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The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s6: VI. Measures of Land

The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s6

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VI. Measures of Land

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We have no knowledge regarding the measures of land as used in Bengal earlier than the 5th century A.D. The land-grants of the Gupta period usually mention two technical terms, viz. *kulyavāpa* and *droṇavāpa* in connection with land measurement; but in the absence of adequate data, their equivalents in modern measures cannot be determined.⁶ A *kulyavāpa* is usually taken to mean an area of land which could be sown with a *kulya* measure of seed;

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⁶ For a full discussion of this point cf. *Bhāratavarsha*, 1349-1350 B.S. Part I pp. 263 ff., 384.

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while a *droṇavāpa*, according to various ancient lexicons, was equivalent to one-eighth of a *kulyavāpa* in area. This equation of 1:8 between a *kulyavāpa* and *droṇavāpa* is confirmed by the Pāhārpur Plate, according to which four plots of land measuring respectively 4, 4, 2½ and 1½ (=12) *droṇavāpas* corresponded to an area measuring 1½ *kulyavāpas*.

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The actual work of measurement during the Gupta period was done by means of *nalas* (reeds). In some of the Gupta copper-plates, however, the term *nala* is qualified by the figures 8 and 9 (*aṣṭaka-navaka-nalena* or *aṣṭaka-navaka-nalābhyām*. Kotālipāḍā-Plates and Baigrām Plate). Mr. F. E. Pargiter has taken the view that these figures relate to the number of reeds used in measuring the breadth and length respectively of a *kulyavāpa*, and on the basis of this supposition has calculated the area of a *kulyavāpa* as “a little larger than an acre.”¹ But two considerations seem to militate against this hypothesis: The Pāhārpur Plate, instead of giving two different figures (8 and 9), mentions only one figure, *viz.* 6 (*ṣaṭka-naḍair-apaviñchchhya*). This can only mean that in measuring the land alienated by this particular deed a *nala* measuring six cubits was used. Secondly, in some of the inscriptions where the figures 8 and 9 are given, we get the additional information that the *nala* used was measured by the hand of a particular individual (*e.g.* *Darvvīkarma-hastena*, Baigrām Plate; *Śivachandra-hastena*, Kotālipāḍā Plates). These facts seem to lead to two conclusions—first, that the figures 6, 8 and 9 “stood for the corresponding numbers of cubits representing the measurements” of the *nalas*; and second, that *nalas* of different measurements in cubits were used in different regions of the province. The simultaneous mention of the two figures 8 and 9 in the Faridpur and Baigrām Plates is not easy to explain. It is probable, however, that two different *nalas* were employed, one for measuring the length and the other for measuring the width, of the area disposed of.² Mr. Pargiter’s view about the area of a *kulyavāpa* cannot, therefore, be accepted.³

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¹ IA. 1910, pp. 214-16. Dr. R. G. Basak also interprets the expression *aṣṭaka-navaka* in the same way as Pargiter (Cf. AJV. II. 494).

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² IC. VI. 176.

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³ *Kulyavāpa* seems to be equivalent to several acres. According to some, *kulyavāpa* still survives in the modified form *kulyavāya* in Cachar district, and as the latter is equivalent to 14 *bighās*, the same must also be the area of the former (*Bhāratavarsha*, 1349. Part I, p. 384). But this is hardly convincing.

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As time passed, the word *kulyavāpa* fell out of use, and other technical terms of land-measure gradually came into vogue. Of these the one denoting the largest unit of measure was the term pāṭaka or bhū-pāṭaka, which is frequently mentioned in the inscriptions of the Khaḍga, Chandra, Varman and Sena kings. Its earliest mention, however, occurs in the Gunaighar Grant of Vainyagupta (dated 507 A.D.). The same plate also contains conclusive evidence to prove that a pāṭaka was equivalent to forty droṇas or droṇavāpas in area. Assuming that a droṇa of the early sixth century (Gunaighar Plate) was the same as the droṇa of the fifth (Baigrām and Pāhārpur Plates), one must conclude that the pāṭaka was five times as big as the kulyavāpa. Besides pāṭaka and droṇa, other terms used in post-Gupta records to indicate measurement of land, are āḍhaka or āḍhavāpa, unmāna or udāna, kāka or kākinika, all these being inter-linked by an unknown equation.¹

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¹ The only information we get in contemporary inscriptions is that 12 angulas (digits) were equivalent to 1 cubit, and 32 cubits were equivalent to 1 unmāna (Sundarban Plate of Lakshmaṇasena). The relationship of unmāna with āḍhaka is not clear, but most ancient texts agree that 4 āḍhakas or āḍhavāpas were equivalent to 1 droṇa [Cf. L. D. Barnett, Antiquities of India, p. 208; Kautilya's Arthaśāstra, tr. by R. Shamasastri (1923), p. 126], and this is supported by the Pāhārpur Plate, where 2½ droṇavāpas (l. 9) are again referred to as 2 droṇavāpas and 2 āḍhavāpas (l. 15).

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As in the earlier Gupta, so in the later Sena period, the actual work of measurement was done by means of nalas or reeds, varying in length from region to region. The land-grants of Sena kings reveal that there were at least four varieties of nalas in use within their kingdom. These were the Samaṭaṭīya-nala, which was used as a standard of land-measure not merely in Samaṭaṭa but also in the Khāḍī-vishaya of the Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti (Barrackpur Plate of Vijayasena); the vṛishabha-śaṅkara-nala, probably introduced by king Vijayasena (vṛishabha-śaṅkara being one of his appellations), and employed to measure land in Uttara-Rāḍhā of the Vardhamāna-bhukti (Naihāṭi Plate of Vallālasena) and Vyāghraṭaṭī situated within Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti (Ānuliā Plate of Lakshmaṇasena); the nala current in Varendrī (tatratya-deśa-vyavahāra-nalena, Tarpandighi Plate of Lakshmaṇasena); and lastly the nala of 56 cubits said to have been in vogue at Vetaḍḍa-chaturaka in Paśchima-khāṭikā belonging to the Vardhamāna-bhukti (Govindapur Plate of Lakshmaṇasena).²

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² The Bhowal cp. of Lakshmaṇasena seems to refer to the use of a nala measuring 22 hastas (cubits) in the north-eastern parts of Dacca district (El. xxvi. 13).

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Besides the above, a few other technical names of land-measure are available from later land records such as bhū-khāḍī, khāḍikā.³ hala, droṇa,¹ bhū-hala, kedāra or bhū-kedāra.² Neither the equation between bhū-khāḍī and khāḍikā, nor that between hala and droṇa is, however, known. But in some districts of Eastern Bengal (e.g. Sylhet) hala and kedāra are still used as units of land-measure, and the relation between the two is 12 kedāras=1 hala. In all probability a hala originally meant the extent of land that could be turned with a plough. According to Buchanan, “the usual extent which can be cultivated by one plough is 10 large bighās, or 15 Calcutta bighās, or 5 acres.”³ In the district of Sylhet, however, a hala or hāla corresponds to about 10½ bighās, or about 3½ acres.⁴

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³ Cf. Mādhāinagar Plate of Lakshmaṇasena (IB. 112).

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¹ Cf. Dhullā Plate of Śrīchandra (IB. 166).

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² Cf. Bhāṭerā Plate of Govindakeśava (EI. XIX. 285). The word vāṭī in this inscription, taken to mean ‘house,’ probably also denotes a measure of land.

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³ Buchanan, Dinājpur (1832), p. 234.

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⁴ EI. XIX. 279.

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Here we may notice a significant fact about some of the units of land-measure mentioned above. As already suggested, the term hala or hāla originally meant an area of land which could be cultivated by one plough. It has also been suggested that the term kulyavāpa originally signified an extent of land which could be sown with seeds contained in a kulya (winnowing basket). Other terms such as droṇavāpa (or its shorter form, droṇa) and āḍhavāpa (or āḍhaka) may be etymologically explained along similar lines. These terms of land-measure, therefore, seem to originate from the practical methods used in cultivation, and bear witness to the important fact that the rural economy of ancient Bengal was essentially agricultural, not pastoral.

Cites (2)