?
Poliud´e and the Evolution of Taxation from Rus´ to Russia
The evolution of poliud’e in medieval Rus’ is discussed in the context of the developing taxation system. According to the Arabic sources of the 9th century, poliud’e was apparently a multi-purpose institution, i.e., a ruler/king’s touring, for various reasons, the area of a (tribal) community that recognized his authority. During the 10th century, such tours of the Rus’ian kings became associated with collecting a tribute for the benefit of the elite; in this form, poliud’e lingered in some places till the early 13th century. However, in Rus’s most advanced parts, such as Novgorod or Smolensk, at least by the 1130s, poliud’e has assumed the consistent form of a certain duty (tax) that could be delegated by the kings (princes) to third parties (persons or institutions).
After the Mongol invasion (1237–1240), the poliud’e disappeared in the areas directly controlled by the Mongols, yet survived till the mid-16th century on the territories under Polish and Lithuanian control. The demise of poliud’e in the northeastern Rus’ can be assigned to the radical changes in taxation which followed the introduction by the Mongols of the direct poll tax (tribute) levied from the conquered population. Once the northeastern Rus’ian princes were first given the authority to collect that tax (in the early 14th century) and later encroached on the revenue itself (in the 15th century), they acquired a powerful tool of appropriating and consolidating financial resources, as well as exercising their control over the population. The Moscow Grand princes, consolidating the Rus’ian lands under their authority, took full advantage of this tool. During the late 15th – early 16th centuries it gave them a strong advantage against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where various archaic taxation and collection practices, poliud’e being one of them, were still in use.
