Prikaz

A prikaz (Russian: прика́з; IPA: [prʲɪˈkas] ⓘ, plural: prikazy) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsardom of Russia from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

Some of them, palace prikazy (Russian: дворцовые приказы, romanized: dvortsovyje prikazy), were subordinated to the taynyi prikaz or pervyi prikaz, which answered directly to the tsar of Russia.

[1] The prikazy were abolished by Peter the Great as part of his governmental reform program and replaced them, beginning in 1717, with administrative organs known as Collegiums.

This process would undergo a long span of time; the Siberian Prikaz, for example, was restored in 1730 and existed until 1755.

Major variants include prikazes of a territory, of a class of population, or of an area of affairs.