communal tension by relocating some of the local Han people away from the Muslims. Nonetheless, in order to ensure the government's control over the region, the Muslims were prohibited to live within the city walls of Hezhou. For many decades thereafter, the walled city remained the Han territory, with its mosques converted to Buddhist temples, while the Huis lived and built their mosques outside of the city walls, in particular in the southern suburb of Bafang.
Ma Zhan'ao himself went to fight along with Zuo Zongtang against the Muslim rebels farther west. For his efforts (and on Zuo's request), Ma was later rewarded by the "feathered cap of the fifth rank" ; his and his lieutenants' descendants went to play an important role in the region's history for decades to come
