View source for Table of Ranks

{{short description|List of grades of civil and military service in Russian Empire}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}

[[File:Tabel o rangah.jpg|thumb|A manuscript copy of the 1722 Table of Ranks]]

The '''Table of Ranks''' ({{langx|ru|Табель о рангах|Tabel' o rangakh}}) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of [[Imperial Russia]]. [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary [[nobility]], or [[boyar]]s. The Table of Ranks was [[Decree Abolishing Classes and Civil Ranks|formally abolished]] on 11 November 1917 by the newly established Bolshevik government. During the [[Vladimir Putin]]  presidency, a similar formalized structure has been reintroduced into many governmental departments, combined with formal uniforms and insignia: [[State civilian and municipal service ranks in Russian Federation|Local Government]], [[Diplomatic ranks in Russian Federation|Diplomatic Service]], [[Prosecutor's ranks in Russian Federation|Prosecution Service]], [[Special ranks in Investigative Committee of Russia|Investigative Committee]].

==Principles==
The Table of Ranks re-organized the foundations of feudal Russian nobility (''[[mestnichestvo]]'') by recognizing service in the military, in the civil service, and at the imperial court as the basis of an aristocrat's standing in society. The table divided ranks in 14 grades, with all nobles regardless of birth or wealth (at least in theory) beginning at the bottom of the table and rising through their service (''sluzhba'') to the tsar.<ref name="Schuler2009">{{cite book|author=Catherine A. Schuler|title=Theatre and Identity in Imperial Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EMPoQxkeS8EC&pg=PA17|date=1 May 2009|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-1-58729-847-9|pages=16–18}}</ref> While all grades were open by merit, promotion required qualification for the next rank, and grades 1 through 5 required the personal approval of the tsar himself. Despite initial resistance from noblemen, many of whom were still illiterate in the 18th century and who shunned the paper-pushing life of the civil servant, the eventual effect of the Table of Ranks was to create an educated class of noble [[bureaucrat]]s.

Peter's intentions for a class of nobles bound to the tsar by their personal service to him were watered down by subsequent tsars. In 1762 Peter III abolished the compulsory 25-year military or civilian service for nobles.<ref name="Raeff1966">{{cite book|author=Marc Raeff|title=Origins of the Russian intelligentsia: the eighteenth-century nobility|url=https://archive.org/details/originsofrussian00raef|url-access=registration|date=18 May 1966|publisher=Harcourt, Brace & World|pages=[https://archive.org/details/originsofrussian00raef/page/91 91]–92}}</ref>  In 1767 [[Catherine the Great]] bought the support of the bureaucracy by making promotion up the 14 ranks automatic after seven years regardless of position or merit. Thus the bureaucracy became populated with time servers.<ref name="Pipes1990">{{cite book|author=Richard Pipes|title=Russia Under the Old Regime|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AemmnQEACAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Penguin|page=135|isbn=9780297768449}}</ref>

Achieving a certain level in the table automatically granted a certain level of nobility. A civil servant promoted to the 14th grade gained personal nobility (''[[dvoryanstvo]]''), and holding an office in the 8th grade endowed the office holder with hereditary nobility. [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] raised this threshold to the 5th grade in 1845.<ref name="Hosking1997">{{cite book|author=Geoffrey A. Hosking|title=Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917|url=https://archive.org/details/russiapeopleempi00hosk|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-78119-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/russiapeopleempi00hosk/page/155 155]}}</ref> In 1856 the grades required for hereditary nobility were changed to the 4th grade for the civil service and to the 6th grade for military service. The father of [[Vladimir Lenin]] progressed in the management of education, reaching the 4th rank and becoming an "active state councillor" (действительный статский советник), which gave him the privilege of hereditary nobility.<ref name="Fischer2001">{{cite book|author=Louis Fischer|title=The Life of Lenin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6QXgPAAACAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Phoenix|isbn=978-1-84212-230-3|page=6}}</ref>

In practice, non-noble civil servants were frequently passed over from promotion to the eighth grade, creating a class of "eternal titular councillors" ({{langx|ru|вечный титулярный советник|vechny titulyarny sovetnik}}) who remained in this position for life. They were the subject of derision due to a supposed dullness and lack of creativity, and were satirized by authors such as [[Nikolai Gogol]] and [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]].<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Motov |first=Sergey |date=2007 |title=''Why Titular Councilors? A History of Russia's Most Stubborn Literary Type''|url=https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/vd66w119j |degree=MA|chapter= |publisher=University of Colorado |docket= |oclc= |access-date=2023-11-04}}</ref>

With occasional revisions, the Table of Ranks remained in effect until the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]].

== Table of Ranks ==
An abridged version of the Table of Ranks<ref name="marks">[http://marksrussianmilitaryhistory.info/Ranks.html Mark Conrad’s Russian Military History - Table of Ranks]</ref> with time expiration set for promotion is shown below:

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%;"
|+
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: center; width:4%;"| Class<br />(K)
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:18%;"| Civil (governmental)<br />ranks
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:%;"| Military ranks
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:24%;"| Court<br />ranks
! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:11%;"| Period of time set for promotion{{NoteTag|In case of "His/Her Majesty's highest of all [[protégé]]", the period of time, set for promotion to the next higher rank, might be shortened by one year.}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Forms of address in the Russian Empire|Style of reference]]
! rowspan="2" |Clergy
ranks
! rowspan="2" |
|-
 !width="28%"| ... in the Army
 !width="15%"|... in the Navy
|-
! K-1
|
* [[Chancellor (Russia)|Chancellor]] <small>(''Kantsler'')</small>
* [[Active Privy Councillor, 1st class]] <small>(''Deystvitelny tayny sovetnik 1-go klassa'')</small>
| [[General field marshal]]
| [[General admiral]]
|colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |none
| rowspan="2" |''Ваше высокопревосходительство (Vashe vysokoprevoskhoditel’stvo)''
|[[Metropolitan bishop|''Metropolit'']]
| rowspan="5" |[[Eastern Christian monasticism|Black clergy]] 
|-
! K-2
|
* [[Active Privy Councillor]]{{NoteTag|The Russian word "действительный" means "actual, valid, real, effective, true" and in this context is sometimes translated as "actual" or "acting" (which has the disadvantage of confusion with the English language concept of [[acting rank]]).}} <small>(''Deystvitelny tayny sovetnik'')</small>
* [[Vice chancellor]] <small>(''Vitse-kantsler''</small>)
|
* [[General of the Infantry (Imperial Russia)|General of the infantry]] (–1763, 1796–)
* [[General of the cavalry]] (–1763, 1796–)
* ''General-Feldzeugmeister'' (-1763)
* [[General-in-chief]] (1763–1796)
* [[General of the Artillery (Imperial Russia)|General of the artillery]] (1796–)
* Engineer-General (1796–)
| [[Admiral]]
|
* Ober-[[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain]]
* ''Ober-[[Hofmarschall]]''
* ''[[Ober-Stallmeister]]'' (1766–)
* [[Oberjägermeister]]
* Ober-[[Hofmeister (office)|Hofmeister]] (1760–)
* Ober-[[Cup-bearer]] (1762–)
|not specified
|[[Archbishop]]
|-
! K-3
|[[Privy Councillor (Russia)|Privy Councillor]]<br /><small>(''Tayny sovetnik'')</small>
|Lieutenant general || Vice admiral
|
*[[Ober-Stallmeister]] (–1766)
*[[Hofmarschall]] (1742–)
*[[Hofmeister (office)|''Hofmeister'']]
*[[Stallmeister]]
*{{ill|Master of the Hunt (Russia)|lt=Master of the Hunt|ru|Егермейстер (звание)}}
*Ober-[[Master of ceremonies]] (1796–)
* Ober-[[Meat carving|Carver]] (1856–)
|not specified
| rowspan="2" |Ваше превосходительство (Vashe prevoskhoditel’stvo)
|[[Bishop]]
|-
!K-4
|[[Active State Councillor]]<br /><small>(''Deystvitelny statsky sovetnik'')</small>
|Major general || Rear admiral
|
* ''Ober-[[Hofmeister (office)|Hofmeister]]'' (–1760)
* Chamberlain (1737–1809)
|not specified
|[[Archimandrite]]
|-
!rowspan="2"| K-5
|rowspan="2"| [[State Councillor (Russia)|State Councillor]]<br /><small>(''Statsky sovetnik'')</small>
|rowspan="2"|[[Brigadier]] (1722–1796) ||rowspan="2"| Captain-commodore
|rowspan="2"|
* Ober-[[Cup-bearer]] (–1762)
* Chamber-[[Junker (Russia)|''Junker'']] (1742–1809)
* [[Master of ceremonies]] (1796–)
| rowspan="2" | not specified
| rowspan="2" | Ваше высокородие 
(Vashe vysokorodie)
|''[[Hegumen]]''
|-
|Protopresbyter
|rowspan="5"|[[Secular clergy#Orthodox Church|White clergy]]
|-
! K-6
|[[Collegiate Councillor]]<br /><small>(''Kollezhsky sovetnik'')</small>
|
* [[Polkovnik]] (infantry)
* Ober-krigskomissar (–1868)
| Kapitan 1st rank
| 
* [[Hofmarschall]] (–1742)
* Chamber-[[Furir]] (1742–1884)
* Chamber-[[Junker (Russia)|Junker]] (1737–1742)
* [[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain]] (–1737)
|4 years to K-5
| rowspan="4" |Ваше высокоблагородие (Vashe vysokoblagorodie)
|[[Presbyter]]
[[Protoiereus]]
|-
! K-7
|[[Court councillor]] (1745–)<br /><small>(Nadvorny sovetnik)</small>
|
* Podpolkovnik (infantry)
* Voyskovoy starshina (Cossacks 1884–)
* Krigskomissar (–1868)
|Kapitan 2nd rank
|style="text-align:center;"| none||4 years to K-6
|[[Priesthood (Eastern Orthodox Church)|Iereus]]
|-
! K-8
|Collegiate assessor<br /><small>(Kollezhsky assessor)</small>
|
*[[Prime major|Premjor-mayor]] / [[Second major (rank)|Secund-mayor]] (1731–1798)
*Mayor (infantry 1798–1884)
*Kapitan (infantry 1884–1917)
*Rotmistr (cavalry 1884–1917)
*Voyskovoy starshina (Cossacks 1796–1884)
*Esaul (Cossacks 1884–)
|
* Kapitan 3rd rank (1722–1764)
* Kapitan-leytenant (1907–1911)
* Starshy leytenant (1912–)
| Titular [[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain]] (–1771)
| 4 years to K-7
| [[Protodeacon]]
|-
! K-9
| Titular councillor<br /><small>(Tituljarny sovetnik)</small>
|
*Kapitan (infantry 1722–1884)
*Shtabs-kapitan (infantry 1884–)
*Rotmistr (cavalry 1798–1884)
*Shtabs-rotmistr (1884–)
*Esaul (Cossacks 1798–1884)
*Podesaul (Cossacks 1884–)
|
*Galley master (–1826)
*Kapitan-poruchik (1764–1796)
*Kapitan-leytenant (1798–1884)
*Leytenant (1884–1906, 1912–)
*Starshy leytenant (1907–1911)
|
* Chamber-[[Junker (Russia)|Junker]] (–1737)
* Hof-[[Furir]]
|3 years to K-8
|[[Deacon]]
|-
! K-10
| Collegiate secretary <br /><small>(Kollezhsky sekretar)</small>
|
*Kapitan-poruchik (infantry 1730–1797)
*Shtabs-kapitan (infantry 1779–1884)
*Sekund-rotmistr (cavalry –1797)
*Shtabs-rotmistr (cavalry 1779–1884)
*Tseychvart (artillery –1884)
*Poruchik (1884–)
*Podesaul (Cossacks –1884)
*Sotnik (Cossacks 1884–)
|
* Leytenant (1722–1884)
* [[Michman]] (1884-)
|style="text-align:center;"| none|| 3 years to K-9
| rowspan="5" | Ваше благородие
(Vashe blagorodie)
|
|
|-
! K-11
| Naval secretary<br /><small>(Korabelny sekretar)</small>{{NoteTag|Naval secretary was a naval rank until 1764, and reappeared as a civil rank no earlier than 1790.}} || none ||Naval secretary<br /><small>(Korabelny sekretar –1764)</small>
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | none
|
|
|-
! K-12
|[[W:EN:Governorate (Russia)|Governorate]] Secretary<br /><small>(Gubernsky sekretar)</small>
|
* Podporuchik (infantry 1730–1884)
* Praposhchik (1884–, wartime only)
* Sekund-poruchik (artillery 1722–1796)
|
* Unter-leytenant (1722–1732)
* [[Michman]] (1796–1884)
|style="text-align:center;"| none||3 years to K-10
|
|
|-
! K-13
| Provincial registrar<br /><small>(Kabinetsky redistrator)</small>
|
* Podporuchik (infantry 1730–1884)
* Praposhchik (1884–, wartime only)
* Sekund-poruchik (artillery 1722–1796)
| colspan="3" style="text-align: center;" |none
|
|
|-
! K-14
|
* Collegiate registrar <small>(Kollezhsky registrator)</small>
* Collegiate [[Junker (Russia)|Junker]] <small>(Kollezhsky yunker, Kollei-yunker 1720–1822)</small>
|
* [[Fähnrich|Fendrik]] (infantry 1722–1730)
* [[Praporshchik]] (infantry 1730–1884)
* [[Cornet (rank)|Cornet]] (cavalry 1731–1884)
* Shtyk-yunker (artillery 1722–1796)
* [[Chorąży|Khorunzhy]] (Cossacks -1884)
| [[Michman]] (1732–1796)
|style="text-align:center;"| none||3 years to K-12
|
|
|}

The table below contains the military ranks of the <span style="color: #f00;">'''Guards'''</span> ([[infantry]] and [[cavalry]]) 1722 until 1917.<ref>[http://akunin.ru/istoria/tabel ''Table of ranks, section infantry and cavalry 1722 to 1917''], called, 7 May 2017.</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2"| <small>Class</small>
!colspan="4"| <span style="color: #060;">Infantry</span>
!colspan="4"| <span style="color: #4169E1;">Cavalry</span>
|-
 ! 1722 !! 1730 !! 1748 !! 1884–1917
 ! 1730 !! 1748 !! 1798 !! 1884–1917
|- style="text-align: center;"
!1
|colspan="8" rowspan="2"| – not scheduled –
 |- align="center"
 ! 2

|- style="text-align: center;"
! 3
| ||
|align="left"| [[Colonel]] <br /><small>([[Polkovnik]])</small>
|
|
|align="left"| ''Colonel'' || ||

|- style="text-align:center;"
!4
|colspan="2"| ''Colonel''
|align="left"| [[Lieutenant colonel]] <br /><small>([[Podpolkovnik]])</small> ||
|
|align="left"| ''Lieutenant colonel'' ||  ||

|- style="text-align:center;"
! 5
|colspan="2"| ''Lieutenant colonel''
|align="left"| [[Prime major]] <br /><small>(Premer-mayor)</small> ||
|
|align="left"| ''Prime major'' ||   ||

|- style="text-align: center;"
! 6
|colspan="2"| [[Major (rank)|Major]]
|align="left"| [[Second major (rank)|Second major]]<br /><small>(Skund-mayor)</small>
|align="left"| ''Colonel''
|
|align="left"| ''Second major''
|colspan="2"| ''Colonel''

|- style="text-align: left;"
! 7
| [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]] <small> (Kapitan)</small>
| ''Captain'' || ''Captain'' || ''Captain''
| [[Rittmeister]] <small>(Rotmistr)</small>
| ''Rittmeister'' || ''Rittmeister'' || ''Rittmeister''

|- style="text-align:center;"
! 8
|align="left"| [[Captain lieutenant]] <br /><small>(Kapitan-leytenant)</small>
|colspan="2"| Captain poruchik <br /><small>(Kapitan-poruchik)</small>
|align="left"| [[Stabskapitän]] <br /><small>(Stabs-kapitan)</small>
|colspan="2"| Sekundrittmeister <br /><small>(Sekund-rotmistr)</small>
|colspan="2"| Stabsrittmeister <br /><small>(Stabs-rotmistr)</small>

|- style="text-align:center;"
! 9
|align="left"| [[Lieutenant]] <br /><small>(Leytenant)</small>
|colspan="3"| [[Poruchik]]
|colspan="4"| ''Poruchik''

|- style="text-align:center;"
!10
|align="left"| [[Unterleutnant]] <br /><small>(Unter-leytenant)</small>
|colspan="3"| [[Podporuchik]]
|colspan="3"| ''Podporuchik''
|align="left"| [[Cornet (rank)|Cornet]] <br /><small>(Kornet)</small>

|- style="text-align: center;"
! 11
|colspan="8"| – not scheduled –

|- style="text-align:center;"
! 12
|align="left"| [[Fähnrich]] <small> (Fendrik)</small>
|align="left"| [[Praporshchik]] ||  ||  ||  ||
| ''Cornet'' ||

|- style="text-align:center;"
! 13
|colspan="8" rowspan="2"| – not scheduled –
 |- align="center"
 ! 14
|}

[[File:Tabel o rangah 1898.jpg|thumb|right|An 1898 copy of the Table of Ranks]]

[[Peter the Great|Peter I]] stipulated that "princes related to us or married to our princesses always take precedence" and that when military officers of the army and navy were of the same rank, "the naval officer is superior at sea to the land officer; and on land the land officer is superior to the naval officer". He laid down that fines of two months' salary should be assessed against those falsely claiming a higher rank or gaining a rank without qualification. He stated that service with a foreign monarch would not automatically confer the rank until approved by the tsar, as "we do not grant any rank to anyone until he performs a useful service to us or to the state", while women were to "advance in rank with their husbands".

== Style of address ==
In a way the government, court, military and clergy ranks represented the gentry class of the Russian Empire. Similarly to the noble titles, the rank holders each had their specific [[Forms of address in the Russian Empire|style of address]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+As of 1917 (the year of the monarchy's collapse)
! rowspan="2" |Class
! colspan="2" |Civil, court and military ranks
! colspan="3" |Clergy ranks
! rowspan="2" |Class
|-
!in Russian
!English translation
!in Russian<ref>{{cite web|url=https://culturelandshaft.wordpress.com/%d1%8d%d1%82%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b3%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b5%d0%b7/%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d0%ba%d0%b8-%d1%81%d0%bb%d0%b0%d0%b2%d1%8f%d0%bd/178-2/%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%bb%d1%8c-%d0%be-%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%bd%d0%b3%d0%b0%d1%85/|script-title=ru:"Табели о рангах"…|date=2013-02-05|website=КУЛЬТУРНЫЙ ЛАНДШАФТ|language=ru-RU|access-date=2019-02-25}}</ref>
!English translation
!
|-
|'''K-1'''
| rowspan="2" |Ваше высокопревосходительство
| rowspan="2" |Your High Excellency
| rowspan="2" |Ваше высокопреосвященство, владыко
| rowspan="2" |Your High Eminence,

Lordship
| rowspan="5" |[[Eastern Christian monasticism|Black]]
[[Eastern Christian monasticism|clergy]]
|'''K-1'''
|-
|'''K-2'''
|'''K-2'''
|-
|'''K-3'''
| rowspan="2" |Ваше превосходительство
| rowspan="2" |Your [[Excellency]]
|Ваше преосвященство, владыко
|Your Eminence,

Lordship
|'''K-3'''
|-
|'''K-4'''
| rowspan="2" |Ваше высокопреподобие
| rowspan="2" |Your High Reverence
|'''K-4'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''K-5'''
| rowspan="2" |Ваше высокородие
| rowspan="2" |Your [[Hochgeboren|High Born]]
|'''K-5'''
|-
| rowspan="2" |Ваше высокоблагословение
| rowspan="2" |Your High Blessedness
| rowspan="5" |[[Priesthood (Orthodox Church)#Modern usage|White]]
[[Priesthood (Orthodox Church)#Modern usage|clergy]]
|'''K-5'''
|-
|'''K-6'''
| rowspan="3" |Ваше высокоблагородие
| rowspan="3" |Your [[Hochwohlgeboren|High Well Born]]
|'''K-6'''
|-
|'''K-7'''
|Ваше благословение
|Your Blessedness
|'''K-7'''
|-
|'''K-8'''
|Ваше высокоблаговестие
|Your High Evangelism
|'''K-8'''
|-
|'''K-9'''
| rowspan="6" |Ваше благородие
| rowspan="6" |Your [[Wohlgeboren|Well Born]]
(Also applied to the lowest ranks of the nobility: [[Baron]]s, the generic titles of [[Dvoryanin]], [[Pomeshchik]] and landless nobles)
|Ваше благовестие
|Your Evangelism
|'''K-9'''
|-
|'''K-10'''
| colspan="3" rowspan="5" |
|'''K-10'''
|-
|'''K-11'''
|'''K-11'''
|-
|'''K-12'''
|'''K-12'''
|-
|'''K-13'''
|'''K-13'''
|-
|'''K-14'''
|'''K-14'''
|}
Outside that table are the rank of [[Generalissimo|Generalissimus]], which was an honorary title and not a military rank and the title of [[Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'|Patriarch]], which theoretically equaled the eminence of the [[Russian Emperor]], but which [[Peter the Great]] kept vacant between 1700 and 1720 and [[Church reform of Peter the Great|eventually substituted for the collective board]] of the [[Most Holy Synod]], effectively turning the Church into a department of the state.

==First complete translation into English==
The first complete translation into English of the original Table of Ranks promulgated by Peter the Great in 1722 was presented by Brazilian historian [[Angelo Segrillo]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://lea.vitis.uspnet.usp.br/arquivos/arttableofrankslea.pdf|title=A First Complete Translation into English of Peter the Great's Original Table of Ranks: Observations on the Occurrence of a Black Hole in the Translation of Russian Historical Documents.|last=Segrillo|first=Angelo|publisher=LEA Working Paper Series, no. 1|date=November 2016|location=São Paulo|pages=6–9}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Wohlgeboren]]
* [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles]]
* [[History of Russian military ranks]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book |first = Kazimierz |last = Waliszewski |title = Peter the Great: his life and work |chapter = The Social Reform — The ''Table of Ranks'' |publisher = Forgotten books | url = http://www.forgottenbooks.org/author/waliszewski |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HZ-TIfSjSTIC&q=%22Table+of+ranks%22&pg=PA452 |pages = 454–456 |isbn = 9781440048227 }}
* {{in lang|ru}} [http://akunin.ru/istoria/tabel/ Table of Ranks]
*[http://lea.vitis.uspnet.usp.br/arquivos/arttableofrankslea.pdf Peter I's original Table of Ranks]

{{Clear}}
{{List of titles and honours of the Countries Crown}}

[[Category:Nobility from the Russian Empire|*]]
[[Category:Military ranks of Russia|*]]
[[Category:Government reform of Peter the Great]]
[[Category:Civil service ranks]]
[[Category:Civil service of the Russian Empire]]