kanunname

Law book. In the Osman empire there was a double juristic system. Criminal and family laws were based on Muslim religious law (saria), while the function of the institutions of the state and taxation were based on traditions and the orders of the Sultan. The "mundane" law, which was established from the latter one, was recorded in three law books: 1. in the so-called central law book, 2. in the provincial law book, and 3. in kanunnames, compiled for social groups with special rights. The law books of Hungarian sandjaks considered local taxation traditions, but apart from this they were quite similar to one another.

FP