 As a result, his family was continuously persecuted by the monarchy at first, and then by successive governments which came after the monarchy.This persecution resulted in a huge diminishment of the family's wealth to the point that by the time Sarban was in his teens, they were virtually penniless.The majority of the most prominent and successful family members (including Sarban's only two brothers, and almost all of his first cousins) had been either executed or exiled by the time Sarban had begun his musical career.