Prikaz Bolshoi Kazny

(Central Financial Office), a central administrative office in Russia in the 17th and early 18th centuries. It arose from the department established in the late 15th and the early 16th century that administered the court treasury (Kazennyi Dvor).

The Prikaz Bol’shoi Kazny was founded in January 1622 by the government of Filaret. It administered such state-owned industries as crown manufactures and mining, supervised the Mint from 1625 to 1660 and later, and was in charge of domestic and foreign trade carried by the state. The office supervised wealthy merchants—the gosti; members of the merchants’ and clothiers’ corporations—some of whom generally became officials of the Prikaz Bol’shoi Kazny.

In the 1670’s, the Prikaz Bol’shoi Kazny became united with the other financial prikazy, the Finance Ministry, the Vladimir, Galich, and Novgorod chetvert’ (district) prikazy, and the Alcohol and Customs Revenues Prikaz (Novaia Chet’). Beginning in 1680, when the merging with the Finance Ministry and the Alcohol and Customs Revenues Prikaz was complete, this new administration was in charge of collecting the most important state revenues, including the customs, profits from the sale of alcoholic beverages, and taxes in kind; it also supervised local budgets. In 1683–84, the collection of some of these revenues, except for the customs and the income from the sale of alcoholic beverages, was again entrusted to the cheti (financial departments). The Prikaz Bol’shoi Kazny was abolished in 1718, with the establishment of the collegia.