in accordance with the terms of the treaty of saint petersburg signed in february 1881, which required the withdrawal of the russian troops from the upper ili basin (the kulja area), the hui and taranchi (uighur) people of the region were allowed to opt for moving to the russian side of the border. most people choose that option and according to russian statistics, 4,682 hui moved to the russian empire under the treaty. they migrated in many small groups between 1881 and 1883, settling in the village of sokuluk some west of bishkek, as well as at a number of points between the chinese border and sokuluk, in south-eastern kazakhstan and northern kyrgyzstan.