Proviantskii Prikaz

Proviantskii Prikaz

 

(Office of Provisions), one of the central governmental institutions of early 18th-century Russia, responsible for supplying food to the regular army.

The Proviantskii Prikaz was created on Feb. 18, 1700. The warehouses of the Prikaz in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Chernigov, Briansk, Smolensk, and elsewhere supplied the army with food during the Northern War of 1700–21. The local officials of the Prikaz, the proviantmeistery, ranked above voevody (military commanders) and commandants. In 1716 the Prikaz was reorganized as the Chancellery of Provisions, which became part of the military Collegium in 1724.