Or 16425

This volume contains the Kanunname-yi Cedid, a compilation of laws and regulations put together during the reign of Mehmed IV (reigned 1058-1099 AH/1648-1687 AD). It takes into account the judgments of a range of jurists from the period of Süleyman the Magnificent (reigned 926-974 AH/1520-1566 CE) to that of Mehmed IV.

The version of the Kanunname in the present volume finds its origins in the Reaya Kanunname of Mehmed II (reigned 848-850, 855-886 AH/1444-1446, 1451-1481 CE), which was enlarged and modified under Bayezid II (reigned 886-918 AH/1481-1512 CE) in around 907 AH/1501 CE. This Kanunname was intended to be universally applied in the fields of land law, timar holdings, and criminal law. It was modified and re-issued in the names of a host of sultans after Bayezid II, taking into account newly-issued kanunlar in the form of decrees and new sancak kanunları (related to reaya taxes and land laws). It formed the basis of the lesser-known Kanunname of Selim I, and the much better-known Kanunname of Süleyman the Magnificent.

Much of the latter work became obsolete in subsequent centuries due to the decay of the timar system, leading to the introduction of the new Kanunname-yi cedid-i Sultani in 1084 AH/1673-4 CE, the first comprehensive compilation of the Kanunname which became widely used in Ottoman courts. The work includes the judgments of a range of jurists: Ebussuud, Kemalpaşazade and Celalzade Mustafa during the reign of Süleyman, which formed the basics of Ottoman land law; Nişancı Hamza Paşa and Pir Mehmed Üskubi during the reign of Ahmed I (1012-1026 AH/1603-1617 CE); Zekeriyazade Yahya Efendi and Nişancı Okçuzade Mehmed Efendi in the time of Murad IV (1032-1049 AH/1623-1640 CE); and Bahai Mehmed Efendi in the early years of Mehmed IV’s rule. Amongst these names, Ebussuud and Zekeriyazade Yahya Efendi are most prominent in the Kanunname-yi cedid, though it was the era of Ahmed I that was most pivotal in the formation of this new compilation (see İnalcık, ‘Ḳānūnnāme’; Karagöz, ‘Evolution’; and Punar, ‘Kanun’).

Begins:

(al-Ḥamd li-Llah alladhī lahū mulk al-samawāt wa’l-arḍ wa huwa ‘alā kull shay’ qadir) Cenab-i Hakan-i ru-zemin ve Halife-i Resul-i Rabbi’l-Alemin Malik mmmaliki’l-alem

Ends:

Min ba‘d Şer‘-i şerife ve Kanuna ve emr-i hümayuna muhalefet ve ta‘allül ve ‘inad itdirmeyesin tahrir

Above the title on f 7v is a simple decoration in green, based on a text frame and semicircle. There is a table of contents on ff 5v-6v and on 3v-4r the text of an azadname (heading) or ‘atkname (text), a document of manumission of an enslaved person, dated 1226 AH/1811 CE.

According to a note on 83v, the present copy was completed by Ahmed ibn-i Mustafa on 15 Cemaziyulevvel 1224 AH/28 June 1809 CE.