Okolnichiy (Окольничий in Russian) was an old rank and a position at the court of Russian rulers from the Mongol invasion of Russia until the government reform undertaken by Peter the Great. The word is derived from the Russian word for "close," "near," meaning "sitting close to the Tsar." The Mongol Invasion of Russia was an invasion of the medieval state of Kievan Rus by a large army of nomadic Mongols, starting in 1223. ... Peter I Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyvich) (9 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May 1672–28 January 1725 O.S.1]) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. ...

The duties of first known okolnichies included arranging the travel and quarters of grand princes and tsars and accommodating of foreign ambassadors and presenting them to the court. Tsar (Bulgarian цар, Russian царь,   listen?; often spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires since 913, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917 (although... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ...

Initially their number was very small, but it grew over time and they acquired more duties. An okolnicny could head a state office (prikaz) or a regiment, could be an ambassador or a member of the state duma. Prikaz (Russian: ) was an administrative (palace, civil, military, or church) or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. ... // Size and Composition A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ... A Duma (Ду́ма in Russian) is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. ...

Initially the rank of okolnichy was the second highest after that of boyar, while often they performed similar duties. According to the system of mestnichestvo, a person could not be made boyar, if someone else in his family hadn't recently held a boyar/okolnichy rank. Consequently, a position of okolnichy was a step towards granting the boyarship to a non-noble. Even Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, though a Rurikid knyaz by birth and the "Saviour of Fatherland" by royal mercy, could not secure a position higher than "okolnichy", because neither his parents nor uncles had ever held a rank higher than stolnik. A boyar (also spelt bojar; Romanian: boier) was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Ruthenian (Russian) and Romanian aristocracy, second only to the ruling princes, from the 10th through the 17th century. ... Pozharsky and Minin monument (1804-16) in front of Saint Basils Cathedral Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky (Russian: Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, Polish: Dymitr Pożarski) (November 1, 1578 - April 30, 1642) was a Rurikid prince who obtainted from the tsar an unprecedented title of the Saviour of Motherland. ... Rurik Dynasty ... Kniaz’ or knyaz (is a historic title of Slavic rulers. ... Stolnik was a court office in Poland and Muscovy , responsible for serving the royal table. ...

Under the Romanovs, 18 noblest families of Muscovy were given the privilege of starting their official career from the rank of okolnichy, skipping all the lower ranks, such as stolnik. At the same period, the positions of okolnichy were differentiated and some of them (quarters okolnichy or close okolnichy) were of higher rank than that of non-close boyars. The terms derive from a semi-formal ranking based on the closeness of the seat to tsar by the tsar's table. The House of Romanov (Рома́нов, pronounced Ro-MAH-nof), the second and last royal dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. ... Muscovy (Moscow principality (княжество Московское) to Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое Княжество Московское) to Russian Tsardom (Царство Русское) is a traditional Western name for the Russian state that existed from the 14th century to the late 17th century. ...

Reference

• This article incorporates text from the public domain 1906 Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.