100 Som

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic released the 100 Som banknote in 2023, with official circulation beginning on February 15, 2024, as part of the second phase of the national banknote modernization series. This blue note measures 132 mm x 63 mm. The obverse features a portrait of Toktogul Satylganov (1864-1933), the most celebrated of the Kyrgyz akyns (traditional bard-storytellers), whose improvised epic poetry preserved and enriched Kyrgyz oral literary traditions during a period when written Kyrgyz literature was only beginning to develop. He composed and performed thousands of verses at festivals and gatherings across the Tian Shan mountains.

The reverse displays the Kürpsay hydroelectric dam surrounded by the dramatic Naryn River gorge and mountain landscape, representing Kyrgyzstan's modern infrastructure development. The Kürpsay Dam, completed in 1981, is part of the Naryn-Syr Darya cascade of hydroelectric power plants on the Naryn River and has a capacity of 800 megawatts — a significant contribution to Kyrgyzstan's electricity generation, which relies almost entirely on hydropower.

Toktogul Satylganov is so revered in Kyrgyz culture that the country's largest reservoir and the city of Toktogul are named after him. His portrait on the 100 Som note, paired with modern hydropower infrastructure, creates a visual dialogue between Kyrgyzstan's ancient bardic traditions and its contemporary development ambitions.