Toion

a title denoting a member of the Yakut ruling class that was first used in the 17th century, during the transitional stage of Yakut society to feudalism. The toions, as owners of large herds and as the economy’s managers, exploited the free inhabitants of the Yakut communities (ulusnye liudi), who were their dependents. The growth of feudalism among the Yakuts was hastened when they joined Russia in the second quarter of the 17th century, and the toions became members of the feudal nobility. In the late 19th century, the diffusion of capitalist relations into Yakutia resulted in the transformation of the highborn toion class into the Yakut commercial bourgeoisie.