Governorship of Xinjiang
Ma Yuanzhang, a Sufi Jahriyya Shaykh, gave his support for Yang Zengxin to seize power in Xinjiang. This enabled Yang to immediately raise a massive army of Hui Muslim troops, mainly from Jahriyya mosque communities.
The Muslim General Ma Anliang, in cooperation with magistrate Yang Zengxin, attempted to arrest and execute the Yihewani(Ikhwan in Arabic) leader Ma Wanfu. Ma Qi, one of Ma Anliang's suboordinates, staged a rescue operation and brought Ma Wanfu to Xining. Ma Anliang and Yang Zengxin were both monarchists and did not trust republicanism, they had served in the Qing military together.
Yang came to power after he defeated the revolutionaries that caused the last Qing dynasty governor Yuan Dahua to flee during the Xinhai Revolution in Xinjiang. The Ili revolutionaries and the Gelaohui were eliminated by Yang. Yang appointed Ma Fuxing as military commander of 2,000 Chinese Muslim troops, to crush Yang's rivals. President Yuan Shikai recognized his rule and in return he supported Yuan's revival of the monarchy by inviting Republican anti-Yuan rebels to a banquet and decapitating them on New Year's Day, 1916. Yang believed monarchy was the best system for China, and some western travelers noted with approval, that Yang was a former Mandarin unlike the Republican governors of the other provinces.
Yang was made a Count of the First Rank (一等伯 Yī děng bó) by Yuan Shikai.
In 1917, President Li Yuanhong assigned Fan Yaonan (樊耀南) to observe him and, if possible, replace him. Yang always recognized which ever faction was in power in the Beiyang government to avoid trouble. Yang's rule kept the region relatively peaceful, compared to other parts of China which were war-torn. However, he ruled dictatorially and executed many dissidents. Taxes for Kazakhs, Uighurs, and other minorities were lowered. People were forbidden to abuse minorities, and warned his Muslim subjects on the Soviet Russians, saying, "beware of associating thenselves with a people who are entirely without religion and who would harm them and mislead their women".
Yang relied heavily on Hui people, Chinese Muslims to enforces his rule on Xinjiang. They were disliked by both Han and Uighurs, because they had high positions within the Xinjiang military and government under Yang.
There were several Uighur factions during Yang's rule in Xinjiang, which did not intermarry and were fierce rivals. The Agtachlik faction always cut off the top of a melon and said bismillah before slicing it, and the less pious Qarataghliks (black mountain Uighurs) would slice up the melon without invoking the name of God. The Qarataghliks were pro-Chinese, and content to live under Chinese rule, while the Agtachlik Uighurs were hostile to Chinese rule.
On July 1, 1928 he recognized the Nationalist Government in Nanjing. Six days later he was killed in a coup attempt by Fan Yaonan during a banquet. Fan had risen high into Yang's regime but Yang never trusted Fan. The motive seems to be Yang's denial of the pro-Nationalist Fan into a Nationalist advisory council designed to keep Xinjiang in check. Yang's death was avenged by Jin Shuren almost immediately. Lacking resources to oust Jin, Nanjing recognized his succession to the governorship.
Ma Fuxing was appointed Titai of Kashgar from 1916-1924 by Yang, who ordered Ma Shaowu to assassinated Ma Fuxing in 1924. Ma Shaowu was then appointed Daotai of Kashgar.
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