BRITISH-INDIAN

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

The system of weights established by Reg. VII. 1833, is founded On the same unit as the rupee of the equalized monetary system of British India, it having been found that the weight of the Madras, Bombav, and Furukhabad rupee, already very generally used throughout upper and western India, as the foundation of the seer and maund, could be substituted for the sicca weight of Bengal by a very slight modification of the latter, which would be hardly perceptible in commercial dealings. Other palpable advantages of the introduction of the new weight were pointed out*, of which it is only necessary here to allude to the three following:

1. That the maund formed from the modified weight would be precisely equal to 100 English troy pounds; and

2. That thirty-five seers would also be precisely equal to seventytwo pounds avoirdupois:—thus establishing a simple connection, void of fractions, between the two English metrical scales and that of India.

3. The weight of the new unit nearly accorded with the average weight of many of the native tolas sent home for examination at the London mint by order of the Honorable Court of Directors; as well as with that of Akbbr, deduced from the weight of many coins of that emperor.

We shall begin the present division of our subject, as in the case of the Indian coins, by setting forth in the first instance the present legal system, and afterwards providing a brief descriptive catalogue of the many other weights prevailing throughout the Company's provinces, with comparative tables for the conversion of one denomination into the other.

The Unit of the British Indian ponderary system is called the Tola. It weighs 180 grains English troy weight. From it upwards are

* Vide a paper on the subject in the Journal of the As. Soe. for October 1832, vol. i. page 445.

derived the heavy weights, viz: Chitak, Seer, and Mun (or Maund);— and by its subdivision the small or jeweller's weights, called mashas, ruttees, and dhans.

The following scheme comprehends both of these in one series:

MUN. PUSSEREE. SEER. CHITAK TOLA. MASHA. RUTTEE. DHAN

The Man (or that weight to which it closely accords in value, and to which it is legally equivalent in the new scale) has been hitherto better known among Europeans by the name of Bazar Maund, but upon its general adoption, under Regulation VII. 1833, for all transactions of the British Government, it should be denominated the British Maund, (in Hindee, Ungrézee Mun,) to distinguish it at once from all other weights in use throughout the country'.

The Pusseree is, as its name denotes, a five-seer weight, and therefore should not form an integrant point of the scale; but as its use is very general, it has been introduced for the convenience of reference.

The Seer being the commonest weight in use in the retail business of the Bazars in India, and being liable, according to the pernicious system hitherto prevalent, to vary in weight for every article sold as well as for every market, is generally referred to the common unit in native mercantile dealings, as, "the seer of so many tolas," (or siccas, barees, takas, &c.) The standard or bazar seer being always 80 tolas.

The Chitak is the lowest denomination of the gross weights, and is commonly divided into halves and quarters, (called in Bengalee, kacha s) thus marking the line between the two series, which are otherwise connected by the relation of the seer, &c. to the tola.

The Tola is chiefly used in the weighing of the precious metals and coin; all bullion at the mints is received in this denomination, and the tables of bullion produce (as seen in the foregoing pages) are calculated

* In the same way the Madras, Bombay, and Furukbabad, rupee (when the sicca rupee is abolished, and an English device adopted), may be called "the British Rupee," and in the native languages Rupya Ungrézee.

Jewellers' weights—assayers' weights-troy weights.

63

per 100 tolas. It is also usual at the mints to make the subdivisions of the tola into annas (sixteenths) and pie, in lieu of mashas and

ruttces.

Mashas, ruttees, and dhans, are used chiefly by native goldsmiths and jewellers. They are also employed in the native evaluation by assay of the precious metals; thus 10 mashas fine, signifies 10-12ths pure, and corresponds to "10-oz. touch" of the English assay report or silver. There is a closer accordance with the English gold assay scale, inasmuch as the 96 ruttees in a tola exactly represent the 96 carat grains in the gold assay pound, and the dhan, the quarter grain. As it is sometimes necessary to convert the assay report from one denomination into the other*, the following comparative table is here inserted.

Table XIV.—Correspondence of English and Indian Assay Weights.

oz. dwts. ct. grs. msh. rut. oz. dwts. cr. grs.msh. rut. oz. dwts. cr. grs. msh. rut.

12 0 24 012 0

To find the corresponding decimal assay, see the tables in page 8, 9. The English assay report is generally so much worse or better" than standard, but the touch is easily known therefrom, the standard being 11 oz. for silver and 22 carats for gold; or 11 mashas Hindu reckoning.

The correspondence of the Indian system of weights with the troy weights of England, and with the systême metricale of France, may be best shewn by a table. The coincidence with the former is perfect ::-in the latter the masha nearly accords with the gramme, and the seer with the kilogramme.

0.122

* Especially in the translation of Regulations concerning the Mints, the Eng

lish expressions being unintelligible without explanation.

For the conversion of English troy weights into those of India, the following scale will suffice, since the simplicity of their relation renders a more detailed table unnecessary.

The accordance of the mun weight with the 100 lbs. troy of England, affords a ready means of ascertaining its relative value in the Standards of other countries employed in weighing the precious metals, since tables of the latter are generally expressed in lbs. troy. The following are a few of these valuations for the principal weights of Europe, he. extracted from Kelly's Cambist, page 222. The weights in troy grains have been converted into tolas by dividing them by ISO.

Table XV. Comparison of the Tola and Mun with the gold and silver, or Troy, • weights of other countries.

The principal dealings in Bullion being with England, where it is weighed by the pound troy, while in India it is received by the tola, a simple table for the mutual conversion of these two weights (without regard to maunds and seers) may be useful; it needs no explanation,