ccupied, in a
legal sense, the same position as their predecessors. It would appear,
however, that the natural result of their aid to Wali Khan followed, and
that the Chinese Ambans regarded their presence with scarcely concealed
dislike, and proclaimed that these Khokandian tax-gatherers were
devoting more of their attention to the propagation of heretical
religious and political doctrines than to the collection of dues on silk
and other articles of commerce. It would require but the slightest
untoward circumstance to fan this ill-feeling into the most insatiate
hatred and hostility. The danger was rendered the more serious when the
Chinese Ambans perceived for the first time that the sympathies of a
large portion of their Tungan soldiery were estranged from them. It was
doubtful whether the Tungan regiments could be relied on against a fresh
Khoja revolt, and it was certain that they would not combine in any
repression of the Mahomedan religion, even though the sufferers should
only be Andijanis. Such was the state of the public mind in Altyshahr in
1862, when the Tungani revolted and obtained success in Kansuh and
Shensi.

As early as 1859 the hostility of the Chinese Ambans to the Andijani
tax-collectors received a forcible illustration in the town of Yarkand.
At that time Afridun Wang was governor, and, whether there was any
personal enmity at the root of the action or not, he found little
difficulty in convincing both himself and the other Chinese residents
that the Andijani agent had been stirring up discontent against them in
the town. Accordingly, as self-preservation is the first law of nature,
this Khokandian official, with his attendant, was arrested and executed.
There may have been some foundation for the accusations made by Afridun
Wang against his rival: more probably there was none; but on referring
the matter to the Viceroy of Ili for decision it was decided that the
governor should be removed. The Khokandian government sent fresh agents,
and it is not stated that any reparation was given to the families of
the sufferers. From this it would appear that the post of tax-collector
in Altyshahr for His Highness the Khan of Khokand was not a very
desirable position. Afridun Wang retired to his native town of Turfan,
where, three years later on, he contributed more than any one else to
the success of the Tungan movement. His policy, if anti-Khokandian, was
pro-Mahomedan or Tungan, and his case is very typica