What is "podyachy"

A Podyachy or podyachiy (; from the Greek hypodiakonos, "assistant servant") was an office ( bureaucratic) occupation in prikazes (local and upper governmental offices) and lesser local offices of Russia in 15th-18th centuries.

As an anachronism, it may be loosely translated as clerk the Latin word equally derived from a clerical title, and generically used.

Podyachyes were classified into junior, middle and senior. A senior podyachy (Старший подьячий) was a councillor to a dyak.