headquarters of the Manchu bannermen was in Huiyuan and Huining while the Green Standard Army was distributed across the remaining towns with their commander in Suiding. Uyghur merchants (including the Taranchi) resided in Ningyuan. Their affairs were managed by the General of Ili through the East Yamen (). In 1864, during the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor, the broke out concurrent with the Dungan Revolt of 1862-77 further east. On 8 March 1866, a large force of Hui Muslims captured the General of Ili Mingsioi's Yamen. He committed suicide by blowing himself up but his predecessor Cangcing () was captured and paraded through the streets. After Tzarist Russia invaded the Ili Basin in 1865 they demolished Huiyuan then in 1876 Qing General Zuo Zongtang, at the head of a large army, ended Yaqub Beg's occupation of the southern part of Xinjiang. In 1881 the Qing army recaptured the Ili Basin and two years later rebuilt Huiyaun north of its former site. This new settlement was known historically as "New Huiyuan" (. Xinjiang officially became a province in 1883 with its capital at Dihua Fu ( modern day Urumqi) and Huiyuan gradually lost its political status as the centre of the region. The General of Yili retained responsibility for defence in the north of the new province until the position was abolished following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, which marked the end of Imperial China. Incumbents See also Xinjiang under Qing rule Notes References Military history of the Qing dynasty History of Xinjiang