In 1759, just as the Qing Dynasty, after a long war of unification, finally eliminated the Dzungar tribe, quelled the rebellion of Daxiao and Zhuo, unified the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and once again extended the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty to the Pamir Plateau after the Han and Tang dynasties, the political pattern of western Central Asia was also in a state of fierce turmoil and reorganization. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the Astrakhan dynasty of the Bukhara Khanate, which ruled Transoxiana, had collapsed under the endless internal strife among the Uzbek tribes and the invasion of the Persian conqueror Nader Shah.
Muhammad, the Ruler. Rahim, who had seized real power in the Khanate with the support of the Persians, usurped the throne shortly after the assassination of Nadir Shah in June 1747 and officially became the ruler of the Bukhara Khanate in 1753-1758, founding the Mangt dynasty, after which the Khan of the Astrakhan dynasty was reinstated but completely reduced to a puppet.
Muhammad. Rahim was committed to restoring the centralization of power in the Khanate, and constantly waged wars to eliminate the separatist forces in his territory, but he never achieved his goal, and the Khanate fell into a long period of war, and the turmoil in the river spread to the Pamirs. On the other hand, Ahmed, a Pashtun tribal sheikh who had been a general under Nader Shah, proclaimed himself king in Kandahar in July 1747, founded the Durrani Empire, became the founder of the Afghan state, and continued to expand during his reign, conquering a vast area from Khorasan in the west, Kashmir in the east, Amu Darya in the north, and the Indus Valley in the south. Around 1751, Ahmad Shah launched an expedition to extend his influence to the southwestern part of the Pamirs.
Thus, as in the Han and Tang dynasties, the area around the Pamirs would become the center stage of the conflict between the Central Plains dynasty that ruled the Western Regions and the Central Asian powers. It is worth noting that the British and Russian empires were also on the verge of expanding their colonial expansion into the heart of Central Asia: the Battle of Prahi in 1757 is considered the beginning of British colonial rule in India, and also opened the way for its expansion into the Himalaya-Pamir line;By the middle of the 18th century, several fortified lines had been built to divide and encircle the Kazakh steppe, and "missions" had been sent to the khanates of Central Asia to gather intelligence in preparation for further encroachment and conquest. However, the large-scale armed invasion of the Islamic countries of Central Asia by Britain and Russia into the Xinjiang and ** regions of China was not carried out until the middle of the 19th century.
For the Qing dynasty, the importance of the regimes that separated from the two Bukhara khanates, Badaq and Kokand, was evident outside the Pamirs. The two countries are suzerains among the many small semi-independent states in their neighboring regions, and their geographical location has long been a key point of communication between the East and the West, and has always been a must for war. After the Qing Dynasty unified Xinjiang, the Badak Mountains and Kokand were not only the first to have direct contact with the Qing Dynasty in the "Islamic world" in Central Asia, except for the nomadic tribes such as Kazakhstan and Burut, but also the intermediaries that the Qing Dynasty had to rely on in its exchanges with Bukhara, Afghanistan and other large countries in western Central Asia.
As a result, the situation in these two countries is often the dominant factor influencing the formulation and implementation of Central Asian policy by the Qing Dynasty. In the relevant records of the Qing Dynasty, these regimes were "deferential" in their dealings with the Qing Dynasty, and they were often compared in the Qing Dynasty's statements about Central Asia. In reality, however, they were in very different positions in the midst of the changes in Central Asia in the mid-eighteenth century.
The Badak Mountain regime had close ties with the Dzungar Ministry. According to the investigation of the Qing Dynasty, during the reign of Galdan Tse, Milzanibat, the son of the old minister of the Badak Mountain, Mazar Berk, was plundered by the Osuberk tribe. Magyar Berk offered the land of gems and horses and other things to Gardance, and invited 10,000 soldiers to go to the Osuberk tribe. Although they took back Mirzanibat, the Dzungars and others took advantage of the plundering of Kundus, Dharhan, and Andizan, and captured a great man. Later, Dzungaria asked for tribute from the Er tribe, but refused, and sent 6,000 people including Toro to attack, and Mazar Berk began to submit. Erut, Hui people, etc. all know about it. ”
It can be seen that Badak Mountain was at a disadvantage in the struggle against the Uzbeks in the west at that time, so it asked for the support of the Dzungar tribe, with the help of which the Uzbeks were defeated and acted as a springboard for the Dzungar tribe to invade the western part of Central Asia. Then, around the beginning of the 30s of the 18th century, it was subjugated to the Dzungar Ministry. Since then, the relationship between the Badak Mountains and the Dzungar Department should have been relatively harmonious. When the Qing army pursued the size and Zhuo, Gaozong said that "the Badak Mountain tribe is known as tame". At that time, there was no direct connection between the Qing Dynasty and the Badak Mountains, and the "tame" Yunyun should refer to the reign of the Dzungar Ministry.
Not only that, but the rulers of the Badak Mountains also used the military power of the Dzungar Ministry to expand externally. According to the information obtained by the Qing Dynasty, during the period of the Dzungar Ministry, the "uncle" of Sultansha, Shamamat, occupied the Zitral region in the southern part of the Badak Mountains, and Gaozong also said in the edict to the ruler of "Bolore" that he was "infested by the Dzungars". Aurel. Stein, based on local historical sources in Zitlal, believes that at some point in the 18th century, a Kalmyk army, united with the king of the Badak Mountains, invaded the area, which may be the case. All in all, the rulers of the Badakshan Mountains, with the support of the Dzungar Ministry, not only successfully resisted foreign humiliation, but also became the regional hegemon. However, with the demise of the Dzungar Ministry, the fate of the Badak Mountains also faced a turning point.
When the Qing Dynasty had direct contact with the Qing Dynasty in the 24th year of Qianlong (1759) in order to obtain the size and Zhuo who had fled into the territory of the Badak Mountains, the situation of the country's monarch Sultan Shah can be described as internal and external difficulties.
First of all, because of the improper acquisition of the country, the right of inheritance is still disputed. According to Qing sources, Sultansha killed his uncle and his sons to usurp the throne, but one son escaped and has been fighting for power. In September of the same year, Sultansha and his nephew went to war in the "Masha tribe", which was witnessed by the Qing envoys. This shows the intensity of the struggle between Sultansha and the local separatist forces that do not recognize the legitimacy of his rule, and without the intervention of a strong external force, it will be difficult to stabilize the political situation in Badakshan.
Second, Sultansha succumbed to the demands of the Qing ** and captured and sacrificed his body, severely weakening the religious authority of his regime. The royal family of Badakshan was born into the Saeed family in Samarkand, and was a "holy descendant" along with the big and small and Zhuo, and the religious sanctity was important to the legitimacy of their rule**.
In addition, the biggest danger facing Surtansha is the increasing military pressure on the Badak Mountains from the surrounding regimes after the demise of the Dzungarias. As mentioned above, the Badak Mountains had ceded the Shkan region to the Dzungar Ministry, but in fact, when the Qing ** was in direct contact with the Badak Mountain regime, the Shkan and its surrounding areas such as Gundu and Wakhan were still under its control.
However, when the forces of the Qing Dynasty intervened in the Pamir region, some small states under the rule of the Badak Mountains have declared themselves vassals to the Qing Dynasty and resisted the control of the Badak Mountain regime in this way, such as in October of the 25th year of Qianlong (1760), Berke of Gundu Village sent a letter to the minister of Yarkand, saying that Surtansha "sent an envoy to borrow 100 soldiers", and the Burke refused, "but I am afraid of resentment against Surtansha, so I will inform you first." It can be seen that after the Qing Dynasty replaced the Dzungar Ministry, because it did not inherit its close relationship with the Badak Mountains, it directly weakened the strength of the latter, while some relatively powerful regimes in the surrounding areas all tried to take the opportunity to regain the benefits lost during the Dzungar Ministry.
For example, in September of the 24th year of Qianlong (1759), when the Qing envoy went to Zhaofu, the local ruler Shahu Shamert said, "If the Badak Mountain does not offer Huo Jizhan, etc., I will choose the people to follow the expedition";In October of the following year, Sultansha "attacked Bolore"157, which shows the rapid intensification of the contradictions between the two sides. To the west and north, the threat to Mount Bardock is even more severe.
When the Qing envoy went to Badak Mountain to ask for the size and the Zhuo, Surtansha said to his face: "We believe in the scriptures and pass them on to others without self-restraint. If we do it immediately, there will be trouble in the enemy countries of Okhan and Tarbas."When Daxiao and Zhuo were imprisoned, "Hundus led 5,000 troops, and did not read the heirs of the Sultansha faction of Habar, and plundered them all, and extorted Liang and Zhuomu";When the Qing envoy took his leave, "Sultansha immediately led 2,000 troops to the army of Yuhuntus." "Hundus" is another translation of Kunduz, the western neighbor of Badak, and as mentioned earlier, the two countries have a long history of enmity;"Talbas" is Darvaz, the northern neighbor of the Badak Mountains.
At that time, Kunduz had submitted to the emerging Afghan Durrani Empire under the rule of Ahmad Shah, or "Ehan" in the text, and Ahmad Shah clearly supported Kunduz to put pressure on the Badak Mountains, and it was impossible for the national strength of the Badaks to resist the Afghan army. At the beginning of the 25th year of Qianlong (1760), Aligon, the counsellor in Yarkand, wrote to Surtanshah: "I have plundered Rustak and captured a lot", and Rustak is located in the territory of the Bardock Mountains, west of his capital Faizabad, which should be the area where he and Kunduz are fighting.
The essence of this siege of the Badak Mountains, which condemned the killing of the "holy descendants" by Sultanshah, was a revival of the long-standing conflict of interests of the various regimes around the Pamirs, after the collapse of the old order due to the demise of the Dzungar tribe and the rise of the Durrani Empire in Afghanistan. The policy of the Qing Dynasty, which replaced the Dzungar Ministry, in dealing with Central Asian affairs will undoubtedly have an important impact on the future fate of the Badak Mountains and the establishment of a new order in the region.