Tawfiq Bay

Tawfiq Bay
Nickname(s)Beyzada
BornSyria
AllegianceFlag of the First East Turkestan Republic First East Turkestan Republic
Years of service1933–1934
RankGeneral
CommandsGeneral
Battles / warsBattle of Kashgar (1933)

Tawfiq Bay, or Sayyid Ahmad Tawfiq Bay Sharif Efendi (Tevfik Pasha), (Arabic: سيد احمد توفيق باي شريف أفندي; Chinese: 陶菲格·貝伊) was a Syrian Arab traveler who had been in the service of King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, eventually traveling to Xinjiang, Republic of China, in 1932. He was deported by the Chinese Muslim Daotai Ma Shaowu. On August 26 he arrived at Kashgar oases.[1] He joined the Uighur and Kirghiz Turkic Muslim fighters of the First East Turkestan Republic, who were fighting against the Chinese Muslim forces of the 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army), who were loyal to the Republic of China government. Tawfiq was a Pan Islamist.

The Turkic armies were led by Kirghiz Osman Ali, Abdullah Bughra, Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra, and Muhammad Amin Bughra. Tawfiq Bay was given command of an army of Turkic fighters.

The Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhancang beat off the Turkic Muslims led by Tawfiq and Osman with ease at Kashgar New City, and inflicted severe casualties on the Turkic troops. On September 26, 1933, Tawfiq Bay led an assault against the Chinese Muslims in Kashgar New City. Ma Zhancang's troops repulsed the attack, inflicting heavy casualties, and Tawfiq Bay was severely wounded in the stomach, and retired from fighting.[2]

After Ma Zhancang's troops completely defeated and exterminated the First East Turkestan Republic in 1934, Tawfiq fled to Afghanistan. There, he made contact with the Japanese Ambassador Kitada Masamoto.[3] He also visited Japan temporarily.

  1. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 94. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  2. ^ "FIGHTING IS SEVERE Tungans and Turkis Clash in Chinese Turkestan". The Montreal Gazette. 11 October 1933. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  3. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911-1949. Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 140. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.