During the Qing dynasty, this pass was of strategic military importance as it was the main artery of communication between Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang and the Qing power base at Ili in northern Xinjiang. Due to the Muzart Glacier, the Qing government had spent much labor keep this mountain pass traversable. During the Dungan Revolt of 1862–1877 by Yakub Beg, this labor stopped and it became impassible. Around 1870 during the revolt, the Russians took control of the pass to prevent Yakub Beg from advancing on Kulja, trade interest that the Russians acquired in Treaty of Kulja. After the Qing reconquest of Xinjiang in 1879, the initially negotiated Treaty of Livadia between Russian Empire and Qing, if ratified, would have ceded this mountain pass along with much of Ili Valley to Russia. With the support other European powers, the treaty was renegotiated and became the 1881 Treaty of Saint Petersburg. In 1907, future-President of Finland Gustaf Mannerheim, while serving as an intelligence officer in the Imperial Russian Army, passed through here. His mission was to determine the feasibility of invading China by the Russian Empire.