Kurmanjan Datka ( ky, Курманжан Датка) or Datka Kurmanjan Mamatbay kyzy (1811 – 1 February 1907), also known as "The Tsaritsa of Alai" or "The Queen of the South", was a politician in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

who acquiesced under duress to the annexation of that region to Russia.

History

Kurmanjan was born into a rich family of the Mungush clan in the

Osh Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош, romanised Osh; uz, O‘sh/Ўш) is the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "capital of the south". It is the oldest city in the country (e ...

region. At the age of 18 she was supposed to be married to a man whom she did not see until her wedding day. When she met him, she did not like him and broke with tradition — first fleeing into neighboring China and later deciding to stay with her father, Mambatbai. In 1832, the local feudal lord, Alimbek, who had taken the title ''" Datka"'' and ruled all the Kyrgyz of the Alai, was attracted by the young, vivacious woman and married her. An instrumental politician in the increasingly decrepit

Kokand khanate The Khanate of Kokand ( fa, ; ''Khānneshin-e Khoqand'', chg, ''Khoqand Khānligi'') was a Central Asian polity in the Fergana Valley centred on the city of Kokand between 1709 and 1876. Its territory is today divided between Uzbekistan, Kyr ...

, Alimbek was murdered in the course of a palace coup in 1862 and his widow Kurmanjan was recognized by the khans of

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

and Kokand as ruler of the Alai and given the title of ''"Datka"''. In 1876 the Alai region was annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Recognizing the futility of resistance, Kurmanjan Datka persuaded her people to accept Russian overlordship. During the subsequent continuing unrest and sporadic attempts by the local population to shake off Russian supremacy, gun-running and smuggling were profitable businesses and two of Kurmanjan's sons and two of her grandsons were charged with contraband trade and murdering customs officials. When her favourite son was sentenced to death, she refused the urging of some of her followers to effect a rescue, saying that she would not let her private hopes and ambitions be the cause of suffering for her people; she actually attended her son's public execution. The others were then exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and she essentially retired from public life. In 1906, she was visited by Baron

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comma ...

(later President of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) who was a colonel in the Russian army at the time. Mannerheim took her photograph. She died six months later. Kurmanjan Datka lived to be well over 90 and was survived by two sons, two daughters, 31 grandsons, 57 great grandsons and six great-great-grandsons.

Legacy

In 1995 a then newly founded women's committee was named after her. Now it is known as Women's Public Union "Erayim".

In popular culture

In 2014, the film '' Queen of the Mountains'' (originally titled ''Kurmanjan Datka'') was released, which centers around the story of her life.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Datka, Kurmanjan 1811 births 1907 deaths Kyrgyzstani diplomats Kyrgyzstani women in politics