THE MUSLIM DUNGAN UPRISING IN XINJIANG: A STUDY OF ITS IMPACT ON MIGRATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN THE MODERN SOUTH-EAST KAZAKHSTAN REGION (1860-1870)

Abstract

After the Dungan uprising (1862-1877), thousands of Muslim refugees relocated to the Russian Empire from northwest China. Although the Russian Empire initially let them cross the borders as a humanitarian response, the imperial reception of these groups soon revealed broader challenges. The Dungans’ ambiguous status based on their ethnically foreign, religiously Muslim, and institutionally unaccounted nature was not just a heavy burden but also destabilized already existing administrative structures. This paper argues that the Dungan migration played a significant role as a pressure that exposed the limitations of the empire’s integrative capabilities, and consequently led to changes in governance on the southern frontier. Through examination of a range of archival and secondary sources, the study focuses on how migration governance, border policies, and threat perceptions were adjusted in response. The Dungans emerged not only as simple migrants but also as a factor that redefined how the empire considered and managed borders.