Korla is the capital
of the Bayinguoleng Mongolian Prefecture, the largest
prefecture is all of China, encompassing the eastern
half of the Taklamakan Desert and extending to the
borders of Tibet, Qinghai and Gansu. The entire area
has a population of 800, 000, the majority of whom
are Han Chinese, with about 260, 000 Uyburs, 40, 000
Mongols and 1, 000 Tibetans.
The Mongols of this region are the Torgut or Kalmuck
Mongols, who migrated to Russia from the steppes of
Western Mongolia in the 17th century and settled along
the Volga River. Torgut cavalry units were incorporated
in the tsarist armed forces to great effect, but one
hundred years later the Torguts decided to return
en masse to Xinjiang. Their journey was fraught with
disaster: they were pursued and harassed by Cossack
soldiers and attacked by marauding tribes. By the
time they reached the border, seven months later,
only 70, 000 were left- fewer than half of those who
had set out. Emperor Qianlong (reigned 1736-96) received
the Torguts hospitably, granting them grazing lands
in the Karashahr and Yili regions of Xinjiang and
presenting them with gifts of horses, sheep, cloth,
tea and yurts. The Torguts wintered around the shores
of Baghrash Lake and passed the summer in the valleys
of the Heavenly Mountains, much as they do today.
In 1934, Sven
Hedin and his Swedish- Chinese motor expedition undertook
a journey under the auspices of the Chinese Ministry
of Railways to survey road links between Chinese Turkestan
and China proper. At Korla they ran into the desperate
Muslim troops of the young rebel, Genera "Big
Horse" Ma Zhongying. Their five vehicles were
commandeered by the retreating soldiers, the expedition
members were rounded up in a courtyard and their hands
were tied as they awaited summary execution. General
Big Horse spared the expedition, but held them under
house arrest while he sped away in their vehicles
southwest towards Kashgar, fleeing bombing by Soviet
planes undertaken at the request of the Governor of
Xinjiang.
Related info
