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 army, which maintained him in his position, was a Khitay force, owing allegiance solely to the Emperor of Pekin, and only obeying the instructions issued by his general accompanying the Eleuth prince Amursana. At this epoch Yusuf, a son of Galdan, had seized the chief authority in Kashgar, and, raising a cry that the true religion of Islam was in danger from the advance of the Khitay, endeavoured to rally to his cause in the struggle that he saw was approaching the Mahomedan governments of Khokand and Bokhara. Amursana, on the northern frontiers of Kashgar, was eagerly watching for the opportunity to arise for an active interference in that state, and Yusuf was prudent in seeking beyond his frontiers for allies that were able to assist him against the machinations of his foes. Yusuf had made himself the leader and representative of the Karataghluc party in the state, and Amursana accordingly resolved to put forward the pretensions of the rival Aktaghluc faction.