The Emin Minaret or Imin Ta is 44 meters (144 ft) high and is the tallest minaret in China. The minaret was started in 1777 during the reign of the Qing Emperor Qianlong (1735-1796) and was completed only one year later. It was financed by local leaders and built to honor the exploits of a local Turpan general, Emin Khoja, hence the name 'Emin'. The Turpan Oasis was a strategically significant centre on Xinjiangs Northern Silk Route, site of the ancient cities of Yarkhoto (Jiaohe) and Karakhoja (Gaochang). Chinese armies first entered Turpan in the 2nd century BC, during the reign of Han Emperor Wu Di (141-87) when the oasis was a centre of Indo-European Tocharian culture. Turpan retained a distinctly Buddhist character until the time of the Chagatai Khanate in the 13th century, when Islam gradually became the dominant religion.