Sibirsky

Who is Sibirsky?

Sibirsky was the foremost of many Genghisid families formerly living in Russia. It traced its descent from Kuchum, the last of the Siberian khans.

Kuchum's sons were captured by Yermak's Cossacks and brought to Muscovy, where they were settled in Yaroslavl and other towns and were authorized to style themselves Tsarevichs of Siberia. Kuchum's grandson Alp-Arslan was even installed as a puppet khan of Kasimov between 1614 and 1627.

In 1591, the son of Kuchum, Abul Khayir was the first of his dynasty to convert to Christianity. 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 along with the princes of Siberia and Kasimov were to be entered into the Genealogical Book of the Russian nobility. Originally, their legal standing was similar to that of the mediatized princes of the Holy Roman Empire. The tsarevichs married into the best Russian families. One of their princesses was the wife of Peter the Great's uncle, another married a son of the Georgian king.