given the low prestige of the qing dynasty and its armies being occupied elsewhere, the revolt that began in the spring of 1862 in the wei river valley spread rapidly throughout southeastern shaanxi. by late june 1862, organized muslim bands laid siege to xi'an, which was not relieved by qing general (sometimes written to-lung-a) until the fall of 1863. dorongga was a manchu bannerman in command of the army in hunan province. his forces defeated the muslim rebels and completely destroyed their position in shaanxi province, driving them out of the province to gansu. dorangga was later killed in action in march 1864 by taiping rebels in shaanxi.