Barchin, most often called Barchinoy ('moon-brocade'), is the heroine of the Alpomish epic and the hero's paternal cousin, daughter of Boysari. Promised to Alpomish in infancy, she is carried off to Kalmyk country when her father quarrels with his brother and migrates. Besieged by Kalmyk suitors, she stipulates the four contests that structure the bride-winning half of the epic, and her steadfast refusal of the usurper Ultontoz during Alpomish's long imprisonment drives its second half. She embodies the ideal of conjugal fidelity celebrated in the dastan tradition.