An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s29: 6.29 Weights and Measures
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s29
- Language
- English
6.29 Weights and Measures
v1.c11.s29.1
The earliest evidence of the existence of weights and measures, which indicate a mechanism of trade and commerce, goes back to Harappa times [4.9]. The objects, variously made of chert, semiprecious stones, copper and terracotta, include weights of various sizes in gradations, measures and accessories, such as scale pans, balances, weight rods, measuring pots and graded linear measurement scales. Weights are known from KALIBANGAN, LOTHAL, ROJDI, ROPAR and SURKOTADA, as also at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa etc. At BARGAON there is a specimen from the late Harappa [4.10] levels. They are cubical in shape, chipped to the required size and smoothly polished with neatly cut ends. At LOTHAL, taking smallest weight as the unit, they are in the simple ratio of 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, etc. Another set of weights from the same place consists of truncated spheroids having a regular ratio. [According to Hemmy, 1931, at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa 'the system is binary in smaller weights and then decimal, being in the ratios 1, 2, 1/3 × 8, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 160, 200, 320, 640, 1600.']
v1.c11.s29.2
A number of spherical, cylindrical or discoid balls, pecked and smoothed all over, have been found at Chalcolithic settlements of c. India and the n. Deccan, such as MAHESHWAR, NAVDATOLI, CHANDOLI and NEVASA. Of various sizes, they have been found to bear an approximate ratio of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and so on. They have a closer resemblance with the light Babylonian system than with the Harappa.
v1.c11.s29.3
A number of sites in the Ganga valley such as ALLAHAPUR, ATRANJIKHERA, CHIRAND, NOH, HASTINAPURA, PRAHLADPUR, ŚRĀVASTĪ, etc., have yielded objects called 'discs'. Prepared in terracotta, they are circular with flat, concave or convex sides, plain as well as decorated. Whether they represent any graded series of weights has not been determined.
v1.c11.s29.4
During the early historical period spherical objects identified as weights, made from copper, agate, chert, diorite, granite and jasper and terracotta, have been reported from Taxila, Charsada, BESNAGAR, ERAN, KAUNDINYAPURA, RANG MAHAL, SALIHUNDAM, VADNAGAR, etc. At Taxila many of them have small holes drilled into their surface, perhaps as the official marks of the weight standard. If the weight had to be reduced or increased, this groove was accordingly filled with lead. Some cavities with lead packings have also come to light. A regular binary sequence ratio could be recorded, viz. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. The average unit works out to 52 or 53 g, which is the standard weight of punch-marked coins [3.1]. Another parallel is recorded at KAUNDINYAPURA. One of the spheroid weights of jasper, belonging to the Maurya period, has a side rubbed off to serve as base. It weighs 46·48 g, and it has been thought that this reduction in weight is to make it conform to the old *tolā* standard of 180 grains (11·663 g). A lone weight in copper cut into facets is recorded from BESNAGAR. A jeweller's weight in bluish milky chalcedony with a rubbed base is known from MAHESHWAR; it weighs one *tolā*.
v1.c11.s29.5
A variety of terracotta weights has been identified in levels of c. 200 B.C to A.D. 200. At Charsada they consist of square-sectioned pyramids of different sizes. SALIHUNDAM has yielded prism-shaped weights.
v1.c11.s29.6
There is definite evidence that standard weights prevailed from the Kushan to the Gupta period. They are terracotta flat tablets, prepared in such a way that they cannot be taken to be anything but weights. They are of a uniform shape, smooth and flat, and significantly a few of them fit into certain standard weights of equal measure. Their smallness indicates that they might have been jewellers' weights. They were marked with lines or thick dashes dividing them into one, two, three, and four compartments. BHITA, NAGARJUNAKONDA, RANG MAHAL, SANGHOL, VADNAGAR, VAIŚĀLĪ, etc., have yielded them from the 2nd to the 6th century levels. At RANG MAHAL they are numerous in the size of 3 × 3 × 1·5 or 2·7 × 3 × 1·5 cm. They have markings of different types, such as in four compartments, with a number of dashes or lines on one or both sides. A special feature is that squares of the same markings are of roughly the same weight. At VADNAGAR they are plain and incised in rectangular and square shapes. Some have dots, three segments, horizontal lines intersected by two vertical lines producing a grid with three lines inside. The tablets from BHITA measure 1·6 × 3·2 × 2·4 cm and have square, rectangular or spherical shape. Similar ones also come from NAGARJUNAKONDA in the Ikṣvāku levels and from VAIŚĀLĪ in the Gupta ones. At SANGHOL they are recorded as surface finds. Such tablets with same incised markings were found to be of equal weights, possibly suggesting some sort of uniformity of weights in regions of w. and s. India and the Ganga valley.
v1.c11.s29.7
A toy balance of terracotta has been found in the Neolithic levels [4.6] of CHIRAND. A balance in the shape of a pan has been reported from SURKOTADA, a Harappa site. It is bowl-shaped and is made of terracotta, with two perforations for suspension. Taxila is another site which has yielded scale-pans of copper and iron datable to c. 300 B.C. to A.D. 500. They are saucer-shaped with two loop handles for suspension.
v1.c11.s29.8
A weighing rod of iron datable to the 8th century is known from SIRPUR. It is a long beam having a solid knob at one end. Similar weighing rods with measured markings are also depicted in sculptures of an earlier date at AMARAVATI, NAGARJUNAKONDA and the Gandhāra region.
v1.c11.s29.9
A Mauryan measuring pot of terracotta has been reported from Taxila. It is a small vessel with a single compartment and a small hole at the bottom. A similar one has three compartments.
v1.c11.s29.10
Scales [6.26] with graded linear measurements are reported from KALIBANGAN and LOTHAL. The Lothal specimen is made of ivory with an extant length of 12·8 cm, width of 15 mm and thickness of 6 mm, with 27 lines evenly marked up to 44 mm. The graduated scale at KALIBANGAN is made of terracotta, with six markings of vertical lines spaced in three rows, with one end broken. Other details are not available. [Wheeler, 1968, has shown that generally the Harappa foot seems to vary between 13·0 to 13·2 inch (33 to 33·6 cm), while the Harappa cubit ranges from 20·3 to 20·8 inch (51·43 to 52·7 cm). It is possible that the proportion between the foot and the cubit was 1:1·5?]
v1.c11.s29.11
A broken shell object from LOTHAL, cylindrical in shape and circular in section, later decorated with eight slits (only five intact) has been identified as a cross-staff. Other accessories at LOTHAL include plumb-bobs with and without hole, plummets with a groove, holders of plumb-line, and a round piece with two holes for adjustment of heights. Similar objects have also been reported from KALIBANGAN. [See 6.26.]
v1.c11.s29.12
Banerji-Shastri, A., 1928, in *Jour. Bihar & Orissa Res. Soc.*, 14, pp. 75-81 (for Patna cylinders). Dikshit, M.G., 1957, in *Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst.*, 18, pp. 5-7 (for pan scale); 1961, in *Ind. Hist. Quart.*, 31, pp. 189-91 (for Prakrit verses on weighing scales). Hemmy, A.S., 1931, in Marshall, J., ed., *Mohenjo-daro & the Indus Civilization*, London, 2, pp. 589-97. Margabandhu, C., 1976, in *Itihas*, 4, pp. 15-26 (for weights and measures in early historical period). Marshall, J., 1951, *Taxila*, Cambridge, 2, pp. 426, 508-9, 512, 542, 600-1. Reifler, E., 1970, in *Proc. XXVI International Congress of Orientalists*, 4, Poona, pp. 139-61 (for comparative study of the Indus, Sumero-Babylonian and Chinese measuring systems). Roy, A.K., 1972, in *Arch. Congress & Seminar Papers*, Nagpur, pp. 90-4 (for ancient methods of surveying). Wheeler, 1968, *Indus Civilization*, Cambridge, pp. 83-4, for Indus foot and cubit. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—C. MARGABANDHU