Dungan people
During the mid-nineteenth century, civil wars erupted throughout China, led by various groups against the Qing dynasty. These include the Taiping Rebellion in Southern China (whose leaders were Evangelical Christians of ethnic Han Chinese Hakka and Zhuang background), the Muslim Rebellion in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia in Northwestern China and Yunnan, and the Miao people Revolt in Hunan and Guizhou. These revolts were eventually put down by the Manchu government. The Dungan people were descendants of the Muslim rebels and fled to the Russian Empire after the rebellion was suppressed by the joint forces of Hunan Army led by Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠) with support from local Hui elites.