Russian Streltsy formation

Timeline

1. 1550Moscow · MoscowIvan IV ordered three thousand men selected from town freemen, organized into thousands and hundreds, issued matchlocks and long axes, and garrisoned around the Moscow Kremlin, forming the core of Russia's earliest standing firearm infantry.
2. 1552–1556Kazan · TatarstanThe Streltsy took part in eastern wars including the capture of the Kazan Khanate; after the war the formation expanded to six regiments, garrisoned in Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, and other key places, and was granted land and tax-exemption privileges, forming a hereditary military class.
3. 1598–1613Moscow · MoscowAfter the extinction of the Rurik dynasty, the Streltsy became deeply involved in succession struggles and the Time of Troubles, mutinying against Boris Godunov and the False Dmitry; they both guarded and murdered tsars, shifting their political role from frontier garrison to participant in court power.
4. 1689–1698Moscow · MoscowAfter Peter I assumed personal rule and carried out Westernizing military reforms, the Streltsy, opposing the reforms, launched a failed mutiny in 1698, were subjected to mass suppression and disbanded, and their functions were taken over by standing regiments and marine infantry trained on the European model.