Commentary for Bava Batra 109:3

אמר רבה הני תלת מילי אישתעי לי עוקבן בר נחמיה ריש גלותא משמיה דשמואל דינא דמלכותא דינא ואריסותא דפרסאי עד מ' שנין והני זהרורי דזבין ארעא לטסקא זבינהו זביני

Rabbah said: These three rules were told me by 'Ukba b. Nehemiah the Exilarch: [one,] that the law of the Government [in civil cases] is law; [a second,] that Persians acquire ownership by forty years' occupation;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If a Persian has been in occupation of a piece of land for forty years, and a Jew then buys it from him, his title is impregnable, although according to Jewish law it would not be impregnable (v. supra 35b). The meaning, however, may also be that in Persia 40 years' occupation is required to confer a title of ownership (even on an Israelite) and not three. ');">³</span> and [a third], that if property is bought from the rich landlords<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Zaharuri (derivation uncertain) — men who paid to the Government the tax on land, the owners of which were in arrears, and so became owners of the land; or, according to others, the collectors of the land tax. As this transference of land was legal according to Persian law, Jews were allowed to buy the land from these people. ');">⁴</span>

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