Category Archives: Research Notes

A White Russian Account of the 1930s: Stepan Smigunov’s “Events in Xinjiang”

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DJB

The purpose of this post, originally at least, was to share an interesting text on the events of the 1931–34 Muslim uprising in Xinjiang, told from the point of view of a White Russian émigré, Stepan Ivanovich Smigunov (1888–?). In preparing it, though, I looked a bit more closely into Smigunov, and have come to realise that his life story is worth some discussion in its own right. Here, by way of introduction, is what I’ve learned so far about this slightly unusual individual. His account of events in Xinjiang, transcribed from a manuscript in the Russian State Archive in Moscow, follows below. Continue reading →

Hybrid Dating in Republican Xinjiang

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DJB

The history of the calendar in Xinijang is quite complex, not to say confusing, and there are whole periods where establishing a basic chronology can be difficult. Most strikingly, from the sixteenth century onward there was a serious discrepancy in the dating of the Islamic year in the Tarim Basin, with the twelve-year zodiacal cycle falling out of sync with the rest of the Islamic world (as discussed in an article by Hamada Masami, reference below). Even in more recent times, it can be surprisingly hard to pin down the date of events. Take, for example, the 1931 uprising in Hami against the provincial government, which led eventually to the formation of the first East Turkistan Republic. Not an insignificant event, and yet descriptions of it place its outbreak at various points within a three-month timespan: either in February, March, or April 1931. Continue reading →