Prikaz (Russian: прика́з, prikaz; [prʲɪˈkas]) was an administrative (palace, civil, military, or church), judicial, territorial, and executive offices earlier in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually implies "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" literally means an order.
Most of Prikazes were subordinated to the Boyar Duma. Some of them (Palace Prikazes (дворцовые приказы)) were subordinated to the Tayny Prikaz, or Privy Prikaz that answered directly to Tsar. The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia had his own Prikazes.
There was a large number (up to 60) of specialized Prikazes. Their set varied over time.
Foreign affairsAmbassadorial Prikaz (Posolsky Prikaz) - in charge of international affairs, a kind of a Ministry of Foreign AffairsCaptive Prikaz, (Polonyanichy Prikaz from archaic Russian: полон, плен 'polon', 'plen' means "captive"), for the redemption of Russian captives and prisoners of warPrikaz of Pans (Panskiy Prikaz) - office of Polish affairsAdministrativePrikaz of the Seal (Pechatny Prikaz) - placed the Tsar's seal on various documents granting various things to private individuals, and collected the corresponding dutiesStone Prikaz (Kamennyi Prikaz)Coachman Prikaz (Courier Prikaz, Yam Prikaz: Yamskoy Prikaz)Book Printing PrikazPrikaz of Hospice ConstructionPharmaceutical Prikaz (Aptekarskiy prikaz)Monk Prikaz (Monasheskiy Prikaz)Judicial PrikazesMoscowVladimirDmitrovRyazanMilitary PrikazesPrikaz of Riflemen (Streletsky Prikaz)Artillery Prikaz , (Pushkarsky Prikaz)Prikaz of Admiral, (Admiralteysky Prikaz)Prikaz of Cossacks (Kazachy Prikaz)Armored Prikaz (Bronniy Prikaz)Conscription Prikaz (Prikaz sbora ratnykh i datochnykh lydei (Russian: сбора ратных и даточных людей)Prikaz of Foreign Lands (Inozemsky Prikaz)Arsenal Prikaz (Oruzheiniy Prikaz)Preobrazhensky prikaz (ru), which oversaw Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments in the 18th centuryPrikaz of German feeds: probably, paid a salary to foreigners (known as "Germans" (Russian: немцы 'niemtsy' means "mute people")) in Russian military or state serviceRitter PrikazFinancial PrikazesDomestic Prikaz (Pomestny Prikaz)Accounting PrikazPrikaz of Grand TreasuryPrikaz of Grand IncomeSecurityPrikaz of Petitions (Chelobitny Prikaz) - considered complaints or petitions addressed to the Tsar; the adjective chelobitnaya (Russian: челобитная) 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 (Prikaz tainyh del)Robbery Prikaz (Razboiniy Prikas ) - criminal policePrikaz of Investigations (Sysknoy prikaz)Regional PrikazesLittle Russia, Ministry of the Ukrainian (Malorossiya) Affairs (Малороссийский приказ, Malorossiyskiy prikaz)Kazan (Казанский приказ, Приказ Казанского дворца, Kazan Palace Prikaz ), Volga Region (Поволжье) Affairs (South-West of Russia, territories of Kazan Khanate)SiberiaGreat RussiaGrand Duchy of LithuaniaSmolensk (disbanded on Poland's conquest of Smolensk (1611); restored when Smolensk returned to Russian control in 1654)Livonia AffairsNovgorod quarterVladimir quarterUstug quarterKostroma quarterGalich quarterSmolensk quarterPalace PrikazesPrikaz of Stables Konyushenny PrikazPalace Prikaz (Dvortsovyi Prikaz)Prikaz of Stone Palace (Prikaz kamennogo dvortsa)Prikaz of Gold and Silver AffairsPrikaz of Requiem (Panihydniy prikaz) - requiems for members of the tsar's familyPatriarchal PrikazesPatriarchal Prikaz-in-chargePatriarchal Treasury PrikazPatriarchal Palace PrikazOtherOrder-in-charge (Razryadny Prikaz) - in charge of higher military and civil administration personnelPrikaz of kholops (Kholopskiy Prikaz) - considered the affairs of kholopsOriginally, Prikazes were created by private orders (Russian: приказ, prikaz) to do something given by the tsar to a certain person. In some cases new orders bore the name of this person (Order of dyak Vakhromeyev, where 'Vakhromeyev' is a last name).
From 1512 on 'Prikaz' was starting to be used as a name of constant offices.
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.
The Prikazes were abolished by Peter the Great and replaced, beginning in 1717, with administrative organs known as collegiate.
This process took a rather long time; the Siberian Prikaz, for example, was restored in 1730 and existed till 1755. At the beginning of the 18th century Peter the Great even established some new Prikazes. The system was only fully eliminated Catherine the Great in 1755.
