Alaï District Historical Museum named after Kurmanjan Datka
The museum houses exhibits that reflect the life of the entire Kyrgyz people, as well as personal belongings of Alymbek and Kurmanjan Datka. Photographs capturing Kurmanjan Datka and Alymbek Datka have been digitized and presented in a new quality.
It is noteworthy that the museum was opened to celebrate the 180th anniversary of Kurmanjan Datka in the Alai District in 1990 in the village of Gulcha (Kyrgyz: Гүлчө) — a village in the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan. The administrative center of the Alai District. The Pamir Highway, which runs south of Osh through the Alai Valley, passes through Gulcha. The village is located in a wide valley at the confluence of three rivers that form the Kurshab River.
In connection with the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Kurmanjan Datka in 2011, the building underwent major renovations.
During the restoration work for the 200th anniversary of Kurmanjan Datka, artists and museum staff, as well as employees of the historical museum in Bishkek, were engaged in searching for exhibits.
They sought assistance from the descendants of Alymbek and Kurmanjan Datka. For example, one of them, Tursunay Omurzakova, donated to the museum a chapan (traditional robe) of Datka's son Kamchybek and the rope on which he was hanged.
According to historical data, in July 1876, the so-called Alai Campaign began from the city of Osh, led by Major General Skobeleva M.D., which resulted in the annexation of the southern part of modern Kyrgyzstan - Alai - to the Russian Empire.
The queen of Alai, Kurmanjan Datka (where "Datka" means general), declared at her first meeting with the general that as long as she lived, there would be peace and tranquility in Alai. To protect her people from bloodshed, she "officially" announced the annexation of southern Kyrgyzstan to Russia.
By the decree of Russian Emperor Alexander II, Kurmanjan Datka was entered into the register of ruling families of the Romanov court, received the rank of colonel in the imperial army, and was addressed as "Your Excellency".
