Members of the old Russian nobility or aristocracy, particularly powerful landowners who dominated before the rise of the tsars.
From Russian 'boyarin,' possibly derived from Old East Slavic 'boj' meaning battle or fight, suggesting military origins. The class dominated Eastern Europe from medieval times until Peter the Great and later tsars reduced their power.
The boyars were so opposed to Peter the Great's Westernization that he deliberately weakened their power by forcing them to shave their beards and wear Western clothes—it's a wild example of how rulers use cultural symbols to break the old power structure and modernize.
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