occupation created an international crisis and raised the stakes for Qing reconquest and diplomacy.
In the late 1870s, Qing forces advanced back into Xinjiang and dismantled Yakub Beg’s state. Yakub Beg died in May 1877, and by that point the Qing reconquest had effectively ended the independent Kashgaria regime.
In February 1881, the Treaty of Saint Petersburg settled the Ili crisis by returning most of the occupied Ili area to Qing China, while also requiring concessions such as an indemnity. The treaty restored Qing territorial control but confirmed Russia’s continuing leverage in the region.
In 1884, the Qing state reorganized its northwest holdings by establishing Xinjiang (“New Frontier”) as a formal province. This change merged previously separate northern and southern administrative systems into one provincial structure, marking the culmination of Qing expansion and long-term consolidation after conquest, revolt, and foreign pressure.
Qing expansion into Dzungaria and Xinjiang (1755–1884)