Central Asia is rich with a wide range of oral epics and legends in which women appear as leading figures and play significant roles. The Kyrgyz epic Manas, the Karakalpak epic Kırk Kız, the Kazakh epic Kamber Batır, and Alpamış, which exists in a variety of versions and is popular among Uzbeks, Kazaks, Karakalpaks, and Bashkurts, are only a few examples of Central Asian epics. Although their origin goes back to earlier periods of Central Asian history, and their narratives are often set in some distant nomadic past, versions of thes…