Tributary peasants

Tributary peasants (seliany-dannyky). The largest group of pokhozhi peasants in the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state, Volhynia, and the Kyiv region during the 15th and 16th centuries. They lived on state or private lands that were mostly forested, and their primary activities were hunting, fishing, and beekeeping. They also mined ores, coal, and salt. Besides a tribute (danyna) in kind (eg, furs, honey) they paid a monetary tribute (serebshchyna) for the use of cultivated land and performed various services for the landowner, including harvesting and tilling. In 1588 the status of tributary peasants was changed to that of state or landowner's serfs.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]