Khoja Niyaz, also Khoja Niyaz Haji, was a Uyghur independence movement leader who led several rebellions in Xinjiang against the Kumul Khanate, the Chinese governor Jin Shuren and later the Hui warlord Ma Zhongying. He is best remembered as the first and only president of the short-lived Islamic Republic of Eastern Turkestan from November 1933 until the republic's defeat in 1934.
Khoja Niyaz in front of Kökbayraq
First East Turkestan Republic
The Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET) was a breakaway Islamic republic centered on the city of Kashgar, located in the far west of China's Xinjiang Province. It is often described as the First East Turkestan Republic to differentiate it from the Second East Turkestan Republic (1944–1946), but "first" was never a part of its official name.
Uyghur rebels in the 1930s
Khoja Niyaz served as the president of the short-lived republic
General Ma Zhongying (1910–1937?), Commander of 36th KMT Division (1933–1934)
General Ma Hushan (1910–1954), Commander of 36th KMT Division (1934–1937)