Inkar Bahejuli: The collection and cognition of political and military information on Kokand in the Qing Dynasty in the mid-to-late 18th century

In the mid-to-late 18th century, the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to collect information about the movements of Central Asian tribal regimes such as Kokand, Kazakh, and Burut. The trading caravans that traveled between the merchant towns of Central Asia and Kashgar and the Erut fugitives who defected to the Qing Dynasty provided the Qing with crucial information. The information covers political, military, and diplomatic developments in the Fergana Basin, Tashkent, and the Transoxiana region of Central Asia. This paper presents the operation of the information collection mechanism in the northwest frontier of the Qing Dynasty, and then discusses the Qing Dynasty's perception of the political situation in Central Asia in the mid-to-late 18th century.

The interaction between the Qing Dynasty and Kokand was an important topic in the history of Xinjiang and Central Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries, attracting the attention of many researchers. Preliminary studies rarely start with the Qing Dynasty's collection of information on Kokand, and examine the interaction between the Qing Dynasty and the Central Asian regimes, including Kokand, and the Qing Dynasty's understanding of the situation in Central Asia. In the process of pacifying the Western Regions, the Qing Dynasty established contacts with the Kazakh, Burut, Kokand and Badak mountain regimes. Driven by the practical needs of operating the Western Regions, the Qing Dynasty consciously collected information on the tribes of Central Asia. So, in the mid-to-late 18th century, what kind of information flow existed between the Qing Dynasty's northwestern frontier and the Fergana Basin, Tashkent, and even the Hezhong region? Through what channels did the Qing Dynasty collect information about the Kokand, Kazakh, and Burut and other frontier tribes and regimes? When receiving information about the security of the frontier, what measures did the Qing Dynasty take? These questions are important aspects of the Qing Dynasty's operation of the information collection mechanism in the northwest frontier and the Qing Dynasty's understanding of the political situation in Central Asia.

The Qing Dynasty began to contact Kokand in the process of pacifying the size and Zhuo, and the two sides formally established contact in the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong (1759). With the frequent political and economic exchanges between the Qing Dynasty and Kokand, envoys, caravans, and fugitives brought a lot of information about the political and military aspects of Kokand to the Qing Dynasty. Among them, information related to border security was particularly valued by the Qing Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty border ministers also took the initiative to send people to Kokand, Tashkent and other places to investigate and verify such information. In view of this, this paper examines the Qing Dynasty's information collection on the power struggle of the Kokand ruling class and the military expansion of the Kokand ruler Erdeni Berk, and discusses the operation of the Qing Dynasty's information collection mechanism in the northwest frontier and the Qing Dynasty's understanding of the political situation in Central Asia in the mid-to-late 18th century.

1. On the power struggle of the ruling family in Kokand

In the early days, Kokand was only one of the city-states in the western part of the Ferghana Basin, and was not only constantly attacking the neighboring Uzbek tribes, but also repeatedly harassed by the Dzungars. In 1709, Shahru, the head of the Uzbek Mingge tribe, established the Shahru dynasty, and the Kokand Khanate began to appear on the stage of history. After Shahru's death, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdureim. After the assassination of Abdurreyim in 1734, the throne of Kokand passed to his brother Abdur Garim. Kokand was under the military threat of Dzungaria for a long time. Abdureeim's eldest son, Bababok, was taken hostage to Dzungaria. After the death of Abdulgarim in 1751, he was succeeded by Erdeni, the brother of Baba Berk. When the Dzungars heard the news, they tried to interfere in the political situation in Kokand: "After learning of the death of Abdur Garim, the Kalmyks sent Baba Burk back to Kokand and declared: 'Know that he is the eldest son of Reim Khan and that he deserves power.'" Kokand accepted this command and put him on the throne for almost a year. In less than a year, high-ranking officials gathered their troops to Besh-Arik, where Bababak was killed, and Erdeni reclaimed his name as Khan. From this, it can be seen that Dzungar put Bababak on the throne of Kokand through military threats, and achieved short-lived success. However, Dzungaria's move sparked a fierce revolt within Kokand, and eventually Baba Burk was executed, and Erdeni ascended the throne of Kokand again.

The Qing Dynasty had access to considerable information about the transposition of Kokand Burke and the power struggles within the ruling family. In June of the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong (1761), the information collected by the Kashgar Counsellor said:

The minions heard that Rain Bek, the father of Erdeni Berk in Kokand, was originally the chief of Andijan and Margalang in Kokand. Erdeni Berk's uncle, Abdukerim Bek, was the chief of Margarang, Berk. Ten years earlier (1751), after the Kokand tribes had killed Raibek, Abdul Rim Berk returned from Margalang and rescued Erdeni Berk and his brother Babai Bek, and took care of him. Abdul Rim Berk was the leader of Kokand. After the death of Abdul Kerim Berk, the brothers Babba Berk and Erdeni Berk competed for the leader Berke, and Erdeni Berk killed his brother to become the leader of Kokand. Abdurman, the son of Abdul Kerim, is called the son of his uncle, and he is stationed in the city of Kokand, in the language of Abdurman, the wife of Erdeni Berk's own sister. Aqim Gadaimert reported that Abdukerim and others, who had returned to Kashgar from the Kokand trade, Hojo Raim, who had returned from the Andijan trade, and Saidak, who had returned from Edegana to take care of the Kokand trade, had formed a party with Hojiyat (Khujand) Pisel Bi. The letter of the appointment for the murder of Erdeni Berk was discovered by Erdeni Berk's people and brought to Erdeni Berk, who killed Abdul Berk with evil thoughts in his heart. In the words that he did not report it, he also killed Abdureman's wife, the sister of Erdeni Berke.

The above information reveals the details of the change of throne of the Kokand monarch in the 50s of the 18th century and the power struggle within the ruling class. First of all, regarding the death of Baba Burke, the record in the Kokand history books differs from the above-mentioned Qing intelligence. According to the Kokand history books, Baba Bok was put on the throne by Dzungar less than a year before he was executed by high-ranking officials in Kokand, and Erdeni was able to return to the throne. Qing intelligence indicated that Bababok had been killed by Erdeni. Secondly, another important element of the above information is the power struggle between Erdeni and his cousin Abdureman. Abdureman was the son of Abdur Garim, who fled Kokand after an unsuccessful attempt to seize power during the regime change. When Erdeni came to power, he recalled Abdureman to the Kokand court and entrusted him with important positions. Regarding the fate of Abdureman, the Kokand history books contain:

This détente brought a long-awaited harmony to the Shahrus, but it caused panic among the rest of the court, who saw Abdureman's return as a threat to the monarch himself or to their own careers. After deliberation, Erdeni Burke's magnates, Idris/Iris Qul Biy and 'Abd al-Rahman Bahadur, concluded that it would be as dangerous for Erdeni to allow his reformed and ambitious cousin to return, as if "a viper was left in his sleeve." One night, they infiltrated Abdurreman's room and killed him and Oyjan Oyim.

It is likely that the above account was to protect Erdeni's reputation and blame others for Abdureman's death. The Kokand history books do not contain any punishment of Idris (Iris) Qul Biy or 'Abd al-Rahman Bahadur, who were instead promoted to senior officers. The information obtained by the Qing Dynasty indicated that Abdureman was killed by Erdeni. It can be seen that when Erdeni ascended the throne of Kokand, he not only killed his own brother Baba Burk, but later got rid of his cousin Abdureman in order to consolidate his dominance. The early Kokand regime was not only full of fierce and bloody power struggles, but also faced its old enemy in the southwest, the "Peselebi of Khotzyat", the leader of the Yüz tribe Fizrbi, who ruled the city of Khujand and Uratiyube (present-day Istaravshan), Tajikistan. Next, the Qing Dynasty gathered information about Erdeni's conquest of Pesel, which gives us reason to believe that it is highly likely that Abdureman colluded with Fezrbi to plot against Erdeni.

2. About the Kokand conquest of Khujand

Throughout his life, Erdeni devoted himself to the unification of Ferghana, conquering the cities of Khujand, Uratiyube, and even Samarkand in the southwest. From the 25th year of Qianlong to the 33rd year of Qianlong (1760-1768), the Qing Dynasty inquired about the war situation between Khuzhan and Kokand by questioning envoys, fugitives, caravans, and sending people to visit the war, and gradually understood the situation in the Ferghana Basin and the Transoxiana region.

In the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong (1760), the Qing Dynasty's guard Sono Muche Leng, who had returned from his trip to Kokand, reported his observations to the Kashgar Counsellor, and the Qing Dynasty learned of the complex political situation in the Hezhong region and the Ferghana Basin:

According to the minions who went to Kokand to listen to the situation in Buhar, Ablhali Khan of Bukhar was 12 years old and was the grandson of Yolborso Khan of Urhunci. Due to his young age, Atalk Daniyer Bi is now in charge of Bukhar affairs. This year Pisel captured Samarkand, and then captured the three cities of Pashabe, Yan Horhan, and Kitek Horhan in Bukhar. When Pesele went to take Buhar, Erdeny Berk wanted to take the Pisele nomads, but could not fight. When Pesere returned to take the three cities of Pashabeth in Bukhar, there was a war between Bukhar and Kokand, and the people of Pesel plundered all the traders who had gone from Kokand to Buhar. Erdeny Berk and Pesele fought against each other. According to what has been heard, both sides want to take Bukhar.

The content of this information mainly reflects the fierce rivalry between Kokand and Khujand, but also the political situation in the Bukhara Khanate in the Transoxiana region and even the Khiva Khanate in the Khorezm region. At the beginning of the 18th century, with the decline of the Bukharazani dynasty, many Uzbek tribes in the Transoxiana region and the Ferghana basin broke away from Bukhara's control. In 1740, the Persian ruler Nadir Shah invaded Bukhara, and the Zani dynasty was overthrown. In 1747, after the assassination of Nader Shah, the Uzbek Mangit Department established the Third Dynasty of the Bukhara Khanate, known as the Mangit Dynasty. The Mangit tribe had been with Shaybani in Central Asia since the 16th century, when they were not powerful tribes, but only gradually gained power during the Zani dynasty. In 1756, the Mangit dignitary Mohammed Reim ascended to the supreme power of the Bukhara Khanate under the name of "Amir". However, the legal status of Genghis Khan's lineage still lingered in the Mangit dynasty, and in Bukhara and Khiva, when the original representatives of the new dynasty died, their heirs were content to accept lower titles and revert to the custom of assisting the puppet Khan from the descendants of Genghis Khan to inherit the throne. During the reign of Daniyar in the Bukhara Khanate, Abulhazi was proclaimed Khan. "Ablhali" or Abulhazi Khan was "the grandson of Yolborso Khan of Urgenzi". Yulbāreso, or Ilbārs (1728-1740), "was a member of the Kazakh Khanate, the Golden Family of Genghis Khan." It can be seen that although Abulhaqi, who had the bloodline of the golden family at this time, was only a puppet Khan, the Bukhara Mangit dynasty still attached importance to the political and legal unity of Genghis Khan's bloodline. And "Atalik Dani Yarbi" was actually the uncle of Muhammad Reim, Daniyar, who ruled the Bukhara Khanate as "Atalik". Daniyar formally retained the throne of Abulhazi, but all power in the Bukhara Khanate was in his own hands. According to the Bukhara Khanate, Atalik (meaning "father" or fatherly status) was the first supporter and protector of the Amir; Atalik had to maintain a father-son relationship with the ruler and treat the rest of his subjects in the same way. Nominally, the title of Atalik was given to respected experienced elder emirs, i.e., "knowledgeable, loyal, and well-informed", but in fact Atalik was so important that they were paid in the form of fiefs. By the mid-to-late 18th century, Atalik was still the most powerful figure in the Bukhara Khanate.

Only a year after the change of monarchy and regime in Bukhara, the political situation in Central Asia fell into chaos again, and the Uzbek tribes represented by the Yuzi tribe broke free from the control of the Bukhara Khanate, and even tried to capture the city of Bukhara. Konuma pointed out that Erdeni took advantage of the change of power and the decline of power in the Bukhara Khanate to step up its westward expansion, and also tried to play an intermediary role between the Qing Dynasty and Bukhara, taking the opportunity to elevate its political authority. Another important piece of information reflected in this intelligence was the expansion of Erdeny Berk and its military conflict with Peselebok. "Pisel" was Fizrbi, the leader of the Uzbek Yuzi tribe who controlled the cities of Khujand and Uratiyube at that time. Judging from the intelligence collected by the Qing Dynasty, at that time he had already conquered the cities of Samarkand, Pashabe, Yankhorgan, and Kyitekhorgan, and approached the city of Bukhara. And Erdeni of Kokand also stepped up his westward expansion, intending to capture the city of Khujand. This is also corroborated by relevant Central Asian texts, which state that the Bukharamangit dynasty soon began to decline, and with the death of Reim, many tribes, including Kenagath, Bakhrion, Burquat, Sare, and Yuzi, began to revolt. Fizr, the leader of the Yuzi tribe who ruled the cities of Uratepe and Khujand, captured Jizzak, Khatirqi, Katakurgan and Samarkand, with the aim of capturing Bukhara and making himself the ruler of the country.

From the 26th to the 29th year of Qianlong (1761-1764), Qing Dynasty fugitives and caravans successively learned that Erdeni led troops to conquer Pisel. In October of the 26th year of Qianlong, Yonggui, the counselor of Kashgar, once reported: "Erdeni Berk attacked the Piselebak of the Jiyat Department, and although the great imam of Kokand and Jiyat were sent to make peace, there were still places to spy on each other. According to what has been heard so far, there are still things of discord and contention between the two sides. It can be seen that Erdeni has been committed to the conquest of Khujand, and the contradiction between Kokand and Khujand has never been resolved, which can be verified from the information brought to the Qing Dynasty by Erut fugitives and caravans in the 29th year of Qianlong (1764). As the Qing Dynasty settled in the Western Regions, the Eruts who had been exiled throughout Central Asia returned to the Qing Dynasty, and their personal experiences provided the Qing Dynasty with key information about the situation outside the border. Therefore, one of the most important measures taken by the Qing courtiers before reconciling these surrendered Erlute fugitives was to conduct detailed interviews with them to obtain confessions. In August of the 29th year of Qianlong, according to the report of Nashitong, the counselor of Kashgar, Boroqi and five other Eruts escaped from Margalang, a subordinate province of Kokand, and defected to the Qing Dynasty. Nastone immediately took very detailed confessions from the five Eruts, according to Borozi and others:

In the spring of this year, after the return of the envoys sent by Kashgar to Kokand, Erdeni Berk and Rishuli led the cities of Kokand, Margalang, and Andijan, and the Buruts of Hala Galbak, Isiklik, and Hibchak, plus our Erut, with a total of 8,000 troops, to conquer and conquer Heziyat Pisel......

The Qing Dynasty learned about Erdeni's expedition and the composition of the army through the Eruts, and the number of Erdeni's army showed that it was a large-scale military operation, while the composition of the Kokand army reflected that some of the Burut tribes were under Erdeni's control at that time. According to the Erut and others, "there are still more than 1,000 Eruts outside the city where Erdeni Burke lives, and wherever they go out, they are scouted in front and guarded in the back when they turn back", which shows that the Eruts who actively or passively flowed into the Ferghana region at that time participated in the Erdeni military campaign. During this period, the Qing Dynasty still kept a close eye on the military operations in Kokand, and the news that Erdeni led his troops to conquer Pisel was soon verified by the Kokand merchants.

Since the Qing Dynasty settled in the Western Regions, the trade markets in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains have also prospered, and the Kashgar market has attracted merchants from Brut, Kokand, Badak Mountain, Tashkent and other places to trade, "Brut, Hokhan, Andijan, Margalang and other traders are endless." Long-distance trade caravans operate in multilaterally linked trade networks and become important channels for the transmission and circulation of information. The Qing Dynasty's garrison ministers in Kashgar paid great attention to obtaining information from caravans. In August of the 29th year of Qianlong (1764), according to the Nashitong report, seven Kokand merchants arrived in Kashgar because they were carrying fewer goods, and they were suspected of spying on the news. Naston immediately ordered the Akim Berk Kadaimert of Kashgar to get a message from these merchants. In this process of obtaining information, Kadaimert plays a very important communication role:

Recently, according to the Karen newspaper, seven trade returnees from Kokand have arrived. The minions and others saw that their goods were scarce, presumably to inquire about the news, so they secretly tried to ask the Kokand merchant Sadak and others to drink (wine) and probe them (from their mouths). The next day, Kadaimert came to tell me that yesterday I had brought Sadak and others to my house to drink bitterly, and when they asked them, Sadak and others said: We and Berke had been constantly conquering and conquering Ziyat Piselebok. In the spring of this year, Erdeni Berk, together with Rishuli Bek, led an army of 8,000 against Peselebok, and on the way heard that Ishham Berk Abduriyam had been arrested for carrying a message to him, and withdrew his troops back to Kokand. Now there is no news of the use of troops against Pesel. Pesel also made a campaign against the tribes of Bukhara, and because they were often attacking, the tribes of Pesel did not come to Kokand in order to defend the place......

This memorabilia vividly illustrates the process of gathering information from merchants in the Qing Dynasty, and the key communication role played by Kadai Mert can be seen. Kadai Mot was originally a Wushi nobleman, who defected to the Qing Dynasty in the 21st year of Qianlong (1756), and was awarded the title of Duke for his meritorious service in assisting the Qing Dynasty in pacifying the South Tianshan Road. From the 25th to 40th years of Qianlong (1760-1775), during the period of serving as Kashgar Aqimu Boke, Kadaimert not only controlled the long-distance trade caravans in and out of the "return to Xinjiang", but also was responsible for receiving Kokand envoys, selecting "cronies and Hui people" to visit Kokand and other places, and contributed a lot to the envoys, trade, communication and transmission of information between the Qing Dynasty and Kokand. In other words, the resources such as the connections and business networks that Kadaimert himself mastered in the "return to Xinjiang" also contributed to the Qing Dynasty's collection of information from outside the border. At the time of the "Abdul Layim Incident", Erdeni was afraid that the Qing Dynasty would send troops to ask for guilt and hurriedly withdrew to Kokand to defend it. After that, the Qing Dynasty began to pay special attention to Erdeni's military operations, and took the initiative to investigate its specific situation through various channels.

In the thirtieth year of Qianlong (1765), officials in Kashgar of the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to send people to inquire about the situation of the war between Erdeni and Pesel, and learned the specific circumstances of Erdeni's defeat. In April of the same year, Kadaimert sent his "cronies" Doriyat Mert and other pretended merchants to the Kokand trade route to inquire about the details of Erdeni's defeat at the siege of the Pesel. In this regard, Bai Kun, the deputy minister, believed that "Erdeni defeated the siege for Pesel, and the person who was punished for his great power is true, and it is also consistent with what he inquired about in the past." The Qing Dynasty not only learned about the specific situation of the attack of Erdeni and Pesel, but also made an assessment of the power of Kokand as "greatly punished". The Kashgar side still kept a close eye on "what happened to Erdeni and what happened to Kokand and Andijan," and Bai Kun ordered Kadaimert to accompany several "reliable returnees" for Doriyat Mert, and sent them to Andijan and Kokand with commercial goods and pretended to trade to secretly check all the information. At the same time, officials in Kashgar of the Qing Dynasty also learned about the situation in Kokand through the envoys of Brute. In May of the same year, Azibi, the leader of the Brut Edgne tribe, sent an envoy to Kashgar with Borkhodai and others, and Bai Kun immediately ordered Kadai Mot to secretly inquire about the situation of the battle between the Brut envoy Erdeni and Pesel, and then learned that "Erdeni was besieged by Pesel, and its strength was very weak, and Bukhar and Samarkand and Zhuo made Yi and others reluctantly return from the war". This news was confirmed by an envoy sent by Kashgar to Kokand. In June of the same year, Kadaimert arranged for Doriyat Mert and others to go to Kokand to deliver Zavin, and to pay attention to the situation of the war between Kokand and Pesel. According to Doriyat Mert's return:

I set out from Kashgar, walked for 15 days to Kokand, met with Erdeni Boke on the fifth day, and after handing over the general's letter to him, Erdeni Berk ordered me to take a seat, and asked the general and the minister if they were okay and whether the prince Aqimu Boke was well. etc. Doriyat Mert replied that the general's minister, the Akimu, were all well. Erdeni also said that all the people sent to Hajj had been gathered, and that Baimet would be sent when he returned. Since then, Erdeni has eaten and eaten with me three times, and each time 100 people sit in rows and eat on both sides. I have heard through the people of Erdeni that when I was given food and drink, there were Piser's envoys, who came to seek the Piseres whom Erdeni had plundered before. Doriyat Mert and I secretly visited the battle between Erdeni and Pesel, and they were all the same as I had said during my previous visit to the place of Edgne, and although the situation of the men and cattle in Kokand was not excessively exhausted, they were defeated by Pesele and suffered heavy losses.

Doriyatmer's visit confirmed the information he had previously obtained from the defeat of Erdeni in the Brut Edgene. In short, in the thirtieth year of Qianlong (1765), officials in Kashgar of the Qing Dynasty took the initiative to inquire through various channels and learned that Erdeni was defeated by Pesele and his power was greatly damaged. In terms of the source of information, in addition to sending spies to spy visits, merchants and envoys also provided key information to the Qing Dynasty. Judging from the way of obtaining information, Kashgar Aqimu Boke Kadaimert sent his subordinate Doriyat Mert and others to Kokand and Burut to investigate the nomadic herding several times, which contributed a lot to the Qing Dynasty to obtain relevant information in a timely manner.

From the 32nd to the 33rd year of Qianlong (1767-1768), the Qing Dynasty learned from a long-distance trade caravan that Erdeni had captured the city of Khujand. In the thirty-second year of Qianlong, the Brut merchants who came to trade in Wushi revealed to the counselor minister Yonggui:

When Pesele was unsuccessful in the battle with Erdeni and fled to Bukhar with two soldiers, the son of Pesel, Hūdayar, failed to rally a crowd (to resist) and offered the city of Heziyat to Erdeni. So Erdeni killed many of them, and Hudayar fled with more than 100 men. Erdeni led the Kokand tribes to occupy the city and garrison it. It was also heard that Pesel had two soldiers from Bukhar and was stationed in the city of Jidzak, near Hoziat. The Kazakhs consulted with Pesel and wanted to make peace with Erdeni, so Pesel took his daughter-in-law, Abu Lai.

In order to verify this information, Yonggui immediately questioned the Kokand and Andijan merchants of the caravan, and the situation described was the same as that of the Burut merchants. It can be seen from this that Erdeni had captured the city of Khujand, and after the defeat of Bukhara, Pesel wanted to fight against Erdeni with the Kazakh alliance. The Ili side immediately learned that the Kazakhs were moving south to attack Erdeni. In June of the 32nd year of Qianlong, the Kazakh leader Abulai sent an envoy to the Qing Dynasty, saying, "Now we are going to fight with it (Erdeni), but they do not go to war, and enter the city to defend it." In the 33rd year of Qianlong, the Kashgar minister Iltu asked the merchant Moro and Zhuo, who had returned to Kashgar from the Kokand trade, not only verified the information that Erdeni had captured the cities of Khujand and other cities, but also learned about their specific situation:

Erdeni Berk had occupied the cities of Hoziat and Oroduba for two or three years. In the summer of last year, Peselbi led his troops to conquer the city, and came to Ulu Tub to fight with Rashuli, but failed to conquer the city and still turned back. Later, Hudayarbak, the son of Peselbi, married the daughter of Atilik Bek Taniyar, a young man in the city of Bukhar who was still young and had all the affairs of Atilik Berktaniyar. Because of his marriage, Atilik Berctaniar assisted the soldiers of Peselbi, and they took the city of Samarkand captive. When Peselbi joined forces with Atilik Berktaniyar to capture Uludub and Heziyat, Erdeni Burke heard that Israel was so powerful that he was afraid of losing the cities of Heziyat and Uluduba, so he led his troops to Uluduba in March this year......

The content of the above information provided by the Kashgar merchants can be summarized as follows: first, Erdeni has captured the cities of Khujand and Uratiyube; Second, after losing power, Pesel defected to and married Atalik Daniyar, the de facto ruler of the Bukhara, and after receiving military support, he tried to recapture the lost city. The protracted conquest between Erdeni in Kokand and Piserbek in Khujand reflects the complex historical entanglement between the Uzbek tribes in western Ferghana. As early as the beginning of the establishment of the Kokand regime by Shahru, the leader of the Mingge tribe, he had an alliance and marriage with the Yuzi tribe. At that time, the Yuzi tribe was relatively powerful, controlling most of the western part of the Ferghana Basin, including the cities of Khujand, Jizzak, and Uratiyube. During the period when Erdeni's biological father, Abdureim, was sent to Khujand, he grew up to be a cadre and was quite popular among the Yuzi army; However, the ruler of Khujand, Akbotabi, was strongly disturbed and attempted to assassinate Abdureyim. After Abduraim returned to Kokand to inherit the throne, he went to Khujand to strike at Akbottabi and his two sons. In 1734, Abduraim was assassinated in Khujand. It can be seen that at that time, the ruling families of the Yuzi Department and the Mingge Department had a long-standing grudge and a feud with each other. In addition, Khujand is an important hub connecting the Transoxiana region with the Fergana Basin, and is the only outlet to the western part of Fergana. Therefore, in addition to the feud with the Yuzi tribe, the important strategic position of Khujand City connecting Ferghana and the Transoxiana region was also an important reason for the continuous conquest of Erdeni and his successors.

3. On the conquest of Tashkent in Kokand

Tashkent is located in the center of the oasis in the Chilchik River Valley, a tributary of the right bank of the Syr Darya River, south to the northwest of the Ferghana Basin, and is an important economic and political hub in Central Asia. The Qing Dynasty successively learned about the fierce competition between Kokand and Kazakhstan for Tashkent by asking merchants or sending people to investigate. In the 23rd year of Qianlong (1758), in order to pursue the remnants of Dzungaria, the Qing Dynasty entered the Fergana Basin and the city of Tashkent and established contact with the ruling class there. According to the field visits of Qing Dynasty officers and soldiers, the city of Tashkent was under the control of the Kazakh Great Yuz at that time. The Kazakh Great Yuz was headed by Abilis Khan, assisted by political strongmen such as Turibai. Among them, the power of Turibai was quite strong, and the affairs of the Kazakh Great Yuz and Tashkent City were all in charge of it alone. According to the Qing Dynasty officials and soldiers revealed to the Qing Dynasty officials and soldiers that after the Kazakh Eshmu Khan (1598-1643) captured Tashkent, the cities of Tashkent, Selim and Shymkent paid tribute to the Great Yuz Khan. Due to the western expedition of Dzungaria, some Kazakhs fled to the Bukhara Khanate, and by the time of Galdantse zero, Dzungaria captured Tashkent and sent personnel to collect taxes. After the Qing Dynasty pacified Dzungaria, Kazakh rulers continued to collect taxes from Tashkent. Zhuo Lan said that four Hezhuo were in charge of Tashkent, but after their deaths, they were deposed because the two sons of Hezhuo could not succeed. One is Shada, the son of Sanazar and Zhuo, and the other is Thurzhan, the son of Saidat and Zhuo. Although they were in charge of affairs on their father's behalf, due to their lack of management ability at a young age, Abilis Khan and Turibai of the Kazakh Grand Yuz appointed Mordosamush as Hezhuo to take charge of affairs together. Turzhan expelled Mordosamush for this, and the Kazakhs questioned Turzhan and Zhuo Xingbing. The conflict between them was then mediated by the Qing Dynasty guards, and each of them "returned to sincerity" and sent the Qing Dynasty. According to Central Asian sources, Hozhuo in Tashkent was seen as a man like the Kazakh Khan, with power in his own city; In Fergana, the struggle between Kazakhs and Uzbeks resulted in the end of the 17th century when power shifted to the local nobility and the Zhuo, who constituted a closed class throughout Central Asia, including the Khiva Khanate. Judging from the field visits of the Qing Dynasty guards, Tashkent was ruled by Shada, Turzhan and Mordosamush at that time. After the fall of Dzungaria, the Kazakh Grand Yuz regained control of Tashkent and supported and Zhuo Mordo Samush to manage the Tashkent Hui.

In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762), the Qing Dynasty learned that there was a fierce struggle within the Tashkent and Zhuo regimes, and the Kazakh, Kokand, and Khujand forces were involved. During this period, Erdeni Berk of Kokand led his troops on several expeditions and revealed his intention to conquer Tashkent:

According to the report of the prince Aqimu Kadaimert and others, Ismain, the Hui son who came from the Kokand trade, and Temur, the merchant of Edgne, said that the eight stations on the north side of Kokand were Tashkent, and that Tashkent was originally headed by Shedi and Zhuo (i.e., Shada) and Moro Shamusi (i.e., Mordo Samush). Later, Shedi and Zhuo became nomadic and stronger, and because the tribe of Morosammusi was weak, the place to which Moroshamusi belonged was taken captive by Shedi and Zhuo. So, Morosamsi went to Erdenibek in Kokand and knelt down to tell him about it. Erdeni Berk led his army to Tashkent, and took the land that had been taken from Morosamsi, and returned it to Morosamsi. After that, Shedi and Zhuo wanted revenge, entangled the Western Kazakhs and the nomads of Heziyat Piselebek and others who plundered Morosamsi, and also killed their two sons. Therefore, Morosamunsi sent people to inform Erdeni of this situation, and now Erdeni led an army of 5,000 to Shedi and Zhuo. It was also heard that Pisel of Hoziyat had also led an army to aid Tashkent......

According to the Kokand and Burut merchants, Tashkent was "divided and ruled" by Shada and Zhuo and Mordo Samush at that time, and the previous Turzhan and Zhuo were not mentioned at all, and he may have been excluded by the Kazakh Grand Yuz and withdrew from the political arena of Tashkent. After being excluded and oppressed by Shada and Zhuo, he turned to Kokand Erdeni for help. It can be seen that the "alliance" between the Tashkent and Zhuo classes and the secular regime is not stable, and the control of Tashkent by Hezhuo actually depends on the military strength of its supporters.

The Qing Dynasty not only learned about the turbulent situation inside Tashkent, but also learned of the secret connection between Kazakhstan and Kokand in Tashkent. In order to verify this information related to border security, the Qing Dynasty linked the information network of the north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains to investigate the relationship between the Kokand, Kazakh, Burut and other tribal regimes, and made an assessment of the border security situation. In the twenty-ninth year of Qianlong (1764), the Erlut people who had returned from Central Asia once told the Qing Dynasty border officials: "Hohan Erdeni Burke and Kazakh Taiji Abulai and others sent envoys to and fro, but after I garrisoned troops in Ili, I and other tribes joined forces with white hat tribes to try to become strong." This message from the Eruts to the Qing Dynasty was the aftermath of the 1760 incident in which the ruler of Aiwuhan, Ahmadshah, instigated the Muslim regimes of Central Asia to try to establish a so-called "anti-Qing alliance." Although the Qing Dynasty expressed doubts about its authenticity after learning of the news, the Qianlong Emperor believed that Erdeni was likely to be secretly colluding with the Kazakhs because Erdeni had refused to welcome the Qing envoy and had previously communicated with the Kashgar Yishihan Berke Abdul Layim. As a result, Emperor Qianlong immediately arranged intelligence reconnaissance work for the officials stationed in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and ordered the officials of Kashgar to visit Abulai and Erdeni in detail whether they had met with envoys, and on the Ili side, he ordered General Mingrui and Counselor Ailonga to pay close attention to visiting Kazakhstan. Garrison officials in Kashgar and Ili separately conducted secret investigations into whether Kokand and Kazakh envoys had been in contact with Tashkent. In the area of the North Tianshan Road, the Qing Dynasty used Ili and Tarbagatai as hubs to establish an information-gathering mechanism for the Kazakh steppe through questioning fugitives, caravans, and routine border patrols. At that time, the Ili officers and soldiers patrolled the border, because their patrol route reached the Kazakh nomads, so the Ili general Mingrui "sent the guards, officials, Erut, etc., who can be used to inquire about the news of the Kazakhs, and sent them with Eluna." I arrived there and made a secret inquiry." In March of the thirtieth year of Qianlong, Ili Counselor Ailonga reported the information of his visit to the Kazakh steppe:

Originally, there were two Tashkent chieftains, one was Burke, the chief of Tashkent City, and the other was Berke, the chief of seven forts outside Tashkent. Last year, Kokand Erdeni Berk led more than 1,000 troops, recruited seven forts outside Tashkent, killed the chieftain Sadu Hojo (Shada and Zhuo), and put the seven forts under the control of Molo Samsu, the chief of Tashkent City, and Erdeni married the daughter of Morosamsu. Now it is rumored that Erdeni has conquered Pessel again, and is at war.

From this, it can be seen that Erdeni personally led his troops to Tashkent to get rid of Sheda and Zhuo, and also supported Mordosamsh and Zhuo to manage Tashkent, and went to Khujand to conquer Pesel. As for Kashgar, Aqimu Bok Kadaimert sent Yuduk to Tashkent to pretend to be a businessman to find out whether "Erdeni and Kazakhs should be sent by Tashkent or not." In June of the thirtieth year of Qianlong, Yuduke returned from Tashkent and reported in detail what he had seen and heard in Tashkent:

According to the Aqimu Bok Kadaimert who came to tell him today, Yuduk, the Hui son who had been sent to Tashkent to inquire about it, returned on the fourth day of the first month of this month to report that Yuduk and I set out from Kashgar on the 20th day of the first month and arrived in Tashkent on the 18th. Abu Lai and Abulbis, who secretly visited Kazakhstan, exchanged envoys from Tashkent to Erdeni Berk in Kokand, and whether or not they had a meeting with Iraq himself. All the Tash cadres said that Abulai, Erdeni and others did not send envoys to each other, and Yi and others were not invited to the meeting. Yuduk and I took advantage of the conversation to inquire from Kazakh merchants whether there were any people who had gone to Kokand from Tashkent to trade, and they all said that because Erdeni Burk had captured our Tashkent region last year, the Kazakhs of Ulukyuz (i.e., Great Yuz) near Tashkent were still fighting with Erdeni for our places. However, there were a few Kazakhs stationed in Sanji, Etok, etc., in the western border, and there were those who went to trade with Kokand in the absence of the armistice, and there were no Kazakhs in other Etok, etc., who went to trade with Kokand. Yuduk and I wanted to stay in Tashkent for a few more days, so that I could make another visit to verify the truth of these words and whether the Kazakh and Kokand tribes had any contacts, so I stayed in Tashkent for the time being. On the eighth day, thousands of troops led by the Kazakh Sanji, Hiheime, Cimir, and Yusun arrived in Tashkent and besieged the city. Later, when the Kazakhs and others captured Tashkent, Yuduke I took the opportunity to secretly go out of the city and return quickly when the Kazakhs and others were stationed in Tashkent. However, when he arrived at Margalang, he fell ill and was unable to walk, so he rested there for several months and then returned......

The information brought by Yuduke to Tashkent dispelled the Qing Dynasty's concerns about the secret connection between Kokand and Kazakhstan. Previously, the Qing Dynasty had already learned the details of the repeated attacks of the Kokand and Yuzi tribes through the investigation of Kashgar, and the Ili side also learned about the mutual raids of the Kazakh and Burut. The information collected by the garrison officials in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains is sufficient to show that not only are Kokand and Kazakh facing their own rivals, but the two sides are also in a state of hostility over Tashkent, and the possibility of the so-called "Kazakh and Kokand joining forces to become strong" is very small. Many sources of information are enough to make the Qing Dynasty have a clear judgment of the situation outside the border, as Bai Kun assessed: "During this period, Erdeni and Pisele formed an army, and for the sake of Tashkent and made enemies with Urukyuz Kazakhs, and the traders did not interact. For a long time after that, Kokand was in a state of fierce war with Kazakhstan for the city of Tashkent, which is reflected in the information collected by the Qing Dynasty one after another. For example, in February of the 32nd year of Qianlong (1767), Yonggui, the counselor of Ushi, heard from the Burut merchants that "when the Erdeni of Kokand conquered Pesel and attacked each other, the Kazakh Abu Lai came to take the place where they were invaded by Erdeni and occupied Tashkent, and when Erdeni sent Baturu Abdurman to fight, Abdul Reman was killed by Abu Lai, and (Abu Lai) occupied the city of Tashkent." Hanbaba, the Kazakh Khan, led more than 1,000 soldiers to garrison the city with Tulio near Tashkent", Yonggui immediately verified the news by asking the Kokand merchants who had come to trade with the Burut merchant. Kazakh, Kokand, Burut and other tribal regimes often had disputes or large-scale military conflicts due to complex competing interests, and the parties involved sent envoys to the Qing Dynasty for help or ruling. For example, in June of the 32nd year of Qianlong, in order to fight for the city of Tashkent, the Kazakh Abu Khan sent an envoy to borrow troops and guns from the Qing Dynasty to attack Erdeni. However, in this regard, the Ili general Agui believed that "the robbers of Kazakhs, Burut, and Kokand are common things in their affairs, and it is not appropriate for our side to intervene", so he rejected the request of the Kazakh envoy on the grounds that "Kazakh and Kokand are both the great emperor's Albatu, and Erdeni has never committed a crime, so how can he help the same side of Albatu and destroy the other side." It can be said that the Qing Dynasty has always adopted a policy of "non-interference" to maintain the balance of the existing power structure in the face of inter-ethnic disputes outside the border that did not challenge its authority or pose a threat to the security of the frontier. In the forty-fourth year of Qianlong (1779), the Qing Dynasty fled and heard the news that "the son of Kokand Erdeni Berk led more than 10,000 troops to take more than 1,000 people from the nomadic Hongjarat (Gonggorat) and Etok Kazakhs in Tashkent, and took them to exile as promised". In the face of the fierce conflict between Kazakhstan and Kokand, the Qing Dynasty always maintained a position of "non-interference". Kokand and Kazakhstan fought for Tashkent for more than half a century, until the Qing Dynasty learned that Kokand (during the period of Arim Khan) had captured Tashkent in the 15th year of Jiaqing (1810). Bordered by the Kazakh steppe in the north and the Chirchik Valley, a tributary of the Syr Darya River in the south, Tashkent is an important trade hub between steppe nomads and sedentary people in the middle of the river. It can be said that Tashkent was both a major route for military conflicts or invasions between the steppe regimes, as well as a connection point for the oases to the steppe trade routes, thus becoming the focal point of economic, political and military control. Therefore, from this point of view, Tashkent's important economic and geopolitical position is one of the important reasons for the struggle for power among all parties.

From the perspective of ensuring the security of the Northwest Frontier, the Qing Dynasty paid close attention to the military operations in Kokand and its interaction with the tribal regimes in Central Asia. By collecting relevant information through various channels, the Qing Dynasty not only learned the details of Kokand's Erdeni Berk's repeated conquests of Khujand and tried to fight for Tashkent, but also had a fairly timely understanding of the decline of the Mangit dynasty of the Bukhara Khanate and the situation of the wars between the tribal regimes in the Central Asian region and the Ferghana Basin.

The Qing Dynasty was flexible and diverse in its methods of gathering information on the Kokand, Kazakh, and Burut tribal regimes. In the area of the South Tien Shan Road, Kashgar is the main hub, and the movements of political and military activities in Kokand are kept abreast of the movements of political and military activities by questioning caravans, emissaries and fugitives. The long-distance trade caravans between the major trading towns of Central Asia and Kashgar became the main source of information for the Qing court to obtain information on the political and military situation in Ferghana and the Hezhong region. The Eruts who came to the Qing Dynasty in exile in Central Asia also provided key information to the Qing Dynasty through their own experiences that they had heard and witnessed. In the process of investigating the military operations in Kokand, the Akim Berk Kadaimert of Kashgar not only personally questioned the merchants of Kokand, but also sent his subordinates to Kokand, Tashkent and other places to inquire about the news, playing a very important role in the process of obtaining information. As a result, Kashgar became an important "Central Asian information station" of the Qing Dynasty. On the North Tianshan Road, with Ili and Tarbagatai as the center, they also learned about the situation in the Kazakh steppe in a timely manner through routine border patrols and questioning fugitives, caravans, and envoys. The Qing Dynasty's collection of information on Kokand, Kazakh, and other Central Asian tribal regimes was mainly oriented towards border security, and the most obvious example is Qianlong's investigation of whether there was a "joint effort" between Kazakhstan and Kokand in the 29th to 30th years. With the help of the linkage of the information network in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, the Qing Dynasty not only learned about the situation outside the border in a timely manner, but also made a practical and effective assessment of the border security situation. For the history of Kokand, the information collected by the Qing Dynasty was invaluable as a record of its contemporaries. In particular, the information about the power struggle of the ruling family in Kokand, to a certain extent, makes up for the lack of Kokand court archives in the same period, and can be regarded as an important material for examining the original appearance of relevant historical events and referring to and verifying with Kokand historical books. This article was originally published in the second issue of "Research on the History and Geography of China's Frontiers" in 2023.