Nikolai Petrovich Arkharov (russian: Николай Петрович Архаров, links=no; 7 May 1740 – January 1814) was a Russian chief of police best known for having given his name to the Russian term "arkharovtsy", an ironic appellation of policemen.

Biography

Nikolai Arkharov came from a noble family. In 1754 he was enrolled at the Guards, in 1756 started the service as soldier of the

Preobrazhensky regiment The Preobrazhensky Life-Guards Regiment (russian: Преображенский лейб-гвардии полк, ''Preobrazhensky leyb-gvardii polk'') was a regiment of the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Russian Army from 1683 to 1917. The Pr ...

and in 1761 was promoted to officer. His rising began after the mission of 1771 into

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, enveloped by the disastrous

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

and mutiny (known as the

Plague Riot {{noref, date=July 2012 Plague Riot (''Чумной бунт'' in Russian) was a riot in Moscow in 1771 between 15 and 17 September, caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague. History The first signs of plague in Moscow appeared in late 1770, which ...

), under the direction of Count Grigori Orlov. Count Orlov arrived to Moscow on 26 September 1771 with numerous doctors and four Guards regiments. Arkharov proved himself as energetic and executive officer. Apparently, with the aid of Orlov, with whom he was familiar earlier, Arkharov was transferred into the police with the rank of colonel. After the successfully conducted inquest of the case of

Yemelyan Pugachev Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev (russian: Емельян Иванович Пугачёв; c. 1742) was an ataman of the Yaik Cossacks who led a great popular insurrection during the reign of Catherine the Great. Pugachev claimed to be Catherine's ...

Arkharov was appointed in 1775 the

Chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. Here he distinguished himself as one of the best detective of that time. His subordinates were called by people "arkharovtsy" - this word in the course of time became nominal.

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

sometimes invited Arkharov into Petersburg for the investigation of serious thefts. On 28 July 1777 he became

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, in 1779 received the

Order of St. Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holst ...

of the 1st degree and from 1782, he was a Moscow governor. In 1783 Arkharov was elevated into general-ensign, in 1785 became the general-governor of

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

and

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

. From 1790 he was also the director of the water communications and significantly contributed to the canal-building in his region. From 1795 to 1796 he was General Governor of St Petersburg. Upon his accession to the throne, Emperor

Paul I Paul I may refer to: *Paul of Samosata (200–275), Bishop of Antioch *Paul I of Constantinople (died c. 350), Archbishop of Constantinople *Pope Paul I (700–767) *Paul I Šubić of Bribir (c. 1245–1312), Ban of Croatia and Lord of Bosnia *Paul ...

awarded Arkharov the

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky ( ''orden Alexandra Nevskogo'') is an order of merit of the Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious se ...

, promoted him to full general and appointed him the second general governor of St Petersburg (the first was

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

Alexandr Pavlovich). On 15 June 1797 Arkharov was dismissed and was exiled into

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...

governorate without the right to visit both the capitals. This right was returned to him in the next reign. Nikolai Arkharov died and buried in his estate Rasskazovo near Tambov.

References

* * Длуголенский Я.Н. '' Военно-гражданская и полицейская власть Санкт-Петербурга - Петрограда. Генерал-губернаторы, гражданские губернаторы, градоначальники.'', St Petersburg, 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkharov, Nikolai Petrovich 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire 1740 births 1814 deaths Imperial Russian Army generals Russian municipal police chiefs Russian police chiefs