eless complaining to the
ambitious Danyal, and from this time down to the Chinese conquest, the
Calmuck rulers of Ili asserted their right to supremacy over Eastern
Turkestan. Danyal, himself, was appointed, some years later on, governor
of Kashgar, now called Alty Shahr, or six cities; but, under him, there
was a local governor for each town, appointed by the Calmucks
themselves. His power was more apparent than real. His eldest son was
kept at Ili as a hostage for the good behaviour of his father, and
Danyal, himself, had frequently to proceed to Ili to make his report on
the state of affairs in Kashgar. Such was the condition of Kashgar, as a
subject province of the Calmuck rulers of Ili, governed by Danyal, a
member of the Karataghluc party, in the year 1740. On the death of
Galdan, the son of Arabdan Khan of Jungaria, in 1745, two chiefs,
Amursana and Davatsi, or Tawats, seized the governing power, and for a
time they divided the authority fairly between them; but it was not long
before they fell out, and resolved to advance their own interests at the
expense of each other. Amursana was unable to cope with the armies of
his rival, Davatsi, and, having been defeated in several encounters,
fled from Jungaria to China. On his arrival at Lanchefoo he demanded
permission to proceed to Pekin to lay his grievances at the feet of the
Emperor, and to offer in his name, and in that of many of his
compatriots, the districts of Ili and of Kashgar to his omnipotent
majesty.

The request was granted, and Keen-Lung received him with favour,
promised to consider what he had stated, and, in the meanwhile, gave him
titles and revenues within the Chinese Empire. Amursana's address was so
insinuating, and he played so skilfully on the king's ambition and love
for military renown, that at last Keen-Lung consented to lend him the
forces, which he had been so lavish of promises to secure. In 1753, the
Chinese army, under Amursana, appeared in Jungaria, and, after several
desperate encounters, Davatsi was driven out of that state, and,
according to one account, was delivered up to the Chinese by Khojam Beg,
the governor of Ush Turfan. According to another version, he was
captured in the field; but both agree that he was taken to Pekin and
there executed. Amursana, having regained his position in Jungaria, now
turned his attention to the conquest of its dependency, Kashgar. He was
now supreme in Jungaria, with his capital at Ili; but his a