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Indian Epigraphy c16.s6: 6. Land Measures

Indian Epigraphy c16.s6

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6. Land Measures

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Although often entire villages were granted by charters, in many cases the gift land consisted of smaller plots of land, the areas of which were usually indicated in the records. The measurement of the plot was sometimes entrusted to a high officer of the king.³ The unit of measurement was the cubit which was often measured by the length of the forearm of a particular individual in the king’s service⁴ and the measuring rod made of wood, bamboo, etc., had the length of a recognised number of such cubits.⁵ Sometimes particular measuring rods (i.e. rods of particular lengths) are mentioned in inscriptions. Thus the inscriptions of the Senas of Bengal mention Samataṭa-nala (the measuring rod prevalent in the Samataṭa country),¹ Vṛṣabhaśaṅkara-nala (the measuring rod introduced by Arirāja-vṛṣabha-śaṅkara Vijayasena),² ‘the measuring rod 56 cubits in length prevalent in the district around the gift land’,³ etc. The ‘measuring rod of the Samataṭa country’ may be compared to Eḍenāḍa-daṇḍa (the measuring rod of the district of Eḍenāḍu),⁴ Paḷṭiyamattavurada daṇḍa (the measuring rod of the village of Paḷṭiyamattavura),⁵ etc., of Kannaḍa inscriptions which also refer to particular measuring rods like Māṇikeśvarada kolu (the rod of the god Māṇikeśvara),⁶ Gaṅgana ghaḷe (the rod of a person named Gaṅga),⁷ Dharaṇidevana kolu (the rod of a person named Dharaṇideva),⁸ etc.⁹ Measuring rods like Gaṅgana ghaḷe are comparable to Śivacandra-hasta referred to above. Sometimes the gift land is stated to have been measured according to the rāja-māna¹⁰ indicating apparently the standard unit of measurement recognised by the government. Numerous measuring rods of this kind are known from Tamil epigraphs of the time of the Coḷa and Vijayanagara kings, two of them being the Śrīpāda-kkol (the rod of the king’s foot with reference to Kulottuṅga I) and the Māligai-kkol (the rod of the palace). The varying length of the rods is given in the records as 4, 12, 13, 16 or 18 spans, 36 or 48 steps and 12, 14, 16 or 20 feet.¹¹

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³ Cf. the records of the Imperial Gaṅgas of Orissa (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 188, 192, etc.)

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⁴ Cf. Śivacandra-hasta in the Faridpur plate of Dharmāditya (Select Inscriptions, pp. 352, 356, 358). The cubit is indicated by a word like hasta (kai in the South Indian languages). In Kannaḍa inscriptions, sometimes we find geṇu (i.e. span) and kālu (i.e. foot) as units of measurement. The same units are also known from Tamil records (see below); cf. also the land measure called Pādāvarta referred to below.

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⁵ Ibid., p. 344 and note 7; cf. infra.

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¹ N. G. Majumdar, *Ins. Beng.*, Vol. III, p. 63.

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² Ibid., pp. 74, 87.

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³ Ibid., p. 96.; cf. p. 102.

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⁴ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. III, p. 216, text line 9.

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⁵ Ibid., p. 234., text line 45.

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⁶ *A. R. Ep.*, 1933-34, B. K. No. 177.

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⁷ Ibid., 1932-33, B. K. No. 152.

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⁸ Ibid., 1958-59, Nos. B 661 ff. (*transcripts*).

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⁹ In Kannaḍa inscriptions, the length and breadth of house-sites are often indicated in *kai* or the cubit instead of referring to the measuring rod.

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¹⁰ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVII, p. 207; Vol. XXXIII, p. 91; *Ep. Carn.*, Vol. XI, Hiriyur No. 77; *A. R. Ep.*, 1932-33, B. K. No. 124; etc.

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¹¹ See Mahalingam, *South Indian Polity*, pp. 151, 156, 158-59, 160 note. There are also references to measuring rods 24, 32 or 34 feet long.

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There is uncertainty about the exact area of most of the land measures prevalent in different parts of ancient India.

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The Śātavāhana inscriptions of the second century A.D., discovered in the north-western part of the Deccan, mention a land measure called *Nivartana*¹ which is also known from later epigraphic records especially of the southern areas of India.² According to Śātātapa and Bṛhaspati, a *Nivartana* had the area of 300 × 300 square cubits ( about 4¾ acres )³ while a variant reading of Bṛhaspati’s text gives its area as 210 × 210 square cubits ( about 2¼ acres ) only.⁴ The Kauṭilīya *Arthaśāstra* (II. 20) speaks of the *Nivartana* as 240 × 240 square cubits in area (about 3 acres), though one of its commentators makes it 120 × 120 square cubits ( about ¾ acre ).⁴ Bhāskarācārya’s *Līlāvatī* speaks of the *Nivartana* as 200 × 200 square cubits in area (about 2 acres) which is supported by Hemādri’s *Caturvargacintāmaṇi*.⁵ The *Śukranītisāra* speaks of the *Nivartana* as 112 × 112 or 140 × 140 square cubits in area ( about ⅗ of an acre and about 1 acre respectively ), while Vasiṣṭha mentions it as 100 × 100 square cubits⁶ ( about ½ acre). The uncertainty about the exact area of a *Nivartana* in a particular region and age is also noticed in regard to most other ancient land measures.

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¹ See *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 192, 194.

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² Telugu inscriptions sometimes refer to *Nivartana* as the same as *Maruturu* (P. Sreenivasachar, *Corp. Ins. Tel. Dist.*, pp. 206-08). On the strength of the Kasakudi plates, Hultzsch points out that ‘the Sanskrit *Nivartana* (40,000 square *hastas*) and the Tamil *Paṭṭi* (a measure of land sufficient for a sheep-fold) are synonymous’ (*SII*, Vol. II, p. 350, note 12). Medieval Kannaḍa records also often mention the *Nivartana* as the same as *Mattar* or *Mattaru* (Telugu *Maruturu*). See *SII*, Vol. XI, Part ii, No. 136, text lines 52 and 56.

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³ See *Uṇavimśatisaṃhitā*, Vaṅgavāsī ed., p. 480 (Śātātapasaṃhitā, I. 15); p. 346 (Bṛhaspatisaṃhitā, verse 8) : *daśa-hastena daṇḍena trimśad-daṇḍaṃ* (or *daṇḍā*) *nivartanam*. The stanza is quoted in Ballāla’s *Dānasāgara* (Bib. Ind. ed.), p. 323, and in a 13th century inscription from Andhra Pradesh (see *Nel. Dist. Ins.*, Vol. I, p. 147, C. P. No. 17, verse 28).

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⁴ Cf. the *Mitākṣarā* on the *Yājñavalkyasmṛti*, I. 210 (*sapta-hastena daṇḍena trimśad-daṇḍair=nivartanam*). See also the *Śabdakalpadruma*, Pariśiṣṭa, p. 160. The *Praṇatoṣaṇitantra*, Vasumatī ed., p. 106, ascribes the verse to the *Svarodaya-ṭīkākāra*.

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⁵ *Līlāvatī*, Calcutta ed., I. 6 (*tathā karāṇāṃ daśakena vamśaḥ nivartanaṃ viṃśati-vamśa-saṃkhyaiḥ kṣetraṃ caturbhiḥ=ca bhujair=nibaddham 11*). See also Hemādri referred to by M. Somsekhara Sarma, *History of the Reḍḍi Kingdoms*, pp. 366-67.

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⁶ See P. Sreenivasachar, op. cit., pp. 206-07. Vasiṣṭha’s text runs: *daśa-hastena vamśena daśa-vamśān=samantataḥ*.

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Many of the authorities cited above mention the *Nivartana* as one-tenth of the *Gocarman* which is also mentioned in some inscriptions.¹ Originally, the *Gocarman* may have indicated that area of land which could be covered by the hides of cows slaughtered in a sacrifice and was granted to the priests as sacrificial fee. But the expression is differently interpreted by later authorities. Thus while many of the writers explain it as ten times a *Nivartana* which is however given various areas,² others offer quite vague indications regarding the area of the *Gocarman*. Nīlakaṇṭha’s commentary on the *Mahābhārata* suggests that a piece of land large enough to be encompassed by straps of a single cow’s hide was called a *Gocarman*,³ while the *Parāśarasaṃhitā* and *Bṛhaspatisaṃhitā* appear to suggest that it was the area of land where one thousand cows could freely graze in the company of a hundred bulls.⁴ According to the *Viṣṇusaṃhitā*, the area of the land, sufficient to maintain a person for a whole year with its produce, was called *Gocarman*.⁵ Ballāla’s *Dānasāgara* quotes a stanza from Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha according to which a plot of land measuring 10 rods square, a rod being ten cubits long, is one *Gocarman* in area; or its area is 15 × 15 such rods. The passage indicating the second alternative is however explained by Ballāla differently and he says that a *Gocarman* may be 10 rods by 15 rods of the above length.⁶

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¹ Cf. *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVIII, p. 245.

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² Loc. cit.; see the texts cited in the notes. While explaining Bṛhaspati’s stanza quoted in the *Dānasāgara*, Ballāla says that the length and breadth of a *Gocarman* are 3000 and 300 cubits respectively (op., cit. pp. 323-324).

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³ Vaṅgavāsī ed., I. 30. 23 (*vadhri eka-tantukā carma-rajjuḥ...ekena gocarmaṇā kṛtayā rajjuā ākrānta-bhūr=gocarma-mātrā*).

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⁴ *Parāśarasaṃhitā*, Calcutta ed., XII. 43; *Bṛhaspatisaṃhitā*, Vaṅgavāsī ed., verse 9. The stanza is attributed to Vṛddha-Vasiṣṭha in Ballāla’s *Dānasāgara* (Bib. Ind. ed.), p. 322.

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⁵ Vaṅgavāsī ed., V. 179.

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⁶ See *Dānasāgara* (Bib. Ind. ed.), p. 322 : *Daśa-hastena vaṃśena daśa vaṃśān=samantataḥ | pañca v=āpy=adhikān=dadṣād=etad=gocarma uchyate | pañca v=āpy=adhikam=ity=ekasmin pārśve pañca-vaṃś-ādhikam vā*.

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Another land measure of the same type is the *Hala*, literally ‘a plough’.¹ It may have originally indicated an area of land that could be cultivated by a pair of bullocks during a year. Its area is now different in different parts of the country. In Rajasthan, it is regarded as equal to 50 *Bīghās*;² but ‘the plough’ (indicated variously in the regional languages) has different areas in other parts of the country.

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¹ Cf. *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXIII, p. 197, text lines 8-9. In the Śātavāhana inscriptions, *hala* is used, in expressions like *bhikṣu-hala*, in the sense of a free-holding. An inscription refers to the area as a plot of land that could be tilled by one plough in a single day.

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² *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXV, p. 64 and note 2.

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Even in areas where the ancient names of land measures are still current, we cannot escape similar uncertainty. In the age of the Guptas, the popular units of the measurement of area in Bengal are known to have been the *Kulyavāpa*, *Droṇa-vāpa* and *Āḍhavāpa*.³ These words are derived from *vāpa* (from the root *vap*, ‘to sow’) added to certain measures of capacity.

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³ See *Bhārata Kaumudī*, Part II, pp. 943 ff.

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According to the Paharpur plate of 479 A.D., 4 *Āḍhavāpas* made 1 *Droṇavāpa*, and 8 *Droṇavāpas* made 1 *Kulyavāpa*.⁴ Since the introduction of the unit of measurement called *Bīghā* (usually 80 × 80 square cubits, i.e. about ⅓ of an acre) in the medieval period, this land measure with its subdivisions has gradually ousted the older units and denominations from many parts of Bengal. But the *Kulavāy* (ancient *Kulyavāpa*), *Doṇ* (ancient *Droṇavāpa*) and *Āḍhā* (ancient *Āḍhavāpa*) are still locally known in the eastern regions of undivided Bengal and the adjoining western districts of Assam. It is however unfortunate that all the three denominations are not prevalent in the same locality, that the old relation of 1 *Kulyavāpa* = 8 *Droṇavāpas* = 32 *Āḍhavāpas* is totally forgotten, and that the *Doṇ* (*Droṇavāpa*) which is prevalent in various places is different in area in different localities.⁵ Apparently the area of all of them has changed in the course of time, especially owing to the difference introduced in different areas and ages in the length of the cubit and the measuring rod. Attention in this connection may be drawn to an early tradition regarding the practice of using a rod 4 cubits long for oridinary measurement but that of the length of 8 cubits for measuring Brahmadeya lands (i.e. rent-free lands granted to the Brāhmaṇas).¹

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⁴ *Select Inscriptions*, p. 347, note 5.

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⁵ The *Kulavāy* known from Sylhet is equal to 14 *Bīghās*, while the *Āḍhā* prevalent in several areas of the Mymensingh District is equal

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¹ Suc. Sāt. L. Dec., pp. 186 note, 330 note.

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The words Kulyavāpa, Droṇavāpa and Āḍhavāpa indicate the area of land that was required to sow seed grains of the weight respectively of one kulya, droṇa and āḍhaka.² Pargiter, who tried to determine the area of the Kulyavāpa as known from the Faridpur plates,³ pointed out that the staple food of Bengal is rice and the most important grain is paddy and that, according to the Raghuvamśa (IV. 36-37), the usual practice especially in lower Bengal was to transplant in the cultivated land the seedlings taken out from a small plot of land where the paddy seeds had been originally sown. This is the system followed in rice cultivation in many parts of Bengal even today. Pargiter therefore suggested that the Kulyavāpa inidicated that area of land which was required to transplant the seedlings of paddy seeds one kulya in weight. Unfortunately he did not know the actual weight of a kulya of grain. He had moreover to explain the passage ‘having measured with the rod of 8 and 9’ used in the Faridpur plates in connection with the measure-

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² Cf. Amarakosa, Vaiśyavarga, verse 10.

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³ Ind. Ant., Vol. XXXIX, pp. 195 ff.; Select Inscriptions, pp. 350 ff.

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to about 4½ Bighās. The Doṇ is more widely distributed. In the Chittagong District, the Doṇ is equal to about 21 Bighās; but, in the Noakhali District, it is equal to about 100 Bighās in Sandvip and to about 144 Bighās in the Shaistanagar Pargana. Hunter’s A Statistical Account of Bengal shows this difference in the measurement of the same unit as due to the fact that the length of the measuring rod and also of the cubit is different in different localities. Usually a measuring rod was 14 cubits and a cubit 18 inches long. In Sandvip, however, the length of the cubit was 20¾ inches while, in the Shaistanagar Pargana, the measuring rod was 22 cubits long. Nowadays, 1 cubit=18 inches and 1 nala (measuring rod)=16 cubits, as standardised by the Government, have ousted the earlier lengths noticed by Hunter, and 1 Doṇ is now taken, according to the Government standard, to be equal to 76 Bighās in the Noakhali District. In the Rangpur District, the Bighā is known by the name Doṇ. In certain areas of the Mymensigh District, the Doṇ is equal to about 17 Bighās, though elsewhere it is equal to about 51 Bighās.

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ment of a *Kulyavāpa*. He suggested that 1 *Kulyavāpa* of land was 9 rods in length and 8 rods in breadth, and further conjectured the length of a *nala* or measuring rod to have been 16 cubits and that of a cubit 19 inches. Accordingly, the area of a *Kulyavāpa* in Pargiter’s calculation was a little above one acre (3 1/16 *Bighās*). But the conclusion is not only based on several conjectures but also cannot be reconciled with the expression ‘having measured with the rods of 6’ used in connection with the measurement of a *Kulyavāpa* in the Paharpur plate, which would thus indicate an area of only 6×6 rods. It will be seen that a *Kulyavāpa* of 8×9 rods would be much larger than a *Kulyavāpa* of 6×6 rods, if the rods are regarded as of the same length.¹

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¹ Instead of *aṣṭaka-navaka-nalena* in the singular, we have sometimes *aṣṭaka-navaka-nalābhyām* in the dual and *ṣaṭka-naḍaiḥ* in the plural. See *Select Inscriptions*, pp. 281, 349. It is thus not impossible that the numbers refer to the length of the rods in cubits. Pargiter did not consider the price, viz. 4 gold *Dināras* = 64 silver *Rūpakas*, at which a *Kulyavāpa* of waste land was sold (cf. *Select Inscriptions*, p. 343 note). If 6 Indo-British Rupees of 1912 were equal to one Akbarī Rupee (cf. Moreland, *India at the Death of Akbar*, p. 52), the purchasing power of a Gupta *Rūpaka* was more than 12 Rupees of 1912. The price of one *Bighā* of good land in most parts of the Faridpur District was even much less than Rs. 64 in 1912.

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According to a persistent tradition followed by the Bengal authorities on *Smṛti*, such as Kullūka-bhaṭṭa (15th century), Raghunandana (16th century) and Pañcānana Tarkaratna, 8 *muṣṭis* or handfuls = 1 *kuñci*; 8 *kuñcis* or 64 handfuls = 1 *puṣkala*; 4 *puṣkalas* or 256 handfuls = 1 *ādhaka*; 4 *ādhakas* or 1024 handfuls = 1 *droṇa*. That this refers to the measuring of paddy is clear from the fact that the verse in question is quoted by Kullūka to explain the expression *dhānya-droṇa* in the *Manusmṛti*, VII. 126. According to Pañcānana Tarkaratna, who translated the *Manusaṃhitā* into Bengali, and the Bengali compilers of the *Śabdakalpadruma*, 1 *ādhaka* = 16 or 20 modern Bengal seers,² and 1 *droṇa* = 1 maund 14 seers, or 2 maunds. According to the lexicographer Medinīkara, 8 *droṇas* (8192 handfuls) = 1 *kulya*. A *kulya* of paddy seeds would thus be equal to 12 maunds 32 seers, or 16 maunds. These are the traditional weights of the *kulya*, *droṇa* and *āḍhaka* as recognized by the Bengali authors, especially writers on Smṛti who apparently relied on the authority handed down from old through a succession of teachers. The traditional weight can moreover be tested by a measurement of 8192 handful of paddy for a *kulya*. It should also be noticed that the scheme of 1 *kulya* = 8 *droṇa* = 32 *āḍhaka* perfectly tallies with the other scheme of 1 *Kulyavāpa* = 8 *Droṇavāpa* = 32 *Āḍhavāpas*. It therefore appears that one *Kulyavāpa* of land originally required seeds or seedlings of 12 maunds 32 seers, or 16 maunds, of paddy.

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² 1 seer = 2 pounds, and 40 seers = 1 maund.

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Both the systems of planting seedlings and of sowing seeds are prevalent in Bengal, the first in some parts and the second in others, though, in certain localities like the Faridpur District, both the practices are followed. It is said that one maund of paddy seeds is required for 3 *Bīghās* for sowing, while seedling of the same weight of paddy require 10 *Bīghās* for transplanting. Seedlings of one *kulya* (12 maunds 32 seers, or 16 maunds) of paddy would thus require 128 *Bīghās* or 160 *Bīghās* of land for plantation. A *Kulyavāpa* would therefore appear to have been originally equal to 128 to 160 *Bīghās*, a *Droṇavāpa* to 16 to 20 *Bīghās*, and an *Āḍhavāpa* to 4 to 5 *Bīghās*. If the original calculation was based on the system of sowing seeds and not of transplanting seedlings, the position would be : 1 *kulyavāpa* = 38 to 48 *Bīghās* ; 1 *Droṇavāpa* = 4½ to 6 *Bīghās*; 1 *Āḍhavāpa* = 1⅛ to 1½ *Bīghās*. The original meaning of the root *vap*, ‘to sow’, seems to support the second alternative.

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The *Droṇa* or *Droṇavāpa* was also known in certain regions outside Bengal and its neighbourhood. Thus the Pandukesvar plates¹ refer to its prevalence in the Kumaun-Garhwal area along with two other land measures called *Nālikavāpa* and *Khārīvāpa*. The word *nālikā* is however not recognized in the Sanskrit lexicons in the sense of a measure of capacity. But Childers’ *Pali Dictionary* seems to suggest that *nāli* or *nāḷi* (i.e. *nālikā*) was originally regarded as the same as *prastha* recognised in Sanskrit lexicons to be the one-sixteenth part of a *droṇa*. Thus the *Nālikāvāpa* appears to have been originally 1/16 of the *Droṇavāpa* and 1/4 of an *Ādhavāpa*. Since the *khārī* was usually regarded as equal to 16 *droṇas*, a *Khārīvāpa* of land appears originally to have been sixteen times a *Droṇavāpa*. Another *vāpa*-ending land measure is the *Khaṇḍukāvāpa* of the Penukonda plates of the Western Gaṅga king Mādhava, which record the grant of a plot of land measuring 65 *Kedāras* and 27 *Khaṇḍukāvāpas*.¹

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXI, p. 292.

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¹ Select Inscriptions, p. 457, note 7. For the land measures called *Khaṇḍuga*, *Śolaga* and *Kolaga* in medieval records of the Kannaḍa area, see *Ep. Carn.*, Vol. II, No. 335.

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Besides the *Kulyavāpa*, *Droṇavāpa* and *Ādhavāpa*, some other land measures are known from the post-Gupta inscriptions discovered in Bengal.² The Belwa plate³ of Vigrahapāla III (third quarter of the 11th century A.D.) speaks of a locality which was divided into two parts, one of which measuring 1 *Kulya* 2 *Droṇas* 3 1/4 *Ādhavāpas* and 3 1/2 *Udamānas* was left out, while the second part measuring 3 *Kulyas* 7 1/2 *Droṇas* and 11 *Udamānas* was made the subject of a grant. The land granted by the Amgachi plate⁴ of the same king seems to have measured 6 *Kulyas* 2 *Droṇas* 1 1/4 *Ādhavāpas* 2 *Udamānas* and 3 *Kākiṇīs*.

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² *IHQ*, Vol. XXVI, pp. 309 ff. Corrections have been suggested here in the reading and interpretation of some of the epigraphic passages referred to in the following lines.

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³ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXIX, pp. 9 ff.

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⁴ Ibid., Vol. XV, pp. 293 ff.

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It may be pointed out that, in ancient Bengal, sometimes *Droṇa* (*Droṇavāpa*) and *Ādhavāpa* were each regarded as the standard land-measure like the *Kulya* (*Kulyavāpa*) in the above record of Vigrahapāla III and in the other inscriptions referred to before. The Govindapur plate⁵ of Lakṣmaṇasena (1179-1206 A.D.) gives the measurement of the gift land as 60 *Droṇas* and 17 *Unmānas*. It will be seen that 60 *Droṇas* would make 7 *Kulyas* and 4 *Droṇas*, or 7 1/2 *Kulyas*. The Tarpandighi plate⁶ of the same king speaks of a piece of land measuring 120 *Ādhavāpas* and 5 *Unmānas*. Now 120 *Ādha*- vāpas were actually equal to 30 Droṇas (Droṇavāpas), or 3 Kulyas (Kulyavāpas) and 6 Droṇas (Droṇavāpas). It is interesting to note that even the Unmāna, which is mentioned in these records as a subdivision of the Āḍhavāpa, is referred to as the standard land measure in the Vaṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad plate of Viśvarūpasena. In line 59 of this record,² the word unmāna has been used as a synonym of udāna which is mentioned in numerous places. Apparently the same Unmāna = Udāna is mentioned in the Amgachhi and Belwa plates referred to above as Udamāna.

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⁵ N. G. Majumdar, *Inscriptions of Bengal*, Vol. III, p. 96.

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⁶ Ibid., p. 102.

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² Cf. ibid., p. 179, note 8.

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The relation of Udamāna-Unmāna-Udāna and of its subdivision, the Kākinī, with the Āḍhavāpa is difficult to determine. The word kākinī seems to be the same as Kānī which is a land-measure even now prevalent in many parts of Bengal, although the area indicated by the Kānī is not the same in different places. According to Hunter,³ a Kānī is a little above an acre in the Dacca and Mymensing Districts. It is regarded as 1/6 of a Doṇ (Droṇa) in the Mymensing District, while in the Faridpur District, 30 Kānīs are regarded as equal to a Pākhī (3622 square cubits) of land. This would make the Kānī about 120 square cubits. In Sandvip in the Noakhali District, 4 Kaḍās make 1 Gaṇḍā, 20 Gaṇḍās make 1 Kānī and 16 Kānīs make 1 Doṇ or Droṇa.⁴ This scheme would suggest that the ancient Kākinī (modern Kānī) was 1/16 of a Droṇa or Droṇavāpa. None of these indications is however supported by the inscriptions.

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³ A Statistical Account of Bengal, Vol. V, pp. 95, 448.

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⁴ See Select Inscriptions, p. 332.

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The Anulia plate⁵ speaks of the area of a plot of land as 1 Pāṭaka 9 Droṇas 1 Āḍhavāpa 37 Unmānas and 1 Kākinī. According to the Gunaighar plate,⁶ a Pāṭaka was equal to 40 Droṇavāpas (i.e. 5 Kulyavāpas). Thus here a land measure much bigger than the Kulyavāpa and Droṇavāpa is found in use.⁷

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¹ Ibid., pp. 143-48.

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⁵ Majumdar, op. cit., p. 87.

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⁶ Select Inscriptions, p. 332.

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⁷ The Saktipur plate (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXI, pp. 216 ff.) of Lakṣmaṇasena uses the word pāṭaka both in the sense of a land measure and in that of a part of a village.

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Another land-measure bigger than the *Kulyavāpa* and *Droṇavāpa* was the *Khārī* or *Khārikā* which is known from records like the Madhainagar plate of Lakṣmaṇasena.¹ This is no doubt the same as the *Khārikā* or *Khārīvāpa* of the *Amarakoṣa*.² As 16 *droṇas* are known to have made one *khārī*, the *Khārīvāpa* was apparently equal originally to 16 *Droṇas* or *Droṇavāpas*, i.e. to 2 *Kulyas* or *Kulyavāpas*. In some records the *Hala* is mentioned as a bigger unit than the *Droṇa* or *Droṇavāpa*; cf. a plot of land measuring 2 *Halas* and 6 *Droṇas* in the Dhulla plate³ of Śrīcandra.

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¹ Majumdar, *Inscriptions of Bengal*, Vol. III, p. 112.

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² Vaiśya-varga, verse 10. As indicated above, *Khārīvāpa* is mentioned in some records like the Pandukesvar plates.

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³ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXXIII, p. 137.

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The Anulia plate shows that an *Āḍhavāpa* was equal to more than 37 *Unmānas* (*Udamānas* or *Udānas*) and, since the *Kākini* was a sub-division of the *Unmāna*, a much higher number of the former would have been regarded as equal to an *Āḍhavāpa*. That the number of *Unmānas* in an *Āḍhavāpa* was even bigger than that suggested by the above inscription is actually known from the Naihati (Sitahati) plate⁴ of Ballālasena (1159-79 A.D.), which speaks of an area measuring 7 *Pāṭakas* 9 *Droṇas* 1 *Āḍhaka* (*Āḍhavāpa*) 40 *Unmānas* and 3 *Kākas*. Whether *Kāka* mentioned here is the same as *Kākini* of the other records or whether the former was a sub-division of the latter cannot be determined; but it is known from the above inscription that more than 40 *Unmānas* made one *Āḍhavāpa*.

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⁴ Majumdar, op. cit., p. 74.

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The Sundarban plate⁵ of Lakṣmaṇasena seems to give the measurement of the gift land as 3 *Droṇas* 1 *Āḍhavāpa* 23 *Unmānas* and 2½ *Kākinīs*. It appears from this epigraph that the area of the *Unmāna* was theoretically 32 × 32 cubits= 704 square cubits corresponding to about 1/8 of a *Bīghā*, although actually, in the present case, it was 2304 square cubits, as the cubit is said specially to have been 36 *aṅgulas* in length instead of the usual 24 *aṅgulas*. This is not quite irreconcilable with the details gathered from other inscriptions discussed above. Since, as we have seen above, the *Ādhavāpa* was originally equal to about 5 *Bīghās* and the *Unmāna* may have been about 1/9 of a *Bīghā*, it is possible to suggest that 45 *Unmānas* made one *Ādhavāpa*. But it is impossible to be sure on this point in the present state of our knowledge, especially because the records of Vigrahapāla III appear to suggest that the number of *Udamānas* in an *Ādhavāpa* was divisible by 4 and was therefore an even number like 44, 48, 52, 56 or 60.

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⁵ Ibid., p. 171. The inscription possibly also refers to the cubit (*hasta*) of 36 *aṅgulas* or 27 inches and to the measuring rod (*daṇḍa*=nala) of 32 cubits of the above length. Cf. Hunter's reference to the cubit of 20¾ inches as prevalent in Sandvip in the Noakhali District and of 34 inches in certain areas of the Faridpur District, and also the measuring rod of 56 cubits of 34 inches each prevalent in the Naldi Pargana of the Faridpur District.

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A passage in the unsatisfactorily preserved Bhowal or India Office plate of Lakṣmaṇasena¹ seems to give the area of the gift land as 1 *Droṇa* 1 *Ādha* 28 *Gaṇḍās* minus 1 *Kāka* and therefore to mention *Gaṇḍā*, instead of *Udamāna-Unmāna* = *Udāna* as a subdivision of *Ādha*, no doubt the same as *Adhaka* or *Ādhavāpa*. It may be suggested that *Kāka* is the same as *Kākinī* and *Gaṇḍā* is no other than *Udamāna* = *Unmāna* = *Udāna*. But it is also possible that both *Gaṇḍā* and *Kāka* were smaller than *Kākinī*. The second suggestion seems to be supported by the relation between the *Gaṇḍā* and *Kāṇī* (i.e. *Kākinī*) as known in many parts of Bengal at the present time. The word *kāka* is now used in Bengal to indicate a denomination which is 1/4 of a *kaḍā* (cowrie) and 1/16 of a *gaṇḍā*.

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¹ *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXVI, p. 9, text line 41.

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Among other land measures mentioned in early inscriptions, we may refer to the *Pādāvarta* found in certain records from Western India² and the *Timpira*, *Timpīra* or *Timpira* noticed in some epigraphs of the Orissa region.³ Nothing however is known about the exact area of the second of the two. Monier-Williams understood a *pādāvarta* as one square foot;

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² Cf. ibid., Vol. XXXI, p. 299 and note 2.

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³ Ibid., Vol. XXIX, pp. 39-40.

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but the areas mentioned in inscriptions suggest a bigger unit.¹ Fleet therefore thought that ‘100 Pādāvartas’ means ‘a plot of ground measuring a hundred feet each way’, i.e. 10000 square feet rather than 100 square feet.² In West Indian records of the early medieval period, we have often reference to fixation of the rent of a Viṁśopaka at 24 or 20 or 16 or 10 Drammas (coins probably of silver).³ Viṁśopaka here no doubt means a land measure which was one twentieth of the standard measure of land in the area in question. The amounts of rent fixed for various grades of land would suggest that the Viṁśopaka was a fairly large area of land. The Caulukya records sometimes mention a land measure called Pātha which is regarded as equal to 240 square cubits.⁴

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¹ Thus a vāpī or step-well is stated in a record to have covered an area of 32 Pādāvartas only (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXXI, p. 303, text lines 19-20).

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² CII, Vol. III, p. 170, note 4.

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³ Cf. A. K. Majumdar, The Chaulukyas of Gujarat, p. 244.

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⁴ Ray, DHNI, Vol. II, p. 1008 and note 3.

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The inscriptions of the Imperial Gaṅgas of Orissa mention the Vāṭi (Vāṭi or Vāṭikā), Māna (Māna) and Guṇṭha which are even now prevalent in that region.⁵ As at present times, 25 Guṇṭhas made one Māna, 20 of which made one Vāṭi also in the age of the Imperial Gaṅgas. A Māna is now regarded as equal to an acre, though its exact area in the medieval age cannot be determined.

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⁵ Ep. Ind., Vol. XXVIII, pp. 188-89, 192-93.

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In the records of the Kannada-speaking area, we have mention, besides Nivartana or Mattaru referred to above, of the Hāda (i.e. Sanskrit Pāda really meaning one-fourth of the standard land measure) and Kamma (also found as kamba, kambha, stambha, etc.).⁶ 4 Hādas were regarded as equal to 1 Mattaru (Nivartana) since an inscription of 1218 A.D. speaks of 2+2+1+1 (i.e. 6) Hādas as the same as 1 Mattaru and 2 Hādas.⁷ The same inscription suggests that 100 Kambas or Kammas made 1 Mattaru since it equates 2 Hādas + 35 Kambas + 1 *Hāda*+35 *Kambas*+35 *Kambas*+ 35 *Kambas* (i.e. 3 *Hādas* and 140 *Kambas*) with 2 *Mattarus* and 15 *Kambas*.

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⁶ Cf. Ep. Carn., Vol. VIII, Sb. 133; Ep. Ind., Vol. XIII, p. 21, text line 44.

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⁷ Ep. Carn., Vol. VIII, Sb. 135.

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In the Tamil inscriptions, mention is made, besides the *Nivartana* or *Paṭṭi* referred to above, of the *Pāḍagam* (Sanskrit *Pāṭaka*) which consisted of 240 *Kuḷis*. But the largest popular unit was the *Veli* which was equal to 6¼ *Pāḍagams* and was divided into smaller units like *Mā* (1/20 of a *Veli*), *Kāṇi* (1/80 of a *Veli*; cf. *Mukkāṇi*=3 *Kanis*, *Araikkāṇi*=½ of a *Kāṇi*, etc.), *Muntirigai* (1/320 of a *Veli*), etc.¹ A number of other land measures, found especially in medieval records, are mentioned in our *Glossary*.

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¹ Mahalingam, *South Indian Polity*, pp. 150-15, 156.

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