Streltsy

Streltsy (стрельцы́; () стреле́ц strjɪˈljet͡s) were the units of Russian firearm infantry from the 16th to the early 18th centuries and also a social stratum, from which personnel for streltsy troops were traditionally recruited. They are also collectively known as streletskoye voysko (стрелецкое войско, riflemen army). These infantry troops reinforced feudal levy horsemen or pomestnoye voysko (поместное войско). The first streltsy units were created by Ivan the Terrible sometime between 1545 and 1550 and armed with arquebuses. During his reign, Russia was fighting wars almost continuously, including the Livonian War in the North and wars against the Khanates in the South. They first saw combat at the siege of Kazan in 1552. Initially, the streltsy were recruited from among the free tradespeople and from the rural population. Later, military service in this unit became lifelong and hereditary. While earlier in the 16th century they had been an elite force, their effectiveness was reduced by poor training and lack of choice in recruiting. Streltsy were subdivided into vyborniye (выборные, selected), later – moskovskiye (московские, of Moscow) and gorodskiye (городские, municipal) (in different Russian cities). The streltsy of Moscow guarded the Kremlin, performed general guard duty, and participated in military operations. They also carried out general police and fire-brigade functions in Moscow. Grigory Kotoshikhin, a Russian diplomat who had spied for and then defected to Sweden in the 1660s, reported that they used axes and buckets and copper pumps as well as hooks to pull down adjacent buildings so that fires would not spread. Adam Olearius, a German who travelled to Russia in the 17th century, noted that they never used water. The municipal streltsy performed garrison and border duty and carried out orders of the local administration. Streltsy came under the control of the Streletsky Prikaz (Стрелецкий Приказ). In times of war they came under their superiors. The municipal streltsy were also under the jurisdiction of the local voevodes.