In 1755, Qing forces under the Qianlong Emperor defeated the Dzungar Khanate in the Ili region, ending Dzungar rule as a major Inner Asian power. The conquest opened the way for Qing authority to expand across the northern part of what later became Xinjiang.
After the initial Qing victory, the Oirat leader Amursana rebelled against Qing plans to divide Dzungar power. The revolt pushed the Qing court to pursue a harsher, larger military campaign to secure the region and prevent renewed steppe confederations.
By 1759, Qing campaigns had extended effective imperial control across both Dzungaria (north of the Tianshan) and the Tarim Basin oases (south of the Tianshan). However, the Qing governed these zones through different arrangements, reflecting their different populations and geographies rather than treating them as one province.
In the 1760s, the Qing expanded and fortified the town later known as Dihua (today’s Ürümqi), strengthening their military and administrative presence in northern Xinjiang. This city would later become the provincial capital when Xinjiang was reorganized as a province.
Beginning in the 1860s, a large-scale uprising in northwest China (often called the Dungan Revolt) disrupted Qing governance across Gansu and into Xinjiang. The conflict drained Qing resources and created openings for new local regimes to form in Xinjiang.
In 1865, Yaqub Beg moved into the Tarim Basin oases and built a state centered on Kashgar, challenging Qing authority in southern Xinjiang. His regime showed how far Qing control had collapsed during the wider unrest in the northwest.
In 1871, the Russian Empire occupied the Ili (Ghulja) region while Qing forces were tied down by rebellion. The occupation became a major diplomatic and security issue for the Qing, because Ili was a strategic gateway into Xinjiang.
In the mid-1870s, Qing commander Zuo Zongtang pushed west from Gansu to restore imperial rule. His campaign combined military operations with logistics and state-building measures meant to keep an army supplied across long distances.
In 1876–1877, Qing forces under Zuo Zongtang and his commanders defeated Yaqub Beg’s armies, ending the Kashgaria/Yettishar regime. Yaqub Beg died in 1877, and Qing authority was reimposed across most of Xinjiang soon after.
In October 1879, the Qing envoy Chonghou signed the Treaty of Livadia with Russia to resolve the Ili occupation, but the terms were widely viewed in China as too favorable to Russia. The Qing court refused to ratify it, triggering a diplomatic confrontation often called the Ili crisis.
On February 24, 1881, Qing China and Russia signed the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (also called the Treaty of Ili). It arranged for Russia to return the eastern part of the Ili region to Qing control, though with territorial and financial concessions, helping stabilize Xinjiang’s western frontier after the reconquest.
After military control was restored, Qing leaders debated how to prevent another collapse of authority. In 1883, senior officials such as Tan Zhonglin and Liu Jintang memorialized the throne to create a formal Xinjiang province, aiming for tighter administration and clearer budgeting and command structures.
In 1884, the Qing government formally created Xinjiang Province, applying the provincial system used in China proper and unifying northern Dzungaria and the southern Tarim Basin under one top-level administration. This marked a major shift from earlier Qing practice, which had governed the north and south as separate regions.
With the new province in place, Liu Jintang was appointed as the first Governor of Xinjiang (serving into the late 1880s). The new governorship helped institutionalize post-war reconstruction, tax collection, and civil administration as a permanent part of Qing rule rather than a temporary military occupation.
After provincial creation, the Qing shifted the province’s administrative center from Ili to Dihua (today’s Ürümqi). Placing the capital at Dihua reflected Qing priorities: defend the northern corridor and run the province from a more central, better-connected garrison city.
By 1885, the provincial reorganization had turned the reconquest into a lasting administrative structure: a single province with a governor, provincial-style institutions, and a capital at Dihua. This reform became the Qing’s main framework for governing Xinjiang until the dynasty fell in 1911–1912, shaping later state control in the region.
Creation of Xinjiang Province and late-Qing provincial reforms (1884–1885)