The khan paid a small annual tribute to Urumchi and in return Xinjiang government paid him a formal subsidy of 1,200 silver taels each year—no doubt in Yang Zengxin's opinion a small enough sum for ensuring the continued obedience of the strategically vital khanate. The Han Chinese governor of Xinjiang, Yang Zengxin, was a monarchist and tolerated the khanate. He was friendly toward the khan Maqsud Shah. Around the 1920s Japanese secret agents began exploring the Kumul area. It was the fact that the khanate existed which prevented the Uyghurs from rebelling, since the khanate represented a government where a man of their ethnicity and religion was reigning. The abolition of the khanate led to a bloody rebellion. By 1928, shortly after the assassination of Yang Zengxin, it was estimated that the aging Maqsud Shah ruled over a population of between 25,000 and 30,000 Kumulliks. The khan was responsible for levying taxes and dispensing justice; his administration rested on twenty one Begs, four of whom were responsible for Kumul itself, five others being responsible for the plains villages and the remaining twelve administering the mountainous regions of the Barkul and Karlik Tagh. Maqsud Shah also maintained a Uyghur militia which was reputed to be better trained than its counterpart in the predominantly Chinese Old City. The soil of the oasis was rich and well-cultivated, and the conditions of the Kumulliks before 1929 was one of relative contentment and prosperity. According to British missionaries Mildred Cable and Francesca French, both of whom knew Maqsud Shah personally, the continued existence of the Khanate of Kumul was also of psychological importance to the Uyghurs of Turfan and the Tarim Basin, who were tolerant to Chinese rule so long as their own seat of the government was firmly established at Hami under Khan Maqsud Shah who still hold the proud title of King of the Gobi. Upon Maqsud Shah's death on 6 June 1930 Jin Shuren replaced the khanate with three normal provincial administrative districts Hami, Yihe, and Yiwu. This set off the Kumul Rebellion, in which Yulbars Khan attempted to restore the heir Nasir to the throne. List of khans The list of the Kumul Khanate khans is as follows: See also Turkic peoples List of Turkic dynasties and countries Qing dynasty in Inner Asia References Turkic dynasties History of Xinjiang Qing dynasty Former kingdoms Uyghurs Former countries in Chinese history Historical Turkic