<P> Because of the American Civil War, cotton shot up in price in the 1860s, becoming an increasingly important commodity in the region, although its cultivation was on a much lesser scale than during the Soviet period . The cotton trade led to improvements: the Transcaspian Railway from Krasnovodsk to Samarkand and Tashkent, and the Trans - Aral Railway from Orenburg to Tashkent were constructed . In the long term the development of a cotton monoculture would render Turkestan dependent on food imports from Western Siberia, and the Turkestan - Siberia Railway was already planned when the First World War broke out . </P> <P> Russian rule still remained distant from the local populace, mostly concerning itself with the small minority of Russian inhabitants of the region . The local Muslims were not considered full Russian citizens . They did not have the full privileges of Russians, but nor did they have the same obligations, such as military service . The Tsarist regime left substantial elements of the previous regimes (such as Muslim religious courts) intact, and local self - government at the village level was quite extensive . </P> <P> During the 17th and 18th Centuries the Qing Dynasty made several campaigns to conquer the Dzungar Mongols . In the meantime, they incorporated parts of Central Asia into the Chinese Empire . Internal turmoil largely halted Chinese expansion in the 19th century . In 1867 Yakub Beg led a rebellion that saw Kashgar declaring its independence as the Taiping and Nian Rebellions in the heartland of the Empire prevented the Chinese from reasserting their control . </P> <P> Instead, the Russians expanded, annexing the Chu and Ili Valleys and the city of Kuldja from the Chinese Empire . After Yakub Beg's death at Korla in 1877 his state collapsed as the area was reconquered by China . After lengthy negotiations Kuldja was returned to Beijing by Russia in 1884 . </P>

The traditional lands of the nomads of central asia are