Merdiban was an accounting method used by the Ottoman Empire, Abbasid Caliphate, and Ilkhanate, especially for recording tax payments and liabilities.
As the Mongols lacked strong state institutions, local systems were adopted, including accounting techniques.
Centralised fiscal record-keeping was divided according to provinces, and each team reported to a katip (which roughly corresponds to "clerk") - the same title used in the Abbasid state.
[citation needed] Merdiban was named because of the descending sequence in which amounts were recorded; a total at the top, and then individual items below.
[4] Mediban was usually recorded in siyakat script;[4] a specialised and condensed form of text, almost stenographic, which was used where much of the content was numerical.