A prikaz (; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

and the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

from the 15th to the 18th centuries. The term usually suggests the functionality of a modern " ministry", "

", "department", or "bureau"; however, in practice ''prikaz'' was historically applied to most governmental organizations regardless of their function or authority. In modern Russian, ''prikaz'' literally means an 'order' in the meaning of 'directive' or 'command'. Most of the ''prikazy'' were subordinated to the

boyar duma A duma () is a History of Russia, Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. Some of them, palace ''prikazy'' (), were subordinated to the or , which answered directly to the

tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...

. The

patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus (), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the title of the Primate (bishop), primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is often preceded by the honorific "His Holiness". As the Ordinar ...

had his own ''prikazy''.

History

Originally, ''prikazy'' were created by private orders given by the tsar to a certain person. The functions of the ''prikazy'' would be led by boyars and professional administrators. From 1512, the term "''prikaz''" started to be used to refer to offices. There were 22 ''prikazy'' (departments) in 1613, however this number would balloon to 80 by the mid-17th century.

Abolition

The ''prikazy'' were abolished by

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

as part of his governmental reform program and replaced them, beginning in 1717, with administrative organs known as

Collegium A (: ) or college was any association in ancient Rome that Corporation, acted as a Legal person, legal entity. Such associations could be civil or religious. The word literally means "society", from ("colleague"). They functioned as social cl ...

s. This process would undergo a long span of time; the Siberian Prikaz, for example, was restored in 1730 and existed until 1755. At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the Great even established some new ''prikazy''. The system was only fully eliminated by

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

in 1775.

List of Russian prikazy

*Foreign affairs **Ambassadorial Prikaz () — in charge of international affairs, a kind of a

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, 1549-1718 **Captive Prikaz, (Polonyanichy Prikaz from archaic 'polon', 'plen' meaning "captive") — for the redemption of Russian captives and prisoners of war **Prikaz of

Pans Cookware and bakeware is food preparation equipment, such as cooking pots, pans, baking sheets etc. used in kitchens. Cookware is used on a Kitchen stove, stove or range cooktop, while bakeware is used in an oven. Some utensils are considere ...

(Panskiy Prikaz) — office of Polish affairs *Administrative **Prikaz of the Seal (Pechatny Prikaz) — placed the tsar's

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

on various documents granting various things to private individuals, and collected the corresponding

duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...

**Stone Prikaz (Kamennyi Prikaz) **Coachman Prikaz (Courier Prikaz, Yam Prikaz: Yamskoy Prikaz) **Book Printing Prikaz **Prikaz of Hospice Construction **Pharmaceutical Prikaz (Aptekarskiy prikaz) **Monk Prikaz (Monasheskiy Prikaz) *Judicial Prikazes **

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

**Dmitrov **

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

*Military Prikazes **Prikaz of Riflemen (

Streletsky Prikaz The ''Streletsky prikaz'' (), sometimes translated as the Streltsy Department, was one of the main governmental bodies (a ''prikaz'') in Russia during the 16th and 17th centuries which administered the streltsy. History The first reference to th ...

) **Artillery Prikaz , (Pushkarsky Prikaz) **Prikaz of Admiralty, (Admiralteysky Prikaz) **Prikaz of Cossacks (), 1618–1646 **Armored Prikaz (Bronniy Prikaz) **Conscription Prikaz (Prikaz sbora ratnykh i datochnykh lydei () **Foreigners' Prikaz ( Inozemsky Prikaz) **Arsenal Prikaz (Oruzheiniy Prikaz) **

Preobrazhensky prikaz Preobrazhensky (masculine), Preobrazhenskaya (feminine), or Preobrazhenskoye (neuter), literally meaning "of the Transfiguration", may refer to: ;People * Preobrazhensky (surname) (''Preobrazhenskaya'') ;Places * Preobrazhensky (rural locality) ( ...

( ru) — oversaw the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments in the 18th century **Prikaz of German feeds — probably, paid a salary to foreigners (known as "Germans" (, which also means "mute people")) in Russian military or state service **Ritter Prikaz *Financial Prikazes **Domestic Prikaz (Pomestny Prikaz) **Accounting Prikaz **Prikaz of Grand Treasury **Prikaz of Grand Income *Security **Prikaz of Petitions (Chelobitny Prikaz) — considered complaints or petitions addressed to the Tsar; the adjective ''chelobitnaya'' () comes from the expression ''bit' chelom'', "to knock with one's forehead (on the ground)", meaning a very humble submission of a petition, with an extremely low bow. The standard form of such complaint included the words "Slave of God ... (or: 'Your slave') is beating with the forehead", or "Slaves and orphans are beating with foreheads" **Privy Prikaz (, Tayny Prikaz) — secret police (1654–1676) **Robbery Prikaz (Razboiniy Prikas) — criminal police **Prikaz of Investigations (Sysknoy prikaz) *Regional Prikazes **

Little Russia Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, or Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine. At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between wha ...

, Ministry of the Ukrainian (

Malorossiya Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, or Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine. At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between what ...

) Affairs (Малороссийский приказ, Malorossiyskiy prikaz) **

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

(Казанский приказ, Приказ Казанского дворца, Kazan Palace Prikaz),

Volga Region The Volga region, known as the ( , ; rus, Поволжье, r=Povolžje, p=pɐˈvoɫʐje; ), is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European ...

(Поволжье) Affairs (South-West of Russia, territories of former

Kazan Khanate The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatars, Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia Republic, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurti ...

) **

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

(

Sibirskiy prikaz The ''Sibirsky prikaz'' (), also translated as Department of Siberian Affairs, was the ''prikaz'' of the Russian central government responsible for Siberian affairs between the 17th and 18th centuries. History From 1599 to 1637, the ''Kazansky p ...

), (1637–1763) **

Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' ( , ; , ; , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later the Tsardom of Russia. This was the land to which the e ...

**Grand Duchy of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

(disbanded on Poland's conquest of Smolensk (1611); restored when Smolensk returned to Russian control in 1654) **

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

Affairs **

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

quarter **

Ustyug Veliky Ustyug () is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665. Veliky Ustyug has a great historical significa ...

quarter **

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

quarter ** Galich quarter **

quarter *Palace Prikazes **Prikaz of Stables

Konyushenny Prikaz Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse () in the Roman Rep ...

**Palace Prikaz (, 1627–1709) **Prikaz of Stone Palace (Prikaz kamennogo dvortsa) **Prikaz of Gold and Silver Affairs **Prikaz of Requiem (Panihydniy prikaz) - requiems for members of the tsar's family *Patriarchal Prikazes **Patriarchal Prikaz-in-charge **Patriarchal Treasury Prikaz **Patriarchal Palace Prikaz *Other **Order-in-charge (Razryadny Prikaz) — in charge of higher military and civil administration personnel **Kholop Prikaz (Kholopskiy Prikaz) — considered the affairs of

kholop A ''kholop'' ( Ukrainian and Russian холо́п; , ) was a type of feudal serf (dependent population) in Kievan Rus' in the 9th and early 12th centuries. Their legal status in Russia was essentially the same as slaves. They were sold as ...

Classification

The classification of the various prikazes is a very difficult task. In fact, each major historian tries to build their own system of classification. Major variants include prikazes of a territory, of a class of population, or of an area of affairs. Another method of classification is to rank prikazes by subordination.

References

{{Reflist

External links