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Okolnichy (Russian: око́льничий, IPA: [ɐˈkolʲnʲɪtɕɪj]) was an old Russian court official position. According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, directives on the position of okolnichy date back to the 14th century. Judging by the Muscovite records from the 16th and 17th centuries, okolnichy were entrusted with the same business in administration as boyars, with the only difference that they were placed second to boyars everywhere. While lower than boyars, it was one of the highest ranks (or positions) close to the tsar[1] in the courts of the Moscow rulers until the government reform undertaken by Peter the Great.
The word is derived from the Russian word окoлo (okolo) meaning 'close, near', in this case 'sitting close to the Tsar'. In the mid-16th century the role became second (subordinate) to boyars.[2]
- ^ Encyclopaedic Dictionary, German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, publications of the Slavistics institute by H. H. Bielefeld, 7th unchanged edition 1970; page 507 — «ru: Oко́льничий = Okolnichy» — license number: 202 • 100/242/70.
- ^ Чины в Московском государстве // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). — СПб., 1890—1907