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It could describe the future trajectory of Dariga Nazarbayeva,
the 56-year-old daughter of Kazakhstan's former leader Nursultan
Nazarbayev, who many people believe will eventually become
president of the oil-producing nation.
In fact, it's the plot of a film about Tomyris, an ancient
central Asian warrior queen, which is being prepared for release
in Kazakhstan and whose producer and co-writer is Dariga
Nazarbayeva's younger sister, Aliya.
The film's tagline, according to advance publicity material, is:
"A queen born to make the steppe great."
The filmmakers declined to answer questions from Reuters, but
according to Kazakh political analyst Dosym Satpayev, the
parallels between the hero of the movie and Dariga may be more
than just a coincidence.
"One cannot rule out the idea that Tomyris serves several goals:
to play a political role... on the one hand, and on the other to
help the (first) president's youngest daughter fulfil her movie
industry ambitions," said Satpayev.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, a 79-year-old former Communist Party
apparatchik, resigned as Kazakh president in March after three
decades in power. He backed Senate speaker Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
to replace him, and Tokayev won a June 9 presidential election.
But some political observers believe Tokayev is a place-holder
and that the succession will eventually pass to a member of the
Nazarbayev family.
WARRIOR QUEEN
When her father stepped down, Dariga was appointed the new
speaker of the Senate, making her the no.2 figure in the
political hierarchy of Kazakhstan, an ex-Soviet republic of 18
million people which won its independence from Moscow in 1991.
Still, the idea of a female ruler could be a hard sell in a
country where many still believe a woman's role is in the home.
This is why the upcoming movie has caught the eye of some
observers who think it might make Nazarbayeva's potential
presidential bid more acceptable among ordinary Kazakhs.
Directed by Akan Satayev, who has previously worked on a
flattering biopic of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the movie is entitled
"Tomyris" and is based on the story of the ancient queen.
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She was ruler of the Massageteans, a confederation of
Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes who were related to Scythians
and inhabited Central Asia for several centuries.
Ancient Greek historian Herodotus described their victory over
the invading Persian army in the sixth century BC, and how
Tomyris dipped the head of King Cyrus the Great, killed in
battle, in a vessel of blood.
Little else is known about Tomyris, but the void has been filled
by fiction.
Kazakh writer Bulat Zhandarbekov published a novel of the same
name in 1993 and it became an instant hit as the
newly-independent nation was looking for a fresh identity.
Director Satayev declined an interview request from Reuters, but
four people involved in its production confirmed that the script
was loosely based on the book.
The novel describes Tomyris's father uniting the Massagetean
tribes while grooming her, his only child, as his heir, while
also chronicling the rise of the Persian empire to the
southwest.
After her father's death, Tomyris skilfully plays her own
political game in order to maintain control over ambitious and
scheming tribe leaders as Massageteans fight war after war with
neighboring tribes and the kingdom of Khwarazm.
Portrayed as a strong, cunning but merciful leader, Tomyris
creates a thousands-strong all-female military unit which helps
tip the scales in the final battle against Cyrus.
The novel was so successful that Tomyris remains a popular name
for newborn girls in Kazakhstan.
(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva and Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by
Gareth Jones)
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