The House of Sibirsky (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Сибирский, Сибирские) was the foremost of many

Genghisid A Borjigin, ; ; russian: Борджигин, Bordžigin; English plural: Borjigins or Borjigid (from Middle Mongolian);''Histoire des campagnes de Gengis Khan'', p. 119. Manchu plural: is a member of the Mongol sub-clan, which started with Bo ...

(

Shaybanid The Shibanids or Shaybanids ( fa, سلسله شیبانیان) or more accurately the Abu'l-Khayrid-Shibanids were a Persianized''Introduction: The Turko-Persian tradition'', Robert L. Canfield, Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, ed. Robert L. ...

) families formerly living in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It traced its descent from

Kuchum Kuchum Khan (Siberian Tatar ''Köçöm'', Russian: ''Кучум''; died c. 1601) was the last Khan of Siberia who ruled from 1563 to 1598. Kuchum Khan's attempt to spread Islam and his cross-border raids met with vigorous opposition from the Rus ...

, the last of the Siberian khans.

History

Kuchum's sons were captured by

Yermak Yermak Timofeyevich ( rus, Ерма́к Тимофе́евич, p=jɪˈrmak tʲɪmɐˈfʲejɪvʲɪtɕ; born between 1532 and 1542 – August 5 or 6, 1585) was a Cossacks, Cossack ataman and is today a hero in Russian folklore and myths. During ...

's Cossacks and brought to Muscovy, where they were settled in

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

and other towns and were authorized to style themselves

Tsarevich Tsarevich (russian: Царевич, ) is a Slavic title given to tsars' sons. Under the 1797 Pauline house law, the title was discontinued and replaced with ''Tsesarevich'' for the heir apparent alone. His younger brothers were called '' Velik ...

s of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

(Russian: царевичи Сибирские). Kuchum's grandson Alp-Arslan was even installed as a puppet khan of

Kasimov Kasimov (russian: Каси́мов; tt-Cyrl, Касыйм;, Ханкирмән,Ханкирмән, Хан-Кермень, means " Khan's fortress" historically Gorodets Meshchyorsky, Novy Nizovoy) is a town in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, located on the ...

between 1614 and 1627. In 1591, the son of Kuchum, Abul Khayir was the first of his dynasty to convert to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. His conversion was followed by the conversion of his entire family who eventually assimilated into the Russian nobility. For instance, although his son was known as Vasily Abulgairovich, his grandson's name, Roman Vasilyevich, could no longer be distinguished from a native Russian name. In 1686, the tsar decreed that the dynasties of the king of Imeretia in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

along with the princes of Siberia and Kasimov were to be entered into the Genealogical Book of the Russian nobility.Michael Khodarkovsky, ''Russia's Steppe Frontier'', Indiana University Press, 2002,
M1 Google Print, p. 265
Originally, their legal standing was similar to that of the

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

princes of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. The tsarevichs married into the best Russian families. One of their princesses was the wife of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

's uncle, another married a son of the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n king.

Notable representatives

The last of tsarevichs was Vasily Alekseyevich Sibirsky, who apparently sided with Tsarevich Alexis against

. In 1718, he was banished to Siberia, while the title of his descendants was degraded from tsarevich to

kniaz , or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependin ...

, or prince. Vasily's grandson, Prince Vasily Fyodorovich Sibirsky, reached a high rank of General of Infantry in the service of

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

but was implicated in irregularities and sent to

by her son,

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch *Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Paul ...

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

returned him to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. His son Alexander was also a tsarist general. The latter's son, Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Sibirsky (1824–79) was the last recorded member of the Sibirsky family. He was prepared by his parents for military service and saw action in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. At that time, he became interested in the Greek colonies in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and South Russia and produced a remarkable monograph on the medals and coins of the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, ...

. The whole edition perished during an inundation, with only three copies left today. Nevertheless, Sibirsky's work was awarded the

Demidov Prize The Demidov Prize (russian: Демидовская премия) is a national scientific prize in Russia awarded annually to the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Originally awarded from 1832 to 1866 in the Russian Empire, it was reviv ...

for 1859. Upon Sibirsky's death, his superb collection of ancient coins devolved upon the

Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (russian: Александр Михайлович ''Aleksandr Mikhailovich''; 13 April 1866 – 26 February 1933) was a dynast of the Russian Empire, a naval officer, an author, explorer, the brother-in ...

References

* {{authority control History of Siberia Russian noble families Russian royalty Russian former Muslims Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Islam