Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares a 2,019 kilometre-long border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia.[2] There are nine ports of entry in Ili Prefecture at the national level, including Jeminay and Khorgas. Directly administered regions (Chinese: 直辖区域) within the prefecture cover 56,622 square kilometres (21.08 per cent of Ili's total area) and have a population of 4,930,600 (63.95 per cent of Ili's registered population).[3]Kazakhs in China are the second largest ethnicity in the prefecture after the Han, and make up a little over a quarter of the population.
Ili is the only autonomous prefecture in China that has prefectures (Altay and Tacheng) under its administration. The term "sub-provincial autonomous prefecture" (副省级自治州) has often been applied to Ili, but it has no legal basis under Chinese law and is a misnomer.
History
Early history
A golden mask inlaid with rubies, likely from the First Turkic Khaganate (552–603). It was excavated at the Boma tomb in Zhaosu County and is a part of the Ili Prefecture Museum's collection.[4]
Ili came under the control of the Uyghur Khaganate in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Qara Khitai in the 12th century, and Genghis Khan in the 13th century. The Oirats, specifically the Dzungars, conquered Ili at the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century.[citation needed]
Map of the Ili region, c. 1809. It is "upside down", i.e. the south is on the top and the west on the right. The nine fortified towns are shown as double rectangles.
Qing dynasty
The Dzungar Khanate controlled both Dzungaria and the Ili basin until 1755, when the region was conquered by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty under the Qianlong Emperor. Having defeated the Dzungars in the Dzungarian and Ili basins, as well as the AfaqiKhojas in Kashgaria, the Qing court decided to make the Ili basin the main base of their control in Xinjiang.
In the 1760s, the Qing built nine fortified towns in the Ili basin:
Old Huiyuan was the residence of the General of Ili from 1765 to 1866. New Huiyuan was the residence of the General of Ili from 1894 to 1912. Historically known as New / Manchu Kulja or Ili.
Also known as New / Manchu / Chinese Kulja. Renamed Shuiding in 1965. Residence of the General of Ili from 1762 to 1765 and 1883 to 1894. County seat of Suiding County (1888–1965) and Shuiding County (1965–1966).
Huiyuan Cheng, as the residence of the General of Ili, the chief commander of Qing troops in Xinjiang, became the administrative capital of the region. It was provided with a large penal establishment and a strong garrison. This city was called "New Kulja", "Manhcu Kulja" or "Chinese Kulja" by foreigners to distinguish it from Ningyuan / Yining, known as "Old Kulja" or "Taranchi Kulja".
The first General of Ili was Ming Rui. The Qing tradition, unbroken until the days of Zuo Zongtang in the 1870s, was to only appoint Manchus as officials in Xinjiang.
Tacheng (Chuguchak) was among the towns that suffered greatly during the Muslim revolt of 1864.
During the Muslim revolt of 1864, Dungans and Taranchis of the area formed the Taranchi Sultanate. Huiyuan Cheng was the last Qing fortress in the Ili basin to fall to the rebels. The Dungan rebels massacred most of the city's inhabitants; Governor General Mingsioi (Mingxu) assembled his family and staff in his mansion and blew it up, dying under its ruins.
The insurrection led to the occupation of the Ili basin by the Russians in 1871. Ten years later, part of the territory was returned to China in accordance with the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg.
In October 1884, the Qing government officially approved the establishment of Xinjiang Province and the local political system in Ili consequently went through major reforms. The Amban (軍府制) and Baig systems (伯克制) were abolished and replaced by circuit, urban prefecture, prefecture, and county systems. The position of General of Ili was renamed Ili Garrison General (伊犁駐防將軍) and its responsibilities were greatly reduced. The Ili Garrison General would only oversee the military affairs of Ili and Tacheng instead of the whole of Xinjiang, the latter responsibility being delegated to the newly-created position of Xinjiang Grand Coordinator (新疆巡撫).[9] The Ili Garrison General was based in Huiyuan Town.
Yita Circuit (伊塔道) was formed in Ili and Tacheng in 1888, as a subdivision of Xinjiang Province. It was headquartered in Ningyuan County (present-day Yining). Yita Circuit was divided into Ili Prefecture (伊犁府), Tacheng Directly Administered Division (塔城直隸廳), and Jinghe Directly Administered Division (精河直隸廳). Altay region was formed from Khovd (科布多; seat in Khovd Town) in 1904.[9]
Modern history
The Xinhai Revolution broke out on 10 October 1911. Under the leadership of Yang Zuanxu (楊纘緒), a general of the Ili New Army, an armed rebellion against the Qing broke out on 7 January 1912. The rebels occupied Huiyuan Town and killed Zhi Rui (志銳), the Ili Garrison General. On 12 February 1912, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established in Beijing, and on 15 March, it ordered the Xinjiang Grand Coordinator, Yuan Dahua (袁大化), to end Qing rule in Xinjiang.
With the end of hostilities between Qing and Republican forces, the position of Grand Coordinator of Xinjiang was abolished and replaced with the position of Military Governor of Xinjiang (都督). Guang Fu (廣福), Zhi Rui's predecessor as Ili Garrison General, was appointed Xinjiang's first military governor. On 25 April, Yuan Dahua was forced to resign as Grand Coordinator of Xinjiang. On 18 May, Yang Zengxin (楊增新) was recommended for the position of Military Governor of Xinjiang. On 8 July, the Qing and Republican governments signed a peace agreement, which stipulated that the position of Ili Garrison General would be replaced by the position of Defence Governor of Ili (伊犁鎮邊使), under the direct supervision of the Republican government in Beijing. Guang Fu was subsequently appointed as the first Defence Governor of Ili. The agreement also recognised Yang Zengxin as the top military and political authority in all of Xinjiang.
In August 1912, the Republican government adjusted Ili's administrative divisions. The Defence Governor of Ili headquarters were established in Huiyuan Town, the Counsellor's (參贊) in Tacheng, and the Business Executive's (辦事長官) in Altay. Yita Circuit (伊塔道) was retained to govern local civil affairs; it was placed under the administration of the Defence Governor.
The position of Ili Defence Governor became vacant after Guang Fu died of illness on 1 February 1914. Yang Zengxin flew to Beijing to petition the Beiyang government (Republican government) to appoint Yang Feixia (杨飞霞) as Guang Fu's replacement. The appointment was approved by Beijing, and the administrative jurisdiction of the position was transferred from the central government to the government of Xinjiang Province. Yita Circuit was then divided into two circuits, Ili and Tacheng, in 1916. The Circuit Governor of Tacheng (塔城道尹) replaced the Counsellor of Tacheng (塔城参赞) with the establishment of Tacheng Circuit.[9]
In 1919, the Beiyang government placed the Altay Chief under the jurisdiction of the government of Xinjiang Province and Ashan Circuit (阿山道) was established from the Altay region. In August 1939, by decree of the Beiyang government, the mingyan (千戶長) and centenari (百戶長) administrative divisions were abolished and replaced with district and township divisions. Kazakh pastoral affairs were gradually integrated into local government services.[9]
Ili Prefecture (伊犁專區) was established in 1943, with 11 counties and Xinyuan Division (新源設治局; present-day Xinyuan County) under its administration. The 11 counties were Yining, Suiding (綏定; part of present-day Huocheng), Khorgas (present-day Huocheng), Gongliu, Tekes, Gongha (鞏哈; present-day Nilka), Ningxi (寧西; present-day Qapqal), Jinghe, Bole, Wenquan and Zhaosu.[10] In December 1953, the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region was established. It was declared a prefecture-level division under the jurisdiction of Xinjiang Province, with the three prefectures of Ili, Tacheng, and Altay under its administration. Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture was created in July 1954 from the counties of Bole, Jinghe, and Wenquan, three counties of Ili Prefecture. Ili Kazakh Autonomous Region was renamed Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture on 5 February 1955.[11]
Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe Railway, G218 National Highway, G217 National Highway and S316 Provincial Highway pass through the autonomous prefecture. It has a 2,019 kilometre-long international border with nine ports of entry, including Khorgas, Bakhty, and Jeminay. Due to its strategic location in the middle of Asia, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture has become an important commercial hub and dry port for trade with Europe and the Middle East.[2]
In the autonomous prefecture, there are four types of landforms: 83,632 square kilometres of mountains, 62,989 square kilometres of hills, 102,974 square kilometres of plains, and 20,439 square kilometres of desert. Three major mountain ranges – the Altai, Dzungarian Alatau, and Tian Shan – stand from the north to south, with year-round ice and snow. Friendship Peak in Burqin County is the highest peak of the Altai mountain range, standing at 4,374 metres high. The snow line is 3,000 to 3,200 metres high, the glacier area is 293.2 square kilometres, and the glacier reserves are 16.4 billion cubic metres. The peaks of the Dzungarian Alatau are 3,500 to 3,700 metres high. The snow line of Tian Shan is 3,600 to 4,400 metres high with a glacier area of 3,139 square kilometres, and its glacier reserves are 118.5 billion cubic metres.[12]
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture administers the directly-administered, county-level city of Yining; 2 other county-level cities; 7 counties; 1 autonomous county; and the two prefectures of Altay and Tacheng, despite Ili being a prefecture-level division itself.[13]
A 2015 report provided the following ethnic breakdown of the population: 1,934,571 Han (41.2 per cent), 1,257,003 Kazakhs (26.8 per cent), 819,701 Uyghurs (17.45 per cent), 433,045 Hui (9.2 per cent), 75,597 Mongols (1.6 per cent), 34,457 Xibe, 22,428 Kyrgyz, 8,298 Uzbeks, 8,298 Daurs, 5,394 Russians, 5,199 Manchus, 2,852 Tatars, 153 Chinese Tajiks and 91,749 "others".[16]
Ethnic breakdown in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, 2018
Ili's major tourist attractions include the Narati Grassland, Guozigou Lake, and Kanas Lake. In 2015 alone, Ili has seen over 25 million travellers and earned over CN¥19 billion (US$2.92 billion) in tourism revenue.[18]
Transport
Road and railway
An extensive road network is being built across the prefecture for economic development. In 2015, 66 million passengers travelled on Ili's roads.
The railway has extended to the northern extremes of Altay and the westmost city of Khorgas on the China–Kazakhstan border.
^Office of the Ili Prefecture Historical Almanac (新疆伊犁地区史志办公室) (2000). 伊犁历代移民开发与世居民族的形成. 新疆大学学报（社会科学版）. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
^2016年新疆统计年鉴. xingjiang.stats.gov.cn. 17 August 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
^ ab3–7 各地、州、市、县(市)分民族人口数 [3–7 Population by Ethnic Group by Prefecture, State, City and County (City)]. tjj.xinjiang.gov.cn (in Chinese). Statistical Bureau of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. 10 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^ abc伊犁哈萨克自治州地方志编纂委员会 (June 2004). 伊犁哈萨克自治州志 (in Chinese (China)). Ürümqi: Xinjiang People's Publishing House. p. 282. ISBN7-228-08827-1. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
Henry Lansdell, "Russian Central Asia: Including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva and Merv". Full textArchived 10 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine available at Google Books; there is also a 2001 facsimile reprint of the 1885 edition, ISBN1-4021-7762-3. (Chapters XIV-XVI describe Lansdell visit to the area in the early 1880s, soon after the Russian withdrawal). (in English)
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