Druzhina (redirected from Druzhyna)

Druzhina 

an urban-type settlement, the center of Abyi Raion, Yakut ASSR. A landing on the left bank of the Indigirka, where the Druzhina River flows into it. It has a meat-and-milk complex and a sovkhoz.

---

Druzhina 

(1) The druzhina of ancient Rus’ first appeared in the ninth century. It was an organization led by a prince. Two subgroupings could be distinguished within it. The “elder” part consisted of its more aristocratic members, the privy counselors of the prince. They often received the right to collect tribute from various regions for their own use and had their own druzhiny. The “younger” druzhina was made up of various types of warriors (known by such designations as gridi, otroki, and detskie) and represented the rank and file of the group; they were also called on to carry out various special assignments. With the rise of feudal landholding, druzhina members gradually became landowning boyars. The princely type of military organization lasted until the 16th century, when the appanage principalities were liquidated.

REFERENCES

Sreznevskii, I.I. Materialy dlia slovaria drevnerusskogo iazyka, vol. 1. Moscow, 1958.
Grekov, B. D. Kievskaia Rus’. [Moscow] 1953.
(2) Combat detachments called druzhiny were formed during the revolutions of 1905-07 and 1917 by the various parties and included workers, students, and members of the democratic strata of the urban population.