The purpose of the article is to study the princely squad as a powerful institution, with the help of which princely rule was carried out in the era of the early feudal monarchy. Within the framework of the research methodology using historical-legal, comparative-legal and comparative-historical methods, on the basis of a number of materials and sources, the analysis of the princely squad as a powerful institution of the Old Russian statehood was carried out. The article concludes that the squad was a special social structure, separated from the urban community, in which the prince himself was the first among equals. In the XI-XII centuries. the nature of princely power changes significantly. The senior squad, who received land grants from the prince, breaks away from the princely court and turns into large boyars-patrimony. Although the institute of the Grand Ducal squad continued to exist, its role has changed. As the main military force of the prince, the feudal militia comes to replace the squad.