historical records from the era, bamboo poles were bought in large quantities by the Hui to make spears as weaponry. Moreover, there had already been attacks on Han counties prior to the Shengshan bamboo incident. Historical records from the era show that prior to the conflict over the price of bamboo poles, there had already been plans among the Hui community to set up an Islamic State in the west of China . Organized through mosques and mullahs, the Hui people in Shaanxi started purchasing bamboo poles in large volumes. These poles were then used to make spears. Before the Shengshan bamboo incident, there had already been attacks on Han in Dali county and Weinan county. Fearing persecution, the Shaanxi Han populace fled the Hui or hid underground in cellars. Given the low prestige of the Qing dynasty and its armies being occupied elsewhere, the revolt that began in the spring of 1862 in the Wei River valley spread rapidly throughout southeastern Shaanxi. By late June 1862, organized Muslim bands laid siege to Xi'an, which was not relieved by Qing general (sometimes written To-lung-a) until the fall of 1863. Dorongga was a Manchu bannerman in command of the army in Hunan. His forces defeated the Muslim rebels and completely destroyed their position in Shaanxi province, driving them out of the province to Gansu. Dorangga was later killed in action in March 1864 by Taiping rebels in Shaanxi. The Governor-general of the region, En-lin, advised the Imperial government not to alienate Muslims. He officially made it clear that there was to be no mistreatment of or discrimination against Muslims, resulting in the implementation of a "policy of reconciliation". Muslim rebels tried to seize Lingzhou (present-day Lingwu) and Guyuan in several attacks as a result of false rumors spread by some Muslims that the government was going to kill all Muslims. A vast number of Muslim refugees from Shaanxi fled to Gansu. Some of them formed the "Eighteen Great Battalions" in eastern Gansu, intending to fight their way back to their homes in Shaanxi. While the Hui rebels were preparing to attack Gansu and Shaanxi, Yaqub Beg, who had fled from Kokand Khanate in 1865 or 1866 after losing Tashkent to the Russians, declared himself ruler of Kashgar and soon managed to take complete control of Xinjiang. In 1867 the Qing government sent one of its most capable commanders, General Zuo Zongtang—who