I've tried to find some references on notable women from this region.  I haven't run across any notable characters, though the nickname I've selected was a female Mongol warrior.  Anyone have more info?

-  Sorghaghtani Beki- or Sorkhokhtani (died http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1252 - 1252 ), a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kereyid - Kereyid princess and daughter-in-law of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan - Genghis Khan , was one of the most powerful and competent women in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_empire - Mongol Empire . Married to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolui - Tolui , Genghis' youngest son, she raised her sons to be leaders, and maneuvered the family politics so that all four of her sons were to become http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Khan - Great Khans , founding several dynasties:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6ngke_Khan - Möngke Khan : 1251-1259
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan - Kublai Khan : 1259-1294, Eastern http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_empire - Mongol Empire , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynasty - Yuan dynasty
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulagu_Khan - Hulagu Khan : 1262-1265, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilkhanate - Ilkhanate dynasty, (Central Asia)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariq_Boke - Ariq Boke , her fourth son, was also declared Great Khan (rivalling Kublai) for a short period in 1260; he would eventually be captured by Kublai in 1264.

She is spoken of very highly both in the Secret History, as well as by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim - Muslim , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China - Chinese and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian - Christian historians.

“If I were to see among the race of women another woman like this, I should say that the race of women was far superior to that of men” (Syriac scholar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Hebraeus - Bar Hebraeus ) ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghaghtani_Beki#_note-weatherford - [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghaghtani_Beki#_note-rossabi - [2]}

Sorkhokhtani died in February 1252 around the Mongol New Year festival, a few months after Mongke's accession ceremony. She was given the title of “empress” in 1310 in a ceremony that included a Nestorian mass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghaghtani_Beki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorghaghtani_Beki

This is a very interesting topic, in fact, i love it. I love this topic so much, that im gonna "steal" it and take it to my domain, "Women's History", becuase i think it would have a great place there. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Despite the common knowledge, we Turks don't know much about Mongols and as far as i know, neither they do about us. But that doesn't mean, they're completely seperate or far away from us. 

I live in Turkey, was born there... I know much about Turkey, maybe a little more than a regular person. Ottoman Empire (Osmanlı Devleti / İmparatorluğu in modern Turkish) was based on Islam and being a Turk was a secondary principle for them. When Kemal Ataturk (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk means, ancestor of Turks)  came to power, that changed completely. He destroyed the empire almost completely with the misguided wills of other people. Others from the people with thoughts of being a Turk, as a first value. So he used them to establish a modern, much more civilized country and a country that based on Turkish culture. 

Why did i tell you this? For this... Women was important when we were in Central Asia. Our recorded history, indicates that when the ruler (Kağan / Hakan / Han  -  Khan in English) was absent, their women used to manage everything. And when king was present, they had the power to question the Hakan's decides. 

But Ottoman Empire didn't show the appropriate respect to her women. It was not a good age for Turks, either. Because of Islam... 

By the way, i'm new to this forum and let me introduce myself: 

Name is Mert, (Persian word for Chivalrous, honest, etc.- Merd) Surname is Karaca... (Kara-ca, meaning near to black) But that name comes from Kara-Cı... Meaning blacker... One who produces black. :)

I'm from Turkey, twenty years old. I study Electronics Engineering, at Kadir Has University, in İstanbul... I'm an atheist. :D 

Dude, first of all, your surname doesn't mean "near to black" or "blacker". Karaca simply means small deer.

Secondly, Ottoman Empire era was not a "that bad" period for Turks. Yeah, some bad things happened but they were mostly reflexive (if you riot, you get punished. That's all.). You cannot explain how did modern Turkish Republic was founded, if Ottoman Empire was completely against Turks and wasn't ruled by Turks.

After that, it's true that women had a more recessive role during Ottoman Era but that does not have anything to do with Islam. Only reason is orthodox Islam replaced heterodox Islam and some corrupted statesmen/religious authorities used that to put women to an inferior level (which is originally an Emevid tradition).

Just because you're an atheist doesn't mean you can accuse Islam for everything, without knowledge.

***

For the topic, we Altaic people are not really into writing things (that's because of a belief which implies "writing down something, reduces its value") that's why we don't have much of a knowledge about women's role in steppe people. You can refer to Gazi Zahireddin Muhammed Babur Han's "Baburname" (which is originally called Vekayi probably), he wrote down almost everything he has been through and there are women names who are sometimes really decisive.