The Siberian order is a special governing body that existed on the territory of Russia in the XVII-XVIII centuries. It was a special governmental central institution, which possessed certain rights and had regional competence. We will tell about the history of this order and its most famous leaders in this article.
Establishment of a governing body
The Siberian order played a key role in governing this part of the country. In general, as a governing body, an order in Russia was responsible for the implementation of special state orders in certain areas of the state.
The very concept of “order”, which implies a bureaucratic institution, first appears in documents relating to 1512 (under the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Vasily III Ioannovich). The orders were developed under Ivan the Terrible, when Chelobitny, Zemsky, Ambassadorial, Streletsky, Local, Bronny, Pushkarsky, Pechatny, Rogue and Sokolniki orders acted immediately in Russia.
Under Peter I, the orders were actually replaced by colleges, but at the same time they did not completely go into oblivion. Some of them were preserved under their own names, including Siberian, as well as Little Russian orders. Others began to be called chancelleries - for example, the Yamskaya chancellery appeared. In this form, they continued to exist even after Peter the Great passed away and other rulers came to his place.
The orders were finally gone only in 1775, when Empress Catherine II established the provinces. However, some institutions still retained the name of the orders. For example, there was an order of public charity. However, it is worth noting that the very nature of these institutions and their functional responsibilities have become completely different, so that, in addition to the name, nothing of those old orders has been preserved.
Siberian region
From 1599 to 1637, the order of the Kazan Palace dealt with all Siberian affairs in Russia. He was in charge of all the eastern suburbs of the state at that time.
Officially, the Siberian order stood out in a separate governing body in 1637. Almost all Siberian territories, which by then had already become part of Russia, passed into his administration. From that moment until 1663, the official who led the Siberian order at the same time headed the order of the Kazan Palace.
The need to separate orders arose because Siberia at that time began to develop rapidly. In order to manage them efficiently and efficiently, it was decided to organize a separate governing body, giving him the full breadth of authority in matters relating to Siberia.
Circle of questions
A Siberian order appeared in the year when Mikhail Fedorovich, the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty reigned in Russia, who remained in power for the next three hundred years. In the same year, the governor's daughter Evdokia was born, a decree was issued to increase the search term for runaway peasants to nine years, the Azov fortress was taken by Cossacks after a two-month assault, and several hundred Dutch craftsmen arrived with their families in Moscow to start working at Russian factories and to teach the craft of local craftsmen. Under such conditions and at such a time, the establishment of the Siberian Order took place.
Its functions included administration, finance, and trade. The order was supposed to solve military, mining and pit problems, partly even functions were transferred to it in terms of embassy relations with foreign states that border Siberia. First of all, it was about China. Also, the functions of the Siberian order included control over local administrations, the collection of yasak and the compilation of appropriate linguistic salary books.
First chapter
The first leader of this order was the Russian governor and the boyar, whose name was Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky. He was one of the participants in the Seven Boyars. In some ways, he achieved a high position due to the fact that he was the son-in-law of Patriarch Filaret. At the same time, representatives of his family belonged to the Rurikovich. Under Fedor Ioannovich, he often received ambassadors; in 1602 he was sent to Belgorod as governor.
Interestingly, in the Time of Troubles, he switched to the side of False Dmitry I, and after his overthrow, he swore allegiance to Vasily Shuisky. Lykov-Obolensky took part in suppressing the Bolotnikov uprising, in 1608 defeated Lisovsky at the Bear ford, and then took part in the battle at Khodynka, which did not allow the Poles to occupy Moscow. When Shuisky was overthrown, he entered the Semiboyarshchina.
The rise of Lykov-Obolensky
It was under Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich that Lykov-Obolensky rose. The tsar recognized his boyar rank, granted to him by False Dmitry I. He continued to actively suppress the performances of those who were dissatisfied with the tsarist government. For example, he participated in the confrontation of thieves' gangs, and in 1615 defeated the army of ataman Balovnev.
He became the head of orders in 1619. At first he headed the Robbery order, then he was sent to Kazan by the voivode - he led the Syskny, Kazan, and then the Siberian orders. Lykov-Obolensky was at the head of the latter until 1643, until he was replaced by the boyar Nikita Ivanovich Odoevsky.
Odoevsky remained at the head of the order until 1646, then he was replaced by Prince Alexei Nikitich Trubetskoy, in 1663, Rodion Matveevich Streshnev became the new head of the order, and from 1680, boyar Ivan Borisovich Repnin, who had been at this post for 17 years. He left the post only after his death.
In 1697, the duma clerk Andrei Andreyevich Vinius became the new head of the order, and from 1704 to 1705 it was led by Prince Fedor Yuryevich Romodanovsky.
The creation of the Siberian order played a large role in the development of this region, allowing the construction of a large number of cities to begin here. Many large industrial enterprises appeared. This largely predetermined the significant role that Siberia began to play in the country's economy.
Establishment of provinces
The role of the Siberian order gradually began to decline at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1706, he was led by Prince Matvey Petrovich Gagarin. In parallel, he was appointed governor of Siberia, while remaining in charge of the order.
After Peter I carried out the first regional reform, which took place in 1708, the order was transformed into the Moscow office of the Siberian province. As a result, in 1710 the order virtually ceased to exist, turning into the Moscow office of the Siberian province. Moreover, it was no longer a central government agency. The functions that the order had previously executed passed to the Siberian governor and the local chancellery, which were based in Tobolsk.
Depending on the Senate
In 1708, Prince Gagarin was appointed General President and Moscow Governor. After that, all decisions related to the Siberian order were signed by Daniil Nikitin.
In 1718, Gagarin was dismissed, and the order became subordinate to the state colleges, being directly dependent on the Senate.
However, it soon became necessary to restore it. The restoration of the Siberian order was attended to after a significant decrease in the income received by the tsar’s treasury was outlined. Therefore, in 1730, it was finally decided to establish it again. This time, his functions included additional issues of diplomatic relations with countries bordering Siberia, as well as the direct management of various manufacturing enterprises, primarily metal producers. Also, the order began to manage the Yamskoy service, and since 1748 - military teams. In full, he remained in charge of financial, administrative, customs and trade issues.
Final abolition
In 1743, the Siberian orders became subordinate to the Chamber Board at the State Office, and it was to this body that they now handed over full financial accountability.
The order was finally abolished in 1763. After that, the management of Siberia and most of the large industrial enterprises located there passed into direct subordination of the corresponding provinces. This decision was made already during the reign of Empress Catherine II.
Documents that relate to decisions and activities of orders are currently stored in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA). This is where you can get acquainted with these unique historical documents.
However, the archive contains many documents relating to other orders, but not to the Siberian. But with regard to the order to which our article is devoted, there is information that about 90 percent of the decrees have not yet been put into scientific circulation.
Ministry of Emergency Situations
When searching for the information contained in this material, do not confuse the data related to the management of Russian territories in the 17th-18th centuries with the orders of the Siberian Regional Center of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia.
Basically, these orders are devoted to the organization of work to prevent various emergencies and incidents that may occur in the region. Additional orders are issued when the likelihood of any emergencies increases, for example, when there is a threat of forest fires or floods.