 Khertek Anchimaa was born in what is now Bay-Tayginsky District of Tuva, near the present day settlement of Kyzyl-Dag.Months earlier the collapse of the Qing Dynasty had led to the end of the nominal Chinese rule and the establishment of the independent Tannu Uriankhai under Mongolian and Tuvan nobility.Anchimaa was born the third child in a family of peasant hunters.