an accounting system used between 14th and 19th centuries in the ...

the salaries of the officials country-wide and abroad. Therefore, a highly
organized financial system of income and expenditure of the state was a must.
Spuler explains in detail the corruptions that led to maladministration of
finance before Gazan Khan (Spuler, 1987, 308). While the civil war that broke
out during this period led to a great reduction in tax incomes, the corruptions in
collecting tax resulted in the deterioration of the financial system of the state
(Güvemli, 1995, 217-218).
Gazan Khan ascended the throne at such a hard time. First of all, Gazan
Khan restored the financial structure and improved the bookkeeping system related
to the income and expenditure of the state.
Ilhanian tax officials used to go to villages to collect tax at harvest times.
At these times some people were assigned as watchmen to inform the villagers
beforehand. When they were informed, the males used to leave the village. The tax
officials would get surprised when they met only women and children. As they did
not consider the women as addresses, they would not collect tax. This led to a
regression in the financial structure meanwhile the sexual harassment of some
officials towards females created discomfort.
After being ascended to the throne Gazan Khan reformed the financial
system. One of the solutions he found was about collecting tax from the villagers.
Gazan Khan erected a smooth stone or a planished wood near the gate of all
villages. On these, the amount of tax that the village had to pay for that year and
the following year were written. Thus, for the first time in history a tax board and
an accrual system were used and these solved problems of collecting tax to a
certain extent.
These explanations show that the Ilhanians had a developed economics and
a strong financial system. It is normal for a country with such an infrastructure to
have a developed accounting system.
Furthermore, it is worthy of mention to assert that the high-ranking officials
of the state gave much importance to financial affairs and accounting. For
example, some of the four teaching resources for accounting written during the
reign of Ilhanians were addressed to these high-ranking officials and we will cover
them in the latter part of this paper. So it can be claimed that it is normal for an
accounting system to arise in such an environment.
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