The Khanate of Sibir (Siberian Tatar: Сыбыр ҡанныҡ, Искәр йорт, romanized: Sıbır qannıq, Iskär yort;[2] Russian: Сибирское царство, Сибирский юрт, romanized: Sibirskoye tsarstvo, Sibirsky yurt)[3] was a Khanate in western Siberia, founded at the end of the 15th century, following the break-up of the Golden Horde.[4] Throughout its history, members of the Shaybanid and Taibugid dynasties often contested the rulership over the Khanate between each other; both of these competing tribes were direct patrilineal descendants of Genghis Khan through his eldest son Jochi and Jochi's fifth son Shayban (Shiban) (died 1266).[citation needed] The area of the Khanate had once formed an integral part of the Mongol Empire, and later came under the control of the White Horde and the Golden Horde of 1242–1502.
The Khanate of Sibir had an ethnically diverse population of Turkic peoples – Siberian Tatars and various Uralic peoples – including the Khanty, the Mansi, and the Selkup. The Sibir Khanate was the northernmost Muslim state in recorded history. Its defeat by Yermak Timofeyevich in 1582 marked the beginning of the Russian conquest of Siberia.
The Sibir Khanate was administered by Mirzas (which is a noble title) who originated from various indigenous Siberian tribes. These Mirzas organized loosely knit dominions, which were all under the nominal authority of the Khan of Tyumen and Sibir. Mirzas also led the warriors of the Khanate of Sibir into battle and owed nominal allegiance to the Khan of Tyumen and Sibir.
Islam was the professed religion of the Sibir Khanate; it was the religion of the ruling Khan of Tyumen and Sibir. Grand mosques, palaces and fortified walls were constructed by the ruling class in both Tyumen and Sibir.[citation needed]
Islam was professed by not only the Khan but also the Mirzas, who were often educated in famous Islamic centers in Central Asia like Bukhara and Samarkand. However, shamanism and other traditional beliefs were practiced by much of the masses. Some groups practiced a form of Islam that incorporated elements of shamanism.[5]
The leading Imams and Muftis of the Sibir Khanate are known[by whom?] to have had some influence in Kazan and Samarkand. The Khanate of Sibir was the northernmost Muslim state in recorded history.[citation needed]
The Khanate of Sibir had extensive trading connections with Central Asia and the Khanate of Kazan.[4]
The area was originally inhabited by mainly Samoyedic and Ugric peoples.[6] In the 11th century, Kipchaks began inhabiting the region which led to the Turkification of the population.[6] In the 13th century, the Mongols conquered the region and it was incorporated into the territory of the Golden Horde. Some of the Tatars who arrived with Batu Khan during the conquests settled in the area.[6]
The Khanate of Sibir was founded in the fifteenth century, at a time when the Mongols of the house of Jochi were generally in a state of decline. The original capital of the Khans was Chimgi-Tura. The first Khan was Taibuga, who was a member of the Borjigin. He was succeeded by his son Khoja or Hoca, who was in turn succeeded by his son Mar.
The Taibugids' control of the region between the Tobol and middle Irtysh was not uncontested. The Shaybanids, descendants of Jochi, frequently claimed the area as their own. Ibak Khan, a member of a junior branch of the Shaybanid house, killed Mar and seized Chimgi-Tura. A Taibugid restoration occurred when Mar's grandson Muhammad fled to the eastern territories around the Irtysh and killed Ibak in battle in c. 1493. Muhammad decided not to remain at Chimgi-Tura, but chose a new capital named Iskar (or Sibir) located on the Irtysh. The Russian conquest of Kazan in 1552 prompted the Taibugid Khan of Sibir, Yadigar, to seek friendly relations with Moscow. Yadigar, however, was challenged by a Shaybanid, Ibak's grandson Kuchum. Several years of fighting (1556–1563) ended with Yadigar's death and Kuchum becoming Khan.
Kuchum attempted to convert the Siberian Tatars, who were mostly shamanists, to Islam.[7] His decision to conduct a raid on the Stroganov trading posts resulted in an expedition led by the Cossack Yermak against the Khanate of Sibir. Kuchum's forces were defeated by Yermak at the Battle of Chuvash Cape in 1582 and the Cossacks entered Iskar later that year. Kuchum reorganized his forces, killed Yermak in battle in 1584, and reasserted his authority over Sibir.
Over the next fourteen years, however, the Russians slowly conquered the Khanate. In 1598 Kuchum was defeated on the banks of the Ob and was forced to flee to the territories of the Nogai, bringing an end to his rule.
The Khanate of Sibir and the town of Tyumen were founded by Taibuga probably some time between 1405 and 1428. The latter was probably of Keraite origin.[8] However, some scholars also attempt to link the Taibugids to the Kipchak elites and others. Control alternated between the descendants of Taibuga and the Shaybanids who had descended from Genghis Khan. There are hints that the Shaybanids were more connected to the steppe nomads and that the Taibugids were more connected with the forest peoples to the north and east.
Taibuga's father was called On (On-Son, Onsom and other variants). Grousset says that they were 'the issue of Taibugha-bäki' without explanation ('bäki' (bek) was a princely suffix and Taibuqa was a Naiman chief at the time of Genghis Khan.) A few sources identify him with Bek Ondi Oglan, the great-great-great-grandson of Shayban, and thus a Shaybanid. The Stroganov chronicle says that On was killed by a chief called Chingi who spared Taibuga, sent him to fight the Ostyaks and granted him his own principality. Taibuga founded Tyumen and named it Chingi-tura in honor of his benefactor. Another source makes On a Nogai whose 'Hoflager' (German for 'court-camp') was Kasyl-Tura at the mouth of the Ishim River about 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Tobolsk. Another source says that when Tokhtamysh was defeated he fled to the 'land of Sibir' (the first mention of 'Sibir' in Russian chronicles). Here he was protected by On until both were killed by Edigu about 1405.
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