Maqsud Shah

Maqsud Shah (Shah Mexsut, pinyin: shā-mù-hú-suǒ-tè, Uyghur: مقصود شاه; c. 1864 – 1930), was the Uyghur Jasagh Prince (Qinwang) of the Kumul Khanate in China from 1882 to 1930, he was the final ruler of the Borjigid dynasty.

Maqsud Shah
مقصود شاه
Last Khan of The Kumul Khanate
Khan of The Kumul Khanate
Reignc. 1882 – 6 June 1930
PredecessorMuhammad Shah
Successor(Position abolished)
Bornc. 1864
Kumul Khanate
Died6 June 1930
(aged around 65–66)
Kumul Khanate
IssueNasir
HouseHouse of Chagatai
ReligionSunni Islam

Background

Maqsud Shah was the Khan of Kumul from 1882 to 1930, and served as the eleventh generational ruler of the Khanate.

Maqsud's family was descended from Chaghatai Khan and had ruled the area since the time of the Yuan dynasty, though by the 20th century all the other Khanates in Turkestan had disintegrated. Maqsud spoke Turkic in a Chinese accent and often wore Chinese clothing,[1] and also spoke fluent Chinese.[2] He reputedly drank copious amounts of alcohol and did not allow anyone to take pictures of him.[3]

Reign

Maqsud Shah succeeded his uncle Muhammmad Shah in 1882 as ruler of the Kumul Khanate. The Khans were officially vassals of the Qing Dynasty, and every six years were required to visit Beijing to be a servant to the Emperor for a period of 40 days.[4][5] Unlike the rest of Xinjiang which was subjected to state-encouraged settlement, the Kumul Khanate was not opened to settlement by Han Chinese.[6] He sent melons as tribute to the Emperor.[7]

Twenty one Begs administered Kumul under the Khan, and he received 1,200 taels in silver from the Xinjiang government after he sent tribute.

In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution and replaced by the Republic of China, which promptly appointed Yang Zengxin as the new Governor of Xinjiang. Yang was a monarchist and supported the Khanate and as a result the Khanate's status as a vassal was undisturbed.

When Yang Zengxin was assassinated in 1928, the warlord governor Jin Shuren succeeded him as the governor of Xinjiang, whose period of rule was marked by strife, corruption and ethnic intolerance.

Upon Maqsud Shah's death in 1930 Governor Jin Shuren replaced the Khanate with the three provincial administrative districts of Hami, Yihe, and Yiwu. Maqsud Shah's son and designated heir Nasir[8] was not permitted to succeed him to the throne, and the succeeding events set off the Kumul Rebellion[9] with the assistance of Yulbars Khan, who served as Maqsud's chancellor at court.[10]

References
  1. Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 43. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  2. S. Frederick Starr (2004). Xinjiang: China's Muslim borderland. M.E. Sharpe. p. 74. ISBN 0-7656-1318-2. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  3. Christian Tyler (2004). Wild West China: the taming of Xinjiang. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 97. ISBN 0-8135-3533-6. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  4. Alexander Douglas Mitchell Carruthers, Jack Humphrey Miller (1914). Unknown Mongolia: a record of travel and exploration in north-west Mongolia and Dzungaria, Volume 2. Lippincott. p. 489. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  5. Alexander Mildred Cable, Francesca French (1944). The Gobi desert. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 134. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  6. James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian crossroads: a history of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  7. James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian crossroads: a history of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  8. Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 44. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  9. James A. Millward (2007). Eurasian crossroads: a history of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-231-13924-3. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  10. Kate James (2006). Women of the Gobi: Journeys on the Silk Road. Pluto Press Australia. p. 178. ISBN 1-86403-329-0. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
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