Osh. Kurbandzhan-Datka
The Emir of Bukhara Appoints Kurbandzhan as Datka — Ruler of Alay
After the death of Alymbek, political power and the leadership of the clan were inherited by his widow, Kurbandzhan-datka. In 1862, Khudoyar Khan, with the help of the Bukharan army, once again occupied Kokand and seized the throne. However, the eastern regions of Fergana, the Kyrgyz and Kipchaks, remained the most rebellious. A Bukharan detachment sent by Emir Muzaffar reached Osh and besieged the fortress of Mady.
There is a vague mention that during this time, a meeting occurred between the emir and the Alay ruler. Muzaffar, upon learning of Kurbandzhan-datka's influence over the Alay Kyrgyz, "contrary to Muslim custom, bestowed upon her the honorary title of datka, providing her with the appropriate charter and gifting her presents," as noted in Russian journals.
It was an unheard-of act for Central Asia, and indeed for the entire Islamic East — a Muslim woman, defying traditions and the will of her parents, does not go to live with her chosen husband, and later, after the death of the husband chosen by herself, does not transfer power to his eldest son, but takes it into her own hands. And — is it not remarkable! — the bastion of Islam in Central Asia — the Emir of Bukhara confirms her as datka — ruler of Alay. Khudoyar Khan graciously receives in his palace a woman who has come down from the mountains and does not recognize the veil, who has usurped, from the perspective of a male Muslim fanatic, power among the warlike nomadic Kyrgyz of Alay. Khudoyar Khan forgives ... no, he does not even remember (!) the various uprisings of the Kyrgyz against him, in which the instigators and open political force were the subjects of Alymbek and Kurbandzhan, confirms her as datka and as the full ruler of Alay, gifts her a brocade robe from his own shoulders and ... sends her back to her native Alay pastures alive (!) This was indeed a unique case in the fanatical Islamic world of Bukhara and Kokand. Her stepson Jarkinbay, having renounced his hereditary title of datka in favor of his stepmother, was appointed as the hakim of Osh in 1864 (he was soon killed in one of the battles of the Kokand army against the troops of General M. G. Cherniaev).
In 1865, Khudoyar Khan managed to seize the throne for the third time, and Kurbandzhan hastened to appear before him in Kokand. The khan confirmed her rights to the title of datka and to govern Alay, and instead of the slain Jarkinbay, appointed her eldest son Abdullabek as hakim of Osh.
The famous traveler in the Kokand Khanate, A. P. Fedchenko, who visited Alay in 1871, noted that Kurbandzhan-datka "enjoys immense authority; our dzhigits spoke of her only with great respect." Even Khudoyar Khan, in the case of her arrival in Kokand, received the "Alay queen" "as an important bek."
During the incorporation of Southern Kyrgyzstan into Russia in 1876, a meeting took place between Kurbandzhan and General M. D. Skobelev, who commanded the Russian detachment. The "Alay queen" came to the general accompanied by her son Kamchibek and grandson Mirzapayaz. The future first military governor of Fergana, the future hero of Shipka in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, received Kurbandzhan warmly.
Through an interpreter, he expressed his satisfaction with the meeting, praised the bravery of her sons, and asked Kurbandzhan to persuade them and the subordinate Kyrgyz to lean towards Russian citizenship, promising everyone complete safety of life and property. Kurbandzhan heeded the advice, sending her messengers throughout Alay with orders to return freely to their ails. Her three sons: Mahmudbek, Hasanbek, and Batyrbek obeyed their mother and soon returned to the Osh district. The governor-general of the Turkestan region, K. P. Kaufman, who arrived there by that time, appointed all the sons of the datka as volost administrators.
A little later, in the historical narratives of the popular Kyrgyz akyn-democrat Togolok Moldoo, the motif will sound that "the Alay Kyrgyz joined the Russians under the leadership of Kurbandzhan." The "Alay queen" now becomes a loyal supporter of tsarism, playing an important role in the governance of the Alay Kyrgyz even after their incorporation into Russia. For this, by a special imperial decree in 1881, Kurbandzhan-datka was granted a lifetime state pension of 300 rubles.
