page_title: First East Turkestan Republic
section_title: Establishment of the ETR
hierarchical_section_title: First East Turkestan Republic / Establishment of the ETR
caption_attribution_description: English: Establishment of the Turkish Republic of East Turkistan across from the Tumen Derya, Kashgar November 12, 1933
context_page_description: The First East Turkistan Republic, officially the Islamic Republic of East Turkistan, was a short-lived breakaway Islamic republic founded on 12 November 1933; it was first state to style itself an "Islamic republic." It was centred on the city of Kashgar in what is today China-administered Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The ETR was primarily the product of an independence movement of the Uyghur population living there and more broadly of Turkic-ethnicity in character, including Kyrgyz and other Turkic peoples in its government and its population.
  With the sacking of Kashgar in 1934 by Hui warlords nominally allied with the Kuomintang government in Nanjing, the first ETR was effectively eliminated. Its example, however, served to some extent as inspiration for the founding of a Second East Turkistan Republic a decade later and continues to influence modern Uyghur nationalist support for the creation of an independent East Turkistan.
context_section_description: The Eastern Turkistsan Independence Association in Kashghar ran a newspaper called Independence (Istqlāl).
  While this was transpiring, in the nearby southern Tarim Basin city of Khotan, three brothers of rich Bughra family, Muhammad Amin Bughra, Abdullah Bughra and Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra, educated in the jadidist tradition, had led a rebellion of gold miners who worked in  Surghak mines near Keriya city, also in Yurunkash and Karakash mountain rivers, and established themselves as emirs of the city, having declared the Khotan Emirate and independence from China on March 16, 1933.
  Leader of Karakash gold miners Ismail Khan Khoja sent message to Governor Jin Shuren: "Foolish infidels like you are not fit to rule. ... You infidels think that because you have rifles, guns ... and money, you can depend on them, but we depend of God in whose hands are our lives."
  Local provincial authorities and troops were annihilated by the miners throughout Khotan vilayet, rare Chinese population in most cases saved their lives and property, but was forced to accept Islam under the threat of execution. During successful storming of Khotan New City on March 16, 1933 both the Treasury and Arsenal were captured by rebels, delivering to their hands several thousands of rifles and more than a ton of gold. The Khotan Emirate dispatched one of the three brothers, Shahmansur, known also as Emir Abdullah, and a former publisher named Sabit Damolla to Kashgar, where they established the Kashgar Affairs Office of the Khotan Government, led by Muhammad Amin Bughra, in July 1933. By the fall of that year, the office had shed many of its links to the Khotan government and reformed itself into the multi-ethnic, quasi-nationalist East Turkestan Independence Association, which drew heavily on ideas of Islamic reformism, nationalism and jadidism.
  Tungans, Han, and Soviets were all viewed as enemies by the First East Turkestan Republic.
  In November 1933, Sabit Damolla declared the establishment of the East Turkistan Republic with Hoja-Niyaz as its president — despite the fact that the respected commander was engaged in fighting in northern Xinjiang and had actually allied his forces with those of Sheng Shicai. Original proclamation was extremely anti-Tungan and anti-Han and contained such words:
  
  The Tungans, more than Han, are the enemy of our people. Today our people are already free from the oppression of the Han, but still continue live under Tungan subjugation. We must still fear the Han, but cannot not fear the Tungans as well. The reason, we must be careful to guard against the Tungans, we must intensively oppose them, cannot afford to be polite, since the Tungans have compelled us to follow this way. Yellow Han people have not the slightest thing to do with Eastern Turkestan. Black Tungans also do not have this connection. Eastern Turkestan belongs to the people of Eastern Turkestan. There is no need for foreigners to come be our fathers and mothers. ... From now on we do not need to use foreigner's language or their names, their customs, habits, attitudes, written languages, etc. We must also overthrow and drive foreigners from our boundaries forever. The colours yellow and black are foul. ... They have dirtied our Land for too long. So now it's absolutely necessary to clean out this filth. Take down the yellow and black barbarians! Live long Eastern Turkestan!
  Tungan, Dungan, and Hui all mean the same thing: Chinese speaking Muslims, Hui people.
  On November 12, 1933, an independent republic (Turkish Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan (TIRET) or Republic of Uyghurstan, both names were used at the same time) was proclaimed. This event was organized on Sunday morning in a mass rally on the shore of Tuman River outside of Kashgar with participating of about 7,000 troops and 13,000 civilians, including teachers and students of schools, who delivered speeches alongside with appointed "Ministers" of the independent republic. On noon cannon fired 41 times and crowd proceeded to the Old City of Kashgar, waving blue banners of Independence, where rally conti
caption: Establishment of the Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkistan on November 12, 1933, in Kashgar
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