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Yakub Beg (1820 - May 16, 1877) was a Tajik adventurer who became head of the kingdom of Kashgaria.
Yakub Beg was born in Pskente, Kokand (in today's Uzbekistan).
Yakub Beg took advantage of anti-Chinese uprisings in what is now Xinjiang, in north-western China, to make himself the ruler of Kashgaria with its capital in Kashgar. He ruled at the height of The Great Game era when the British, Russian, and Chinese empires were all vying for Central Asia. Kashgaria extended from the capital Kashgar in south-western Xinjiang to Urumqi, Turfan, and Hami in central and eastrn Xinjiang more than a thousand kilomrters to the north-east. He ruled a majority of, what was at the time, Chinese Turkestan. He was not particularly admired by his subjects, burdening them with heavy taxes and subjecting them to tyranical rule. Beijing eventually retook Kashgaria and, although no one knows exactly what happened to him, it is believed that he committed suicide.
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