"Inorodtsy" of the Russian empire: history of concept's origin

The article deals with a history of a notion ‘inorodtsy' (non-Russian population). The author ascertains the original meaning of the word ‘inorodnyy' (“of different descent/nation") in the Russian language. The research defines a moment of emergence of the term in the political and juridical vocabulary and introduction of the notion as a generalizing name for Siberian indigenous nations. Besides archival sources, the author for the first time reviews rare dictionaries and reference books published in the 18 th century.