Mission and Revolution in Central Asia - Svenska Missionskyrkan

elonging to the population of the country were appointed. The new Chinese name for the
province was Sinkiang, the New Possession. 104
Already at the arrival of the Mission, Russian influence was obvious in the country. The
Russian Consulate in Kashgar had been set up in 1882, and up to the Russian Revolution in
1917 the Russians had a large staff in Kashgar. The Consul-General was a high-ranking
Government official with a detachment of some one hundred Cossacks at his disposal. He
also had a considerable number of consular officials at his side. After the Russian Revolution
the Consulate had to close. It was not reopened until 1925. The Consul-General was however
not allowed to keep a Russian detachment as before. 105
The Russian Consul during the first mission period was a man called Petroffski. According
to the missionaries, this man was a constant source of trouble to the Chinese. To the very last
the Chinese authorities had tried to stop the re-opening of the Consulate. 106 Petroffski was
very efficient and tried by all means to find out political information for his government.
Törnquist noted that the Consul was grateful for any “gossip” he was given, and that he paid
20 öre for every piece of news “be it of any kind”. 107 There is no evidence however, that the
missionaries made use of this way of making extra money. But the Consul had his network of
informants who would pick up gossip in the bazaars or elsewhere. 108 One such informant was
Father Hendrichs a former Catholic missionary. Lady Macartney writes that he was
nicknamed “the Newspaper”, since he was always on his feet collecting information that he
later passed on. 109
The Russian Consulate with Consul Petroffski was very important for the Mission during
its early days. Among other things the Consul gave the missionaries military protection in
1899 when a mob was threatening their lives. Petroffski was also a hospitable man who
invited the Swedish missionaries for dinner every now and then. At Christmas time he used
to invite the staff from the British Consulate, the Swedish colony and other foreigners in the
city for a Christmas party in his home. Lady Macartney mentions that on these occasions
people were dancing around the Christmas tree singing Christmas songs each one in his own
language. On one occasion there were eight languages represented: Russian, English,
Swedish, French, Chinese, Turkish, Persian and Hindi. 110 During the first years the
Headquarters in Sweden were allowed to send money, letters and goods by way of the
Russian Consulate to the missionaries. 111
Thanks to Petroffski and his zeal, Russian trade was expanding. Already the first
missionaries could note the variety of Russian products for sale in the shops. Sven Hedin who
during his travels in the country hade become a good friend of Petroffski’s, notes that
Petroffski “exercised an almost almighty influence”. 112
China’s Central Government tried to counteract this growing Russian influence by
encouraging Chinese from other parts of the vast empire to move to Eastern Turkestan. At the
104
Lundahl, 1917, p. 60 f. Hayit, 1917, p. 141 ff.
105
Skrine, 1926, p. XV, 66.
106
Hedin, 1893 II, p. 446 and p. 449.
107
Törnquist, 1926, p. 183.
108
Mannerheim, 1940, p. 47.
109
Macartney, 1931, p. p. 49. Younghusband, 1896, p. 166 ff.
110
Macartney, 1931, p. 50.
111
Larsson, 1919, p. 56.
112
Hedin, 1893, p. 57. Gottfrid Palmberg writes about these enormous stocks of goods intended for Eastern
Turkestan, that he saw in Andidjan, on the Russian side of the border. There was also heavy caravan traffick.
(Palmberg, 1961, nr 4.)
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