Zemshchina

the basic part of the territory of the Russian state (with its center in Moscow) not included by Ivan IV in the special appanage of the sovereign, the oprichnina. It included the cities of the Perm’ and Viatka regions and Riazan’, Starodub, Velikie Luki, and other cities; the richer and more important cities and districts were included in the oprichnina. Some parts of the zemshchina, like Kostroma District, the Obonezhskaia and Bezhetskaia piatiny (regions of the Novgorod Land), and the commercial section (Torgovaia Storona) of Novgorod, were transferred to the oprichnina and then returned to the zemshchina. In a single district, oprichnina and zemshchina lands were usually intermingled. Similarly, there were special oprichnina streets in Moscow, and Novgorod was divided in half. Many landlords that Ivan IV did not want to include in his special court were forcibly driven out of the oprichnina and resettled on zemshchina lands. The zemshchina was governed by a duma of its boyars and by the ancient territorial departments (prikazy) and had its own military units.