Before the Qin Dynasty, Ili was occupied by the Ussuns, a tributary of the Hun. The Ussuns were driven away in the 6th century A.D. by the northern Xiongnu, who established Western Turk Khanate in 552. Later the Kulja territory became a dependency of Dzungaria. During the Tang Dynasty, the khanate was Anxi Daduhufu of the Tang Empire. The Uyghurs, and in the 12th century the Kara-Khitai, took possession of it in turn. Genghis Khan conquered Kulja in the 13th century, and the Mongol Khans resided in the valley of the Ili. It is supposed that the Oirats conquered it at the end of the 16th or the beginning of the 17th century. Qing Dynasty: The Oirats, or more precisely Dzungars, controlled both Dzungaria and the Ili Basin it until 1755 as Zunghar Khanate, when the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty under Emperor Qianlong annexed it. Having defeated Dzungars in the Dzunagrian and Ili Basins, as well as the Isha-qi- khojas in Kashgaria, the Qing court decided to make the Ili basin the main base of their control in Xinjiang. In the 1760s, the Qing built nine fortified towns in the Ili Basin.    City Area Location    Next City ⇨