Gulaim

Gulaim is the central heroine of Qırq qız, the most celebrated of the Karakalpak heroic epics. Daughter of Allayar, ruler of the fortress of Sarkop, she refuses to marry at fifteen and instead withdraws to the island stronghold of Miuweli, where she gathers and trains forty like-minded young women in the arts of war. When Sarkop is overrun by the Kalmyk khan Surtaisha and her father is slain, Gulaim leads the forty maidens in a campaign of liberation, defeating the khan in single combat and freeing the captives. Aided by her beloved Aryslan of Khwarazm, she ultimately establishes a joint government among the peoples of the region. The epic runs to some twenty thousand verses and was fixed in writing from the recitation of the jıraw Qurbanbay Tazhibaev.

Parentage

• Allayar

Domains

• war
• sovereignty

Powers

• leads the forty maiden-warriors into battle
• vanquishes the enemy khan in single combat

Epithets

• qırq qızdıń serdarı

Relations

• spouse: Aryslan
• enemy: Surtaisha
• parent: Allayar

Sources

• Qırq qız (Forty Girls), Karakalpak heroic epic, recorded 1939–1940 from Qurbanbay Tazhibaev jıraw; Soviet edition.
• Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Qyrq Qyz (Forty Girls), performance and program materials.