Russian interference in Central Asia had been minimal throughout the 1860s, leaving native ways of life intact and local government structures in place for the most part.

With the conquest of Turkestan after 1865 and the consequent securing of the frontier, the Russians have gradually expropriated large parts of the steppe and given these lands to Russian farmers, who begin to arrive in large numbers.

This process is initially limited to the northern fringes of the steppe.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Qing Dynasty had made several campaigns to conquer the Dzungar Mongols.

In the meantime, they had incorporated parts of Central Asia into the Chinese Empire.

Internal turmoil has largely halted Chinese expansion in the nineteenth century.

Yakub Beg had led a rebellion in 1867 that had seen Kashgar declaring its independence as the Taiping and Nian Rebellions in the heartland of the Empire prevented the Chinese from reasserting their control.

Instead, the Russians have expanded, annexing the Chu and Ili Valleys and the city of Kuldja from the Chinese Empire.