The Grandeur and Dignity of Women-Mothers
As mentioned above, Sunni Islam, which spread among the Kyrgyz, was subsequently adapted to local customs and rituals. In turn, this contributed to the centralization and structuring of pagan cults and beliefs at a higher level, incorporating them as subordinate elements into the overall social ideology.
Despite the tenets of Islamic religious doctrine and the condemnation by Muslim mullahs, the Kyrgyz retained many elements of paganism within the cultural fabric of society as dominant factors in public life.
Since ancient times, the highest deity for Central Asian nomads, including the Kyrgyz, was Tengri (Heaven). As modern scholars note, Tengrianism is a religion that embodies the highest life principle for nomads. Tengri is the creator of spiritual infinity, who has predetermined the fate of people. He is the source of all creations in the world, and His presence is felt in all phenomena, both visible and invisible. It is not surprising that the Kyrgyz still address Him: “Tetsir koldosun” (“May Tengri bless”), “Tetsir ursun” (“May Tengri punish”), “Tetsirim kubee” (“Witness Tengri”), etc.
Alongside the cult of worshiping Tengri, the Kyrgyz widely revered Jer-Suu (Earth and Water) - the progenitor and source of life, Fire - the guardian of the family hearth, possessing purifying power. Jer-Suu was offered sacrifices twice a year - with the arrival of spring and the beginning of livestock calving, and late in autumn - during preparations for winter. To this day, many Kyrgyz who have experienced natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, droughts, etc.) perform the Jer-Suu tayuu ritual - a sacrifice to the Earth and Water.
The fetishization of objects in the environment and the reverence for nature were also reflected in the worship of spirits - the masters of mountains, ancestral springs, lakes, stones, trees, etc. Among the Kyrgyz, these were elements of the Muslim religion and took the form of reverence for places sanctified by Islam.
Kyrgyz shamanism organically intertwined with the fabric of Islam, as the actions of local bakshis did not contradict the Islamic mystical tradition. Furthermore, among the mullahs-missionaries who brought Islam to the nomadic Kyrgyz population, there were many Sufi monks and Muslim dervishes. It was believed that they, in addition to knowing the text of the Quran, like the Kyrgyz bakshis, possessed magical abilities to expel evil spirits and heal people from various ailments.
In the life of nomadic society, the role of men was undoubtedly significant; however, the Kyrgyz, like other nomadic peoples, did not particularly cultivate male dominance over women.
The reverence for women among the Kyrgyz is an ancient tradition. It begins with the cult of the primordial mother Umai-ene - the wife of the pagan supreme god Tengri. To this day, Kyrgyz healers, when treating infants, start their actions with the words: “Menin kolum emes - Umai enenin kolu” (“Not my hand, but the hand of Umai-ene”). In the heroic epic “Manas,” the main hero Manas was allowed to suffer defeat in personal combat only once - by Saykal, a woman. Zhanil Myrza - a girl who became the leader of her clan due to her strength, accuracy, courage, and foresight, has a separate epic dedicated to her.
V.I. Lipsky, the director of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden, who visited Kyrgyzstan in 1903, wrote that women hardly lag behind men in horseback riding and that “no other Muslim people grant women such freedom as Kyrgyz women.” Indeed, Kyrgyz women, under certain conditions, had the right to vote and to participate in many social issues. A vivid testament to this is the life path and public activity of Kurmandzhan Datka - the “Queen of Alai.” Firstly, despite the prescriptions of the Quran, the objections of her parents, and the condemnation of those around her, she left her unloved husband and married the man she loved. Secondly, after the death of her husband Alymbek Datka, she took over the reins of power in Alai and later received the title of Datka from the Bukhara emir - “the support and bulwark of Islam on earth.” Thirdly, thanks to her wisdom, foresight, diplomacy, and authority, order was maintained in Alai during a difficult, fateful period in Kyrgyz history: the senseless, destructive confrontation with the vastly superior Russian forces was halted, and internal strife and raids were prevented. Although the recognition of her authority by the Kokand and Russian forces was dictated by the geopolitical situation of her domain - Alai, her personal qualities also played a significant role in their subsequent relations.
The materials analyzing the overall religious situation among the nomadic Kyrgyz do not allow us to assert that Kurmandzhan Datka was one of the not very strict followers of Islamic prescriptions, like a significant part of her kin and compatriots. Judging by her actions, behavior, and advancement on the political stage, she was a true believer, well-versed in the intricacies of the Quran and Sharia. Otherwise, she would not have been able to unilaterally dissolve her marriage under the conditions of those years, nor would she have received blessings for her rule from the Bukhara emir and the Kokand khan, who considered themselves “the support of Islam” in the region. Her religiousness is indirectly confirmed by the fact that in many photographs, she does not look directly into the lens, i.e., she acts according to the prescriptions of Islam.
However, the acceptance of Sunni Islam by the nomadic Kyrgyz played a significant role in shaping the personality of Kurmandzhan Datka as a tribal leader and political figure while simultaneously preserving the grandeur and dignity of women-mothers.
The legend states: when Kurmandzhan Datka was invited to a reception by Major General M.D. Skobelev, she rode her horse along a carpeted path to the place where the Russian general stood. When asked, “Why not walk, as is customary in such cases?” she replied, “I am a mother, and it is unbecoming for mothers to walk on foot in the presence of their sons!” In this act and response, the essence of a willful, freedom-loving, proud Kyrgyz woman, a ruler unburdened by any conventions, is clearly visible. Thus, one of the amusing and largely instructive episodes of the meeting between two different civilizations, initially foreign to each other's cultures, occurred. In the following chapters of our book, we will repeatedly emphasize the uniqueness of the cultural environment of the Kyrgyz ethnic group, tracing the process of the gradual integration of the Kyrgyz into the unified civilizational space of the Russian Empire through the life of the Alai queen.
The Fusion of the Islamic Religious-Ideological System with the Pagan Religious-Philosophical System of the Kyrgyz