The Queen of Alai
The Last Lifetime Photographs of Kurmanjan Datka
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And nowhere is this adage more true than for the past, a time so removed from our own, for which a single image can have a huge impact. In this section, the editors at Qalam seek to do more than merely showcase documentary photographs from various eras—we want to tell the real stories behind these images and bring history to life. Each photograph here captures a moment that has shaped our world, and the accompanying narrative highlights its significance and context, giving us a nuanced insight into the events they depict. After all, understanding these stories can only help us appreciate the complexities of history better.
This time, let’s explore photographs of the sport of wrestling from various parts of the region.
Kurmanjan Mamatbai kyzy, better known as Kurmanjan Datka (1811–1907), was a legendary leader of the Alai Kyrgyz and one of the few Muslim women to have governed a state-like formation. At the peak of her political and military career, she commanded an army of 10,000 soldiers. She rivaled other Kyrgyz beks, opposed the khan of Kokand, and fought against Russia. Due to her balanced political strategies and diplomatic skills, she was officially recognized as a datka (queen) in both the Kokand khanate and the Bukhara emirate, while the Russian government awarded her the rank of colonel in the Russian Imperial Army. In her homeland, she was respectfully called the Uluttun enesi in Kyrgyz, meaning ‘Mother of the Nation’. Her life was marked by extraordinary events, cementing her legacy as one of the most influential figures in Central Asian history.
In the final stage of her long life, her fate took a tragic turn. In 1893, her son Kamchybek was arrested on charges of murdering a Russian customs officer, and in 1895, he was executed before her eyes. Following this, Kurmanjan voluntarily went into exile in the village of Mady near Osh. Between June and July 1906, six months before her death, a Russian military officer and future president of Finland, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, the hero of the Soviet-Finnish wars and namesake of the famous Mannerheim Linei
The Mannerheim Line was a defensive fortification line built by Finland in two phases from 1920–1924 and 1932–1939, with the primary purpose being to protect itself from the Soviet Union. It was built on the Karelian Isthmus, which is a part of Finland's border with Russia., passed through the Alai Valley. It was he who took the last photographs of Kurmanjan. According to the traveler’s recollections, even at the age of ninety-six, she regularly rode 40 kilometres a day on horseback because she would get motion sickness in a carriage.
Today, we present photographs of the ninety-six-year-old Alai queen. The collection also includes earlier photographs taken by the Russian revolutionary Ivan Yuvachev.
