The term "Streltsi" was used to describe a soldier who carried a handgun and fired with it. The Streltsy were an infantry corps, equipped, initially, with arquebuses and then muskets, formed for him by Ivan the Terrible, in 1552. It was the first regular corps of the Russian Army and was formed according to the standards of the Ottoman janissaries.
Their formation was a result of the reforms initiated by Ivan the Terrible. The first regiment, 3,000 strong, began to be formed in 1550, when Ivan selected the men who would join it from the freemen, mainly townspeople, but also some peasant kulaks. The regiment was formed and settled in the "sparrow" district of Moscow.
The regiment was commanded by the "head of Streletski" (Streletski golova), as the colonel was called. The regiment was organized into six "battalions" of 500 men each, called five hundred divisions. Each "battalion" (Prikazy) was organized into five "companies" (Sotnik) of 100 men each, headed by a "centurion". Each company was divided into 10 regiments, each with a commander.
The Streltsi, from the beginning, were armed with arquebuses and later with long barrels, muskets, with curved swords, of the type of battle, and with a large pelecy, about 1.40 m long. The "blade" of the pelecy was shaped like a crescent, and was long , on the vertical axis, about 40-50 cm.
Read the interesting sequel at the source