Kazan Governorate
Derzhavin was born in the Kazan Governorate into a landed family of impoverished Russian nobility. His 15th-century Tatar ancestor "Morza" Bagrim, converted to Christianity and became a vassal of Grand Prince Vasily II. Bagrim was rewarded with lands for his service to the prince, and from him descended noble families of Narbekov, Akinfov and Keglev (or Teglev).