The Battle of Kashgar (
Chinese: 喀什戰役) was a military confrontation that took place in 1934 during the
Xinjiang Wars. Turkic Muslim
Uyghur and
Kirghiz fighters under Emir
Abdullah Bughra and other Turkic separatists began four separate attacks over a six-day period on
Hui and
Han Chinese soldiers led by Gen.
Ma Zhancang, trapping them inside Kashgar.
Khoja Niyas Hajji joined the attack with his own Kumul Uyghur fighters after a 300-mile trek from Aksu - from which he was driven out by a force of Chinese Muslims — appearing at the walls of Kashgar on 13 January. The Chinese Muslim and Chinese forces repulsed the Turkic fighters, inflicting severe casualties upon them.[4]
Gen.
Ma Fuyuan of the New 36th Division then stormed
Kashgar and attacked the
Uyghur and
Kirghiz rebels of the
First East Turkestan Republic. He freed
Ma Zhancang and the trapped Chinese troops. Ma Zhancang and Ma Fuyuan then defeated and drove out the remaining Turkic fighters. Estimates are that 2,000 to 8,000 Uighur civilians were killed in revenge for the
Kizil massacre.[5] In April 1934, Gen.
Ma Zhongying personally gave a speech at
Idgah mosque, telling the Uighurs to be loyal to the
Republic of China government at
Nanjing.[6][7] Several British citizens at the British consulate were murdered by troops of the New 36th Division in two separate incidents in March 1934.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The Chinese Muslims were referred to as "Tungan tribesmen"; initial reports were that 2,000 Uighurs and several members of the British consulate were killed. The Uighurs were reinforced by troops from Yark and Hotan and Kirghiz tribesmen.[17]