[5] They assisted the Qing Han Chinese general Zuo Zongtang in suppressing the Muslim revolt.

In 1877, his father Ma Zhanao defeated a group of Muslim rebels who continued fighting near Hezhou.

In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, Ma Anliang, as Tongling of Ho-Chou joined Dong Fuxiang in fighting against the foreigners.

In 1911, when the Xinhai Revolution erupted, he led over 20 battalions of Hui Muslim troops to defend the Qing dynasty by attacking Shaanxi, which was held by the revolutionaries under Zhang Fenghui.

[17] When the Qing emperor Puyi abdicated, Ma agreed to join the new Republic of China government under the Kuomintang.

[19][20] Pro-revolution Hui Muslims like Shaanxi Governor Ma Yugui and Beijing Imam Wang Kuan persuaded Qing Hui general Ma Anliang to stop fighting, telling him as Muslims not to kill each other for the sake of the Qing monarchists and side with the republican revolutionaries instead.

Ma Anliang then agreed to abandon the Qing under the combination of Yuan Shikai's actions and these messages from other Hui.

[22] Ma Anliang fought against the Bai Lang Rebellion, and attacked the Xidaotang (西道堂) Muslim organization.

[26][27] General Ma Anliang was the de facto senior leader of all Muslims in northwestern China from the beginning of the Republican era in 1912 until he died.

[31][32] After his death, Ma Anliang was praised by American Vice-Consul at Kalgan, Rodney Gilbert in the Herald for keeping peace in Gansu, which he maintained by his willingness to fight against his fellow Muslims.

[38] Yuan Shikai made Ma Anliang a Baron of the First Rank (一等男; Yī děng nán) of the Empire of China (1915–16).