INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 
withdrawn to China. Thus, as puppet chief, it is not surprising that he 
should have had little power or influence over the Zunghars ; indeed many 
of the tribal headmen, we are told, declined to recognise him, but conti¬ 
nued to profess allegiance to the exiled Ta-wa-tze. 1 Yet, notwithstanding 
his enforced subjection to the Chinese, he attempted, as our text shows, 
to recover possession of the towns of Eastern Turkistan from the Khojas, 
who had, in the meantime, revolted and set up a divided government of 
their own. This he was, in a manner, able to accomplish by utilising the 
services of two brothers—Burhanu-d-Dln and Khan-Khoja 2 —descendants 
of the White Mountain Khoja Ahmad, who had lived long in Hi as an 
exile. In other words, Amursana succeeded in setting one section of the 
Khojas against the other. The first named of these brothers was sent 
forward with a mixed force of Chinese and Qalmaqs, while the other was, 
at first, retained as a hostage in III. Treachery and dissension arose in the 
Khoja camp, so that the most important of the cities were captured with¬ 
out difficulty, and the leading Khojas and Begs were either put to death or 
made good their escape, and Amursana, as a Chinese vassal, became the 
over-lord of the country. 
It is at this point (about the end of the year 1755 or the beginning of 
1756) that our author’s history comes to an end, but we may briefly 
follow the fortunes of the Qalmaqs and the Khojas for some four years 
more when they finally disappear. 
Amursana’s success was short lived, for elated by the advantage he had 
gained in Turkistan, and unable to endure the restraints put upon him by 
the Chinese, he determined to shake them oft. With the help of those of 
the Qalmaqs who supported him, and some other allies, he turned upon 
the force appointed to control him, destroyed it and executed the com¬ 
manders. He then marched eastward, gaining some successes over other 
small garrisons of Chinese troops on the northern Tien Shan line of settle¬ 
ments, till he reached Barkul (the “ Palikun ” of the Chinese) where, 
apparently, he was shortly afterwards beaten by troops pushed forward by 
the Peking Government. The Emperor, against the advice of most of his 
ministers, was now determined to break down the last remnant of Qalmaq 
power, and despatched some of his best generals and troops to the Zunghar 
country. Amursana retreated westward and took refuge with the Kirghiz- 
Kazaks in the steppes to the north of Earghana. The Manchus, in small 
bodies, pursued him, but after a year of fruitless marching and negotiating, 
attended by some reverses, Amursana eluded them. He escaped into 
Western Siberia, where he found a refuge with the Russians at Tobolsk. 
1 Howorth, I, pp. 654-656. 
3 The Bouraton and Hvlcitchen of Gueluy’s Chinese authors. 
