ABSTRACT
The word qānūn, for a state decree or directive, is derived from the Greek κανών, which in Byzantine usage referred to fiscal levies and codified legislation (İnalcık 1978a; Howard 1995/96: 80). Used as a collective noun for a body of fiscal regulations and rules regarding land use, the term is found as early as the Abbasid period and possibly before (İnalcık 1978a). Under the Ilkhanids (r. 1256-1335) it took on the meaning of cadastre, “referring both to the dues and to the principles of assessment and collection of dues” (Howard 1995/96: 80). In later periods, penal, administrative, and land laws also entered into the realm of qanun legislation.
