Indian Journal of History of Science, 43.4 (2008) 569-588 NEW INSIGHTS ON METROLOGY DURING THE MUGHAL PERIOD R BatasusraMAniaM* (Received 9 January 2008; revised 29 August 2008) The direct connection of the traditional aigulam (of a constant value of 1.763 cm) of the Indian subcontinent with the standard measure ‘of the Mughal period, the Mahi gaz, has been established utilizing the two different measures for the circumference of the earth mentioned in 4’in- i-Akbari. The precise relationship between the /ahi gaz and the traditional angulam and hasta measures of the Arthasasira has thus been revealed, The relationship of the traditional arigufanr with other Mughal length and area measures has also been detailed. The direct relationship of the popular Mughal area measure of Mahi bigha with the nivartanad area measure of the Arthasgasira further establishes the continuity of metrological tradition ‘of the Indian subcontinent, since the Arthasastra measures were in use throughout the subcontinent for a long period, from times much prior ta the Mughal period. The popular measures used in South India in pre modern times, just prior to adoption of British units, namely the adi, imilam and kal, have also been related to the traditional units mentioned in the Arthasastra. This study has confirmed the constancy of the basic unit of measurement of the Indian subcontinent, the engu/anr, up to pre- modern period in Indian history, This establishes the connection of the avigulam of the Harappan Civilization (-2000 BC) with length measures ‘of pre-modern India (~1900 AD). This implies an unbroken tradition in the use of the aiguianr of 1,783 em over a period of more than 3900 years in the Indian subcontinent. Key words: Aigulam, fahi gaz, Kaufilya Arthasastra, Mughal period, Linear measure, Popular measure. INTRODUCTION The Mughal period, beginning from 1526 AD to the establishment of h supremacy, is a significant period in Indian history. The history of * Department of Matcrials and Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208 016, India, ¢-mail: bal itk.ac.in570 INDIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE this period has been well documented, due to the availability of a large number of literary evidences. While the literary evidences can be quite revealing in the details that they have to offer, they do not present all minute details of science and technology of the period. A good example, in this regard, where confusion still exists, is the metrology of the Mughal period. Metrology is the study of science of measurement and includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurements. The present communication presents new insights on metrology of the Mughal period, based on deciphering the lengths of the measurement units used during the Mughal period. The basis of Mughal metrology is the /ahi gaz, the unit of measure that was standardized by Akbar (1556-1605AD). One of the interesting problems in Indian metrology, for almost over 180 years now, has been the raging debate over the exact length of the ahi gaz. The matter of determining the precise nature of the /lahi gaz was of great importance to the British Government during the 1820s. This was the time that all major local resistance was subdued and the British were in almost total control of India. The British had to establish the precise length of Mahi gaz in order to estimate land areas for fixing land revenue. This was a major source of income for all governments that ruled the Indian subcontinent through the ages. Detailed studies by British administrators of the 18" and early 19° centuries on measurement of local and official bighas (common area measure) all over northern India indicated that the Mahi bigha was universally used. The llahi bigha which is a area measure measured 60 Mlahi gaz by 60 Mlahi gaz. Habib! has critically analyzed the land measures of the Mughal period and he concludes that the area measure based on the “Bigha-i Iahi . . enjoyed a universality denied to any of its rivals.” Different methods were used in the past to determine the measure of lighi gaz and several publications have appeared on the subject, over the last 180 years. However, there is still no clarity as to the exact measure of ilahi gaz and different numbers are quoted'*. After a critical analysis of Mughal literature and select British studies, Habib has concluded that “the length lay somewhere between 32.00 and 32.25 inches.” He further cautions in the next sentence that “it is probably unsafe to attempt any greater precision, for that can be achieved only by preferring one source to another on rather arbitrary grounds.”! On the other hand, after an analysis of all British studiesNEW INSIGHTS ON METROLOGY DURING THE MUGHAL PERIOD 571 on the Jldhi gaz, Raju and Mainkar* concluded that “the most favored length is about 33.5 to 33.6 inches.” Therefore, the apparent discrepancy in the measure of ildhi gaz in these two recent reviews is obvious and this indicates the present state of confusion on this measure, which was the most popular measure of the subcontinent for a period of more than three hundred years (~1600 to ~1900 AD). It may be noted here that, for sake of administrative convenience and based on their estimates, the British Government declared in 1825-26 that it would consider the Mahi gaz as being equal to 33 British inches'. In this manner, one /lahi bighd@ was equal to 0.625 (i.e., 5/8) of an acre, a known British area measure. The lack of unanimity in the measure of the Nahi gaz is indeed surprising because there are strong evidences to prove that people of the Indian subcontinent were very precise when it came to length measures because of their importance in measurement of agricultural land and hence, collection of revenue. For example, an inscription from Brihadesvara Temple in Thanjavur mentions that land was measured to an accuracy of 1/5,248,800,000 of a veli (which is about 2.6780 hectares) during the rule of the Cola monarch Rajardjadeva I in early eleventh century AD*. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that the Mahi gaz must have been estimated precisely. The lack of archaeological evidence in the form of a measuring rod or scale of the period of Akbar is certainly a disadvantage. The first aim of the present communication will be to estimate the measure of ahi gaz and as a consequence, the other measures of the Mughal period. The area measurements of Mughal period will also be understood Further, the Nahi gaz will be related to measurement units that were popular in south India in pre-modern times. The present analysis is made possible due to new knowledge that the traditional unit of measure of the Indian subcontinent, the avigidam, was constant over a large period of Indian history’. Specifically, the avigudam of unit 1.763 cm derived from plans of Harappan Civilization (2500-1600 BC) settlement sites, without any apriori assumptions**, was used to describe precisely the dimensions of the first engineered caves at Barabar and Nagarjuni hills of the Mauryan period (late fourth to early second century BC)’ and the Delhi Iron Pillar of the Gupta period (320-600 AD)'.