(; ; ) was an official category introduced in the
Digest of Laws of the Russian Empire
The Digest of Laws of the Russian Empire (; pre-1917 orthographic reforms: ) was the code of penal and civil law in the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in Novemb ...
in the 17th century for a
social estate that included the lower
court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
and governmental ranks, children of
personal ''dvoryans'', and
discharged military. The category of grew significantly during the massive trimming down of the category of
service class people () in the second half of the 17th century. were of
taxable estate, meaning those who had to pay
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
(). In the mid-18th century the category was abolished and a significant part of were transferred into peasantry, but many became merchants and various urban categories (urban ). As a result, of the 17th and 18th centuries significantly contributed to the urban growth in
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 ...
.
Siberian Merchantry of 18-19th Centuries
Later, in the common speech the term acquired a somewhat opposite meaning— became to denote persons of non-noble origin who due to their education were excluded from the taxable status and could apply for the status of personal distinguished citizenship ().
A significant number of Russian ''intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
'' of the 19th century were .
Notes
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
Society of the Russian Empire
Social class in Russia