Khoja Jahan

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Khoja Jahan was born into the Khoja family of the Aq Taghliq branch of Islam in Xinjiang. He was a descendant of Makhdum-i A'zam and a great-grandson of Afaq Khoja. His father Mahmud was a leader of the Aq Taghliq branch and, after losing a struggle with the Qara Taghliq branch, was captured by the Dzungar khan Tsewang Arabtan. While still young, Khoja Jahan was imprisoned in Ili by the Dzungar Khanate together with his father and elder brother, and was held among the Abagasi and Hadan otog groups. During this long confinement, Khoja Jahan and his brother Burhan al-Din lived as hostages and witnessed Dzungar rule in the Xinjiang region.

Release and Rebellion

In the fifth month of 1755, the twentieth year of the Qianlong era, the Qing Dynasty sent troops against Dawachi and destroyed the Dzungar Khanate. Qing forces released Burhan al-Din and Khoja Jahan. Burhan al-Din was ordered to go to Yarkand to pacify former followers, while Khoja Jahan remained in Ili and was ordered to administer the Uyghur communities there. Soon afterward, Amursana rebelled in the former Dzungar territories. Fearing a Qing campaign against him, Khoja Jahan took the opportunity in the following year, 1756, the twenty-first year of the Qianlong era, to flee back to Kashgar, organize troops, and fight Qing forces in pursuit of independence. He encouraged his elder brother Burhan al-Din to rise in rebellion. In early summer 1757, the twenty-second year of the Qianlong era, he killed Qing Deputy Commander Amin Dao, assumed the title “Batur Khan,” and began what became known as the “Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas.”

Rebellion and Defeat

In 1758, the twenty-third year of the Qianlong era, Khoja Jahan led troops to occupy Kucha and resisted forces under Yarkhashan, the Qing General for Suppressing Rebellion. He later personally led five thousand soldiers through Aksu as reinforcements. As the situation worsened, he passed successively through Aksu and Ush before fleeing to Yarkand, present-day Shache. In the autumn of the same year, Zhaohui, the General for Pacifying the Frontier, led three thousand troops against Yarkand. Unable to take the city, his force encamped beside the Black River at Qara Usu, in what became known as the Black River Camp, and held out there for three months. In January 1759, the twenty-fourth year of the Qianlong era, Qing reinforcements arrived, and Fude, the Right Deputy General for Pacifying the Frontier, and others heavily defeated the Khoja forces at the Battle of Qurman. The two Khojas withdrew respectively to Kashgar and Yarkand, while Qing forces advanced separately on the two cities, “capturing in total more than twelve thousand rebels, more than two thousand weapons, and over ten thousand camels, mules, cattle, and sheep.” In the sixth month, under pressure from Qing forces, the two Khojas attempted to escape toward Badakhshan by way of the Bek and Luomu crossing. They suffered successive reverses at Hoshkuruk Mountain, the Archur Ridge, and Lake Yeshil Kul. On the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month, Sultan Shah, ruler of Badakhshan, killed the two men after repeated Qing military pressure. Their heads were sent to Beijing and made into Tibetan Buddhist ritual skull cups. Burhan al-Din's son Samsaq escaped to the Khanate of Kokand; later Samsaq and his son Jahangir Khoja repeatedly planned attempts at restoration.

Major Activities

Political Activities

Khoja Jahan's principal political activity centered on his anti-Qing rebellion. In 1756, the twenty-first year of the Qianlong era, he led followers secretly back to southern Xinjiang and joined his elder brother Burhan al-Din. The following year he launched a rebellion, killed Deputy Commander Amin Dao, assumed the title “Batur Khan,” and established a separatist regime. While at Kucha, after Odoi refused to submit, Khoja Jahan had members of Odoi's family thrown from the city wall to their deaths. His rebellion directly challenged Qing authority in Xinjiang.

Military Actions

Khoja Jahan commanded multiple military operations during the rebellion. In 1758, the twenty-third year of the Qianlong era, he led troops to occupy Kucha and resisted the army of Yarkhashan, the Qing General for Suppressing Rebellion, and later personally led five thousand soldiers through Aksu as reinforcements. That autumn, Qing general Zhaohui led three thousand troops against Yarkand, and Khoja Jahan's rebel forces besieged the Black River Camp for three months until Qing reinforcements arrived the following January and broke the siege. Khoja Jahan and his brother subsequently fought Qing forces at Hoshkuruk Mountain, the Archur Ridge, Lake Yeshil Kul, and other locations, suffering repeated defeats before ultimately fleeing to Badakhshan.

Travels

Khoja Jahan's life was centered chiefly in the Xinjiang region of China. In his early years he was imprisoned with his father and brother in Ili. After his release, he remained in Ili to lead local Uyghur communities. In 1756 he secretly returned to southern Xinjiang and subsequently operated in Kashgar, Kucha, Aksu, Ush, Yarkand, and other places. After military defeat he fled to Badakhshan, in present-day Afghanistan, where he was ultimately captured and killed.

Relations with Contemporaries

Khoja Jahan's relations with contemporaries were chiefly political and military. He launched the rebellion together with his elder brother Burhan al-Din, his principal political ally. He was an enemy of Qing generals Zhaohui, Fude, Yarkhashan, and others. His former wife Fatima, also known as Consort Rong of the Khoja clan, was the younger sister of Turdu. Khoja Jahan married her but soon abandoned her, and when he fled he left her in the custody of others. His relationship with Sultan Shah, ruler of Badakhshan, ultimately led to his death.

Personal Relations

Family

• Father: Mahmud (Khoja of the Islamic Aq Taghliq branch)
• Elder brother: Burhan al-Din (the “Great Khoja”)
• Former wife: Fatima (Consort Rong of the Khoja clan; younger sister of Turdu)
• Nephew: Samsaq (son of Burhan al-Din; escaped to the Khanate of Kokand)

Ruler and Subject

• Qianlong Emperor (Qing emperor and Khoja Jahan's opposing ruler)
• Sultan Shah (ruler of Badakhshan who captured and killed Khoja Jahan)

Enemies

• Zhaohui (Qing General for Pacifying the Frontier; led the attack on Yarkand)
• Fude (Qing Right Deputy General for Pacifying the Frontier; heavily defeated the Khoja forces)
• Yarkhashan (Qing General for Suppressing Rebellion; attacked Kucha)
• Amin Dao (Qing deputy commander killed by Khoja Jahan)
• Odoi (refused to submit to Khoja Jahan; members of his family were killed)

Historical Assessment

Qing Dynasty / Contemporaries

• After suppressing the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas, the Qianlong Emperor ordered Khoja Jahan's head made into a ritual skull cup as a warning in the Western Regions, demonstrating the court's determination to preserve state unity.
• After suppressing the rebellion, the Qing court established the General of Ili and strengthened administration over Xinjiang, reflecting the high importance it attached to the uprising.
• Qing commanders Zhaohui, Fude, and others recorded the suppression campaign in detail in memorials, treating Khoja Jahan as a rebel who had to be eliminated.

Late Qing and Republican Period

• Late Qing scholar Wei Yuan gave a detailed account of the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas in Shengwu Ji, portraying Khoja Jahan as a rebel who damaged national unity.
• Republican-era scholars of frontier history often assessed Khoja Jahan's uprising from the perspective of preserving national unity and considered it a cause of turmoil in Xinjiang.

Modern Period

• Modern scholars often study Khoja Jahan from the perspectives of ethnic relations and frontier governance, viewing his rebellion as reflecting the complex ethnic and religious tensions of Qing-era Xinjiang.
• Some scholars focus on Khoja Jahan's relationship with Consort Rong and examine the episode from the perspective of palace history, providing another angle on Qing court history.
• In studies of Xinjiang history, the Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas is treated as an important event in the Qing unification of Xinjiang, and Khoja Jahan has consequently received substantial scholarly attention.