Defined the Qing-Russian central Asian border, transferring roughly 350,000 square miles of territory to Russia and enclosing Lake Balkhash within Russian territory.
Key Facts
- Signed
- 7 October 1864 (O.S. 25 September 1864)
- Territory transferred to Russia
- ~350,000 square miles (910,000 km²)
- Border commission assembled
- 13 May 1861, at T'a-ch'eng (Chuguchak)
- Surveying began
- 11 July 1862
- Border markers placed
- 1869, delayed by Dungan Revolt
- Classification
- Sometimes listed among the 'unequal treaties'
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Article III of the Treaty of Peking (1860) required Russia and Qing China to demarcate their western central Asian border. A joint border commission convened in 1861, but disagreements over interpreting the treaty, conflicting maps, rival alliances with local tribes, and Russian military pressure prolonged negotiations. The Dungan Revolt of 1862 drew Chinese attention toward internal security, weakening China's negotiating position.
On 7 October 1864, Russian and Chinese delegates signed the Treaty of Tarbagatai at Chuguchak, establishing the boundary between Outer Mongolia and the Khanate of Kokand. Russia gained approximately 350,000 square miles of territory from Chinese Xinjiang, and Lake Balkhash, formerly on the border, became entirely surrounded by Russian territory.
The treaty's border markers could not be placed until 1869 due to ongoing rebellion, and rebel leader Yaqub Beg initially refused to recognize the new frontier. Supplementary protocols were signed at Khovd in 1869 and at Tarbagatai in 1870. The treaty became one of several agreements cited as 'unequal treaties' imposed on Qing China during the nineteenth century.
Political Outcome
Russia acquired approximately 350,000 square miles of central Asian territory from Qing China; the border between Outer Mongolia and the Khanate of Kokand was formally delimited in Russia's favour.
Western Qing-Russian border undefined; Lake Balkhash lay on the frontier between the two empires
Russia formally held ~350,000 sq mi of former Chinese Xinjiang territory; Lake Balkhash entirely within Russian territory