Gantimur

Gantimur was a Daurian tribal chief and military leader who became a pivotal figure in the struggle between the Qing dynasty and the Tsardom of Russia for control over the Amur River basin and Transbaikalia. By defecting to the Russians in 1667, he brought a large body of indigenous warriors and their territories under Russian protection, fundamentally altering the balance of power in the region and laying the groundwork for the eventual establishment of the Sino-Russian border. He is the ancestor of the Russian princely Gantimurov family, which for centuries held influence in eastern Siberia. His date of birth is unrecorded; he was born on the Nercha River, near what later became Nerchinsk.