Ma clique
The Ma clique or Ma family warlords is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in Northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia for 10 years from 1919 until 1928. Following the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the region came under Chinese Muslim warlord Ma Qi's control until the Northern Expedition by the Republic of China consolidated central control in 1928. There were three families in the Ma clique ("Ma" 馬/马, meaning "horse," being a common Hui rendering of the common Muslim name "Muhammad"), each of them respectively controlled 3 areas, Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia. The three most prominent members of the clique were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Hongbin, collectively known as the Xibei San Ma (, "Three Mas of the Northwest"). Some contemporary accounts, such as Edgar Snow's, described the clique as the "Four Ma" (rather than Three), adding Ma Bufang's brother Ma Buqing to the list of the top warlords. Other prominent Mas included Ma Anliang, Ma Qi, Ma Lin, Ma Hu-shan, and Ma Zhongying.