In the early years of the
Western Han dynasty, the land of present-day Akto County was under the jurisdiction of three kingdoms of
Shule, () and (). In 60 BCE, the
Han dynasty set up the
Protectorate of the Western Regions in Wulei City (), in present-day in
Luntai County, and Akto was placed under its jurisdiction. During the
Three Kingdoms period, Akto was under the jurisdiction of the
Wei State. During the
Jin dynasty, the area, alongside Shule Kingdom, was subordinate to the Jin dynasty. In 658 CE, most of the area was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Tang dynasty's as part of the
Jimi system. In 840 CE, the
Kara-Khanid Khanate, which included most of the area, was established. In 1134, the area, alongside much of the eastern portions of the Kara-Khanid Khanate, was absorbed into the
Qara Khitai. The area was incorporated into the newly created
Chagatai Khanate in 1226. In 1347,
Tughluk Timur broke away from the Chagatai Khanate, and established the
Eastern Chagatai Khanate, which included present-day Akto County. The area was one of the territories of Hudaida (), a governor of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. In 1514, the
Yarkent Khanate, which included present-day Akto County, broke off of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. In 1678, the area became part of the
Dzungar Khanate. After the Qing dynasty put down the
Revolt of the Altishahr Khojas in 1759, the area was successively governed by
Kashgar and
Yarkant ministers. In 1883, much of southern
Xinjiang was restructured into prefectures and other civil administrative divisions. The area was placed under the (), the (), and ().
20th century During the
Republic of China period, the area of present-day Akto County was split between
Yengisar County, Puli County (),
Shufu County, and
Ulugqat County. After the
People's Liberation Army annexed the area in September 1949, the present Yumai Township () was from the 6th district in Yengisar, Piral Township () and
Barin Township from the 7th district in Yengisar County, Kizilto Township () from the 8th district in Yengisar County, Qiarlon Township () from 4th district of Qiarlon () in Puli County, Blunko Township () from 5th district of Blunko () in Puli and two townships of Bostanterak District () in Wuqia County, Auytak Town () from Auytak Township () in Shufu County, Karekayqik Township () from Qlukbash Township in Shufu. Akto County was established in August 1954 from parts of Yengisar County, Shufu County, Puli County (present-day
Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County) and Ulugqat County. In February 1956, Barin District 7 of Yengisar County was transferred to the jurisdiction of Akto County. In January 1977, Akto County was transferred to the jurisdiction of Kashgar Prefecture, and in July 1980, it resumed its original administrative affiliation. In April 1990, the
Barin uprising occurred in
Barin Township. In June 1996, Aisha Awazi, a
Uyghur in the county highly critical of the Chinese government, was arrested in connection with reportedly appointing himself
imam of a
mosque in the county with the backing of 120 like-minded persons; he was listed as a
political prisoner by
Amnesty International.
21st century The 2007
Xinjiang raid occurred in the county. In 2015, Chinese state media reported about a huge body of the
Kongur Tiube glacier (7,530 metres) collapsing causing a long and wide ice rock avalanche. ==Geography==