republic · China, Tibet and Mongolia
First East Turkestan Republic
Origins
The abolition of the Kumul Khanate in 1930 provoked revolts across Xinjiang against Governor Jin Shuren. In the south, rebels from Khotan led by Muhammad Amin Bughra and the cleric Sabit Damulla took Kashgar, and on 12 November 1933 proclaimed the Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan.
Rule and society
The republic was based on Islamic law and Turkic nationalism, with Sabit Damulla as prime minister and the Kumul rebel leader Khoja Niyaz named president, though he never ruled from Kashgar. It had a constitution, flag and coins but little control beyond the southern oases, and it failed to win recognition from the Soviet Union, Britain or Afghanistan.
Decline and legacy
In early 1934 Hui Muslim troops of Ma Zhongying, retreating from the north, took Kashgar and crushed the republic. Khoja Niyaz came to terms with the new governor Sheng Shicai and handed Sabit Damulla over. The idea revived in the Second East Turkestan Republic.
Lineage
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). First East Turkestan Republic. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/first-east-turkestan-republic
- MLA
- “First East Turkestan Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/first-east-turkestan-republic. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “First East Turkestan Republic.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/first-east-turkestan-republic.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘First East Turkestan Republic’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/first-east-turkestan-republic (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻