Visitors get their photos taken with Baku’s legendary ‘Qiz Qalasi’, or ‘Maiden Tower’, in the background. — Bernama photo IN the imaginations of Azerbaijani poets and playwrights, the Maiden Tower, or ‘Qiz Qalasi’, looms large with the famous legend of the princess who was locked in the tower, à la Rapunzel. But rather than letting down her hair to bring up her lover, this princess would rather jump into the Caspian Sea to her death than be married to an unwanted suitor.
It is the inspiration for the ‘Maiden Tower Ballet’, the first in Azerbaijan and unusual among Muslim countries. First performed in 1940, the unwanted suitor is actually the princess’s father, Khan Jhahangir, the King. Coming back from the war, he was not happy that his wife had given birth to the princess Gulyanag, rather than the male heir whom he wanted.
He ordered her death, but a nanny managed to smuggle Gulyanag out. Seventeen years later, she had grown into a beautiful woman and caught the eye of the Khan. He decided to take her as his latest wife.
At first, the King did not know she was his daughter, as he was just a creepy murderer, but not necessarily an incestuous one. But then he found out and decided that it was not a deal-breaker after all. Yikes! In the five days I was in Azerbaijan to attend the Sixth World Forum in Intercultural Dialogue, I was not lucky enough to attend the ballet, which was revised in 1999 to remove Soviet influences.
The new version still has Khan J.
