The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c11.25

c11.25

To determine the exact value of these measures we must have recourse to the unit from which they were raised. This is the *angula*, or ‘finger,’ which in India is somewhat under three-quarters of an inch. By my measurement of 42 copper coins of Sikandar Ludi, which we know to have been adjusted to fingers’ breadths, the *angula* is ·72976 of an inch. Mr. Thomas makes it slightly less, or ·72289. The mean of our measurements is ·72632 of an inch, which may be adopted as the real value of the Indian finger, or *angula*, as I found the actual measure of many native fingers to be invariably under three-quarters of an inch. According to this value the *hasta*, or cubit, of 24 *angulas* would be equal to 17·43168 inches, and the *dhanu*, or “bow,” of 96 *angulas* would be 5·81 feet. But as 100 *dhanus* make one *nalwa*, and 100 *nalwas* make one *kroṣa* or *kos*, it seems probable that the *dhanu* must have contained 100 *angulas* to preserve the centenary scale.* According to this view the *hasta*, or cubit, would have contained 25 fingers instead of 24, and its value would have been 18·158 inches, which is still below the value of many of the existing *hastas*, or cubits of the Indian Bâzârs. Adopting this value of the *hasta*, the higher measures would be:—