The instruction ("nakaz") of tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich to the Yeniseisk Voivode Zh. V. Kondyrev, January 31, 1631

The publication of tsars’ instructions to Siberian voivodes of 17th century is still relevant to the contemporary level of development of the historical science. Up to day only a small amount of these documents have been published - instructions to voivodes of cities and forts Verkhoturye, Ilimsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuznetsk, Narym, Nerchinsk, Mangazeya, Pelym, Surgut, Tara, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Tyumen and Yakutsk. Consequently, this gap has to be bridged. In the article, the authors have chosen the instruction to the 5th voivode of Eniseisk, a Muscovite nobleman Kondyrev. The instruction is dated of January 31st, 1631. Kondyrev was voivode of Yeniseisk from 1632 to 1633. It is the earliest document of extant instructions to Yeniseisk voivodes. The instruction was drafted in Kazansky Dvorets (Kazan Palace) office in 1631. It covers a wide range of issues dedicated to administration of Yeniseiskii uezd (Yeniseisk district) (i. e. collection of fur taxes, custom tariffs, organization of the ploughing land, collection of natural grain taxes, the natural grain salaries of servicemen replaced by land grants according to the “reform” (“code”) of Yu. Ya. Suleshev, issues of subordination of the governor to the governor of Tomsk and his relations with Moscow). This document reflects the governmental views to the colonization of Siberia in the 1st half of the 17th century. The government aimed to get the largest possible amount of expensive furs from the region. The document selected for publication is preserved in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Manuscripts (RGADA, Moscow) in the fund № 214 (Siberian office). The manuscript of this document was preserved in Yeniseisk in the 17th century. Only a copy in the collection of Kazan Palace has been survived to this day.