Duma Duma A duma (дума) was a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term comes from the Russian verb думать ("dumat’") meaning "to think" or "to consider". The first formally constituted duma was the State Duma introduced into the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II in 1905. The Tsar dismissed the first duma within 75 days and re-elected second duma within three months. It was dissolved in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. Since 1993, the State Duma is the lower legislative house of the Russian Federation. Historians use the term "Boyar Duma" to denote the council of boyars and
State Duma (Russian Empire) October 1917. Coming under pressure from the Russian Revolution of 1905, on August 6, 1905 (O.S.), Sergei Witte (appointed by Nicholas II to manage peace negotiations with Japan after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905) issued a manifesto about the convocation of the Duma, initially thought to be a purely advisory body, the so-called Bulygin-Duma. In the subsequent October Manifesto, the Tsar promised to introduce further civil liberties, provide for broad participation in a new "State Duma", and endow the Duma with legislative and oversight powers. The State Duma was to be the lower house of a parliament, and the State