The Kumul Rebellion was a rebellion of Kumulik Uyghurs who conspired with the Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhongying to overthrow Jin Shuren, governor of Xinjiang. The Kuomintang wanted Jin removed because of his ties to the Soviet Union, so it approved of the operation while pretending to acknowledge Jin as governor. The rebellion then catapulted into large scale fighting as Khotanlik Uyghur rebels in southern Xinjiang started a separate rebellion for independence in collusion with Kirghiz rebels. Various groups rebelled, and were not united, some fought against each other. The main part of the war was a Jihad waged by Ma Zhongying against the Xinjiang government, the Jihad was supported by Chiang Kaishek, the Premier of China, who secretly agreed to let Ma seize Xinjiang.

Jin Shuren (Chin Shu-jen) came to power shortly after the assassination of Xinjiang (Sinkiang) governor, Yang Zengxin (Yang Tseng-sin), in 1928. Jin was notoriously intolerant of Turkic peoples, and openly antagonized them. Such acts of discrimination included restrictions on travel, increased taxation, seizure of property without due process, and frequent executions for suspected espionage or disloyalty. Jin had Chinese Muslims in his provincial army like Ma Shaowu