In the Rus' Khaganate, a druzhina helped the prince administer his principality and constituted the area's military force. The first members of a druzhina were the Varangians,[3] whose princes established control there in the 9th century.[4] Soon, members of the local Slavic aristocracy and adventurers of a variety of other nationalities became druzhinniki. The druzhina's organization varied with time and survived in one form or another until the 16th century.[5]
The druzhina was composed of two groups: the senior members, later known as boyars, and the junior members, later known as boyar scions. The boyars were the prince's closest advisers and performed higher state functions. The junior members constituted the prince's personal bodyguard and were common soldiers. Members were dependent upon their prince for financial support but served the prince freely and had the right to leave him and join the druzhina of another prince.[citation needed]
As a result, a prince was inclined to seek the goodwill of his druzhina by paying the druzhinniki wages, sharing his war booty and taxes with them and eventually rewarding the boyars with landed estates that were complete with rights to tax and administer justice to the local population.[citation needed]
^"Druzhina". Retrieved 13 May 2017 – via The Free Dictionary.
^"Ibrāhīm ibn Ya‛qūb al-Isrā’īlī al-Ṭurṭūshī," by Lutz Richter-Bernburg, in: The Oxford Companion to World Exploration, David Buisseret, editor-in-chief, 2 vols., Oxford UP 2007, I:402b-403b