Stroganov family
During the time of the Russian conquest of Kazan in the 1540s and 1550s, Sibir had been undergoing conflicts of its own with rival clans. The khanate was on the precarious ground until the rise of Kuchum Khan, a descendant of the famed Chingis Khan, in the 1560s. Kuchum Khan built up allies among his neighbors and the Crimean Tatars in order to thwart the Stroganovs’ expansion across the Urals. In July 1572, Kuchum launched his first raid on Stroganov settlements, which resulted in almost one hundred deaths. In 1573, the Tatar army expanded and changed leadership. Kuchum's nephew, Mahmet-kul, assumed control of the Tatar army. The Stroganovs realized that they could no longer expect their settlers to remain in the lands around Perm if they only fought a defensive battle. The tsar granted the Stroganov family permission to invade Asia. However, the tsar soon changed his mind and told the Stroganovs to retract from Siberia, fearing that Russia did not have the resources or manpower to topple Kuchum Khan's empire.