For the first 70 years of their rule the Muslims made no attempt to introduce a new, Arabic-speaking administrative system for the whole of the dominion, rather each province continued in the tradition of the previous regime. In Syria the language of the revenue department was Greek, while its administration was still in the hands of local Christians. In the fiscal administration, however, the Arabs introduced an innovative system according to which all fully fledged members of the new polity were entitled to regular stipends (‘ata’); a system that was financed by the taxes of the local populous. The main taxes were land tax (kharaj), a fixed rate in kind or money and the poll tax (jizya), which was imposed on every mature non-Muslim and means tested according to income. Priests, monks, and the disabled were exempt from paying jizya.