This book invites readers into the little-known world of female religious authority and gender history in early modern Islamic Central Asia. It tells the story of the sixteenth-century female Sufi master celebrated as Aghā-yi Buzurg (the Great Lady) and her community. This book germinated in my fascination with the life of Aghā-yi Buzurg, who continues to be honored and remembered today in oral traditions associated with her shrine complex in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Those who visit the shrine are often reminded of the saint’s triumph over her contemporary rival, Mīr-i ʿArab, a prominent public figure whose grandiose madrasa remains active in Bukhara and constitutes a top tourist destination in the region.1