Nine Cities of Ili in Qing Dynasty

After the Qing Dynasty unified Xinjiang, from 1762 to 10, General Ili was established and Ming Rui was appointed as the first General Ili. At that time, the military and political jurisdiction system of the Qing Dynasty in Xinjiang was a military government system. General Yili is the highest military official in Xinjiang, and he is also in charge of administrative management. He has ministers at all levels, such as commanders-in-chief, counsellors, managers and leaders, who manage the whole of Xinjiang and Kazakh ministries affiliated to the Qing Dynasty.

During the Qing Dynasty, today's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture was not in a unified administrative region. Altay region has always been an important place to build cities and station troops, and it is also the main road for the north to enter Xinjiang, and its strategic position is very important. Therefore, before the establishment of General Yili, the area was under the jurisdiction of Counsellor Cobdo, who was under the guidance of Deputy General Uryasutai Dingbian Zuo. Later, the minister of Altai regime was established and stationed in Chenghua Temple (now Altay). Ili and Tacheng areas are under the command of General Ili. The general's office was originally located in the city of Suiding, but it was difficult to accommodate many government offices and soldiers because of its small scale. So he moved to Huiyuan City on 1765, and built Ningyuan City (now Yining), Huining City (now Bayandai Town of Yining City), Taleqi City (now Huocheng County) and Zhande City (now) around Huiyuan City. At the same time, Zhaofeng will be built in Tacheng area as the residence of counsellor. 1766, counselor Agui moved the city to Huchu, Chu, and built the city of appeasement (now Tacheng).

1860165438+10. In October, Russia launched the Second Opium War by taking advantage of the opportunity of the British and French allied forces, forcing the Qing government to sign the Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty, and forcibly included a large area of territory south of Lake Balkhash in western Ili that had always belonged to China into the Russian territory. By June of 187 1, Russia took the opportunity to invade Ili by force under the pretext of pursuing Zabek, the leader of Kazakh alban tribe in China. The people of all ethnic groups in Yili rose up to resist, but the anti-Russian struggle failed because of the disparity in strength. In July, the Russian invaders occupied the nine cities of Yili in the name of "conquering and defending the war". People of all ethnic groups are not afraid of violence and deception, and resolutely fight against the Russian aggressors in various forms.

1876, Zuo led a great army into Xinjiang to wipe out the Akuta bandits entrenched in northern Xinjiang. A year later, the Qing army quickly recovered southern Xinjiang, crushing the plot of Russia to continue to occupy Ili. Later, after repeated negotiations, in February of 1882, the people of all ethnic groups in Ili, who suffered from Russian colonial rule, finally returned to the embrace of the motherland.

1884 10, the Qing government officially approved the establishment of Xinjiang as a province. First of all, the military and political system has been greatly reformed, and the military government system and the constraints on officials have been abolished, replaced by the military road and the prefecture and county system. The political center of Xinjiang has moved from Yili to Urumqi. Although the Ili general still exists, it was renamed as "Ili garrison general", and its power and management scope were greatly reduced. He no longer presided over the military affairs in Xinjiang, but only cared about the military and defense of Yili and Tacheng, and was not subordinate to the governor of Xinjiang. Later, Yili Prefecture, Ningyuan, Suiding County, Tacheng Zhili Hall and Jinghe Zhili Hall were established.