Garatel Shami gizi Hajimahmudova was born in 1948 in the village of Ashaghy Askipara, Gazakh district.
She completed secondary school in her village in 1962 and was admitted to the Baku College of Trade.
After graduating in 1965, she worked at the Ganja City Trade Centre until 1970.
From 1970 to 1975, she pursued part-time studies at the Faculty of Commodity Science of the Azerbaijan Institute of National Economy (present-day UNEC).
From 1976 to 1991, she served as a laboratory assistant at the Azerbaijan Oil Exploration Directorate of the Academy of Sciences, which operated in the Jeyranchol area.
Garatel Hajimahmudova was also one of the most active participants in the National Liberation Movement of Azerbaijan.
In 1990, she joined the voluntary self-defence unit formed by the youth of her village.
She was captured during combat operations on 14 June 1992.
To avoid falling alive into enemy hands, Garatel Hajimahmudova took the poison she carried with her and then ended her life with a firearm.
Her body was retrieved on 26 June 1992 together with the bodies of her fallen comrades.
In 1994, Garatel Shami gizi Hajimahmudova was awarded the Order of the Azerbaijani Flag.