| # | Polity | Weight Measurement System | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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Within the trans-Saharan trade networks which the Kingdom of Waalo was a part of, the mithqal was a pre-colonial measurement system that was used up until the nineteenth century. “The salt bar was to regional western African exchange what the gold mithqal was to international trade. But the mithqal was a considerably more stable measure across the markets of African and the Middle East, from Timbuktu to Kumasi, Marrakech, Tripoli and Cairo … It was the only precolonial western African measure, besides the ratl used for ostrich feathers, corresponding to an actual weight as opposed to a quantity. Silver was also weighted in mithqals.”
[1]
“This gave Waalo a place of commerce in Saint-Louis, namely that of millet. Cambonneau writes that from December 1675 to March 10, 1676, he occupied himself with the single aim to resupply the island after the departure of the Biert with ‘millet of which we had great need for the great number of captives which we traded everyday.’ The transport of millet was also ‘made on little boats. They carry a hundred matas of the big moule of millet, which is the measure of the country, which we use at the settlement to accommodate ourselves to them. This comes to seventy barrels or thereabouts.’”
[2]
[1]: (Lydon 2009, 250) Lydon, Ghislaine. 2009. On Trans-Saharan Trails: Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/BDKW7A68/collection [2]: (Barry 2012, 67-68) Barry, Boubacar. 2012. The Kingdom of Waalo: Senegal Before the Conquest. New York: Diasporic Africa Press. Seshat URL:https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9KV5MEKN/collection |
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Within the trans-Saharan trade networks which the Kingdom of Waalo was a part of, the mithqal was a pre-colonial measurement system that was used up until the nineteenth century. “The salt bar was to regional western African exchange what the gold mithqal was to international trade. But the mithqal was a considerably more stable measure across the markets of African and the Middle East, from Timbuktu to Kumasi, Marrakech, Tripoli and Cairo … It was the only precolonial western African measure, besides the ratl used for ostrich feathers, corresponding to an actual weight as opposed to a quantity. Silver was also weighted in mithqals.”
[1]
“This gave Waalo a place of commerce in Saint-Louis, namely that of millet. Cambonneau writes that from December 1675 to March 10, 1676, he occupied himself with the single aim to resupply the island after the departure of the Biert with ‘millet of which we had great need for the great number of captives which we traded everyday.’ The transport of millet was also ‘made on little boats. They carry a hundred matas of the big moule of millet, which is the measure of the country, which we use at the settlement to accommodate ourselves to them. This comes to seventy barrels or thereabouts.’”
[2]
[1]: (Lydon 2009, 250) Lydon, Ghislaine. 2009. On Trans-Saharan Trails: Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/BDKW7A68/collection [2]: (Barry 2012, 67-68) Barry, Boubacar. 2012. The Kingdom of Waalo: Senegal Before the Conquest. New York: Diasporic Africa Press. Seshat URL:https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9KV5MEKN/collection |
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In 1871 the metric system was adopted and in 1876 it became compulsory.
[1]
[1]: (Cardarelli 2003: 99) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34 |
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Old Mexican units of length included Tercia, Libbra, Onza etc. the metric system was adopted in 1857.
[1]
[1]: (Cardarelli 2003: 165) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/UWS9ZN34 |
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"These towns all maintained their own local sets of weights and measures. The Amsterdam grain last was the national, indeed the international volume measure for wholesale transactions in wheat and rye, but every city subdivided the last into its own sub-measures: the zak (sack), the mud, the schepel (akin to the bushel), etc. Similarly, every town maintained its own standard of weight. The Amsterdam pond was adopted by many places, especially around the Zuider Zee, but a lighter pond, apparently derived from the Cologne weight system, was also common. [...] Finally, cities varied in the specific types of bread they allowed in their jurisdictions. For all these reasons, the regulatory regime of each city was a little world of its own: its own types of bread, its own weights, its own grain measures. A necessary and often frustrating aspect of this study, has been reducing all these differences to the metric system, which was not fully adopted by the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1821."
[1]
[1]: (De Vries 2019:85) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/P9E78WVF/collection. |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties."
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties."
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties."
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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The Geledi speak nostalgically of the days when reserves of durra were measured in terms of diyehiin (rectangular pits that held up to 100 quintals or 10,000 kilograms of grain than in terms of gut (smaller conical pits).” .”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 166) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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“Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.”
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.”
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol. 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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Old Austrian weight units were “derived from Prussian and German systems.” These included pfund, unze, and gran.
[1]
[1]: (Cardarelli 2003: 99) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34 |
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Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties.
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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“As is clear from Bello’s instructions, the leaders of the Caliphate tried to encourage trade as well as production. Detailed commercial regulations were issued, including the introduction of standard weights and measures to be used in the sale of grain, fruit and meat.”
[1]
[1]: Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 102-103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection |
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“Many epigraphs of the Pandya period refer to charitable activities of the kings. One such activity was when the kings weighed themselves in gold and gave that much in gold donation.”
[1]
[1]: (Kamlesh 2010, 600) Kamlesh, Kapur. 2010. ‘Pandya Dynasty’ In Portraits of a Nation: History of Ancient India. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/3TS5DCT6/collection |
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“Kanam was a measure of gold (coin?), very small in size. Pons referred to perhaps the same measure as kanam. Kasu was a kind of coin of the size of a margosa fruit and the shape of a lotus bud. In later age kasu generally meant a small copper coin. Silver was called velli and rarely ven pon. Iron was also known as pon.
[1]
[1]: (Agnihotri 1988, 355) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection |
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The following quote refers to weight systems from the 16th- 18th centuries CE in southern India, and specifically mentions “the Thanjavur veli”. “Also, measurements were largely matters of local custom. Not only did they vary across regions (for example, the Chingleput veli was six times larger than the Thanjavur veli) but, in the same place, the same standard of measurement could be applied differently to different commodities and even people.”
[1]
[1]: (Washbrook 2010, 272) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection |
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The following quote discusses weight measurements during the Sangam period in Tamil Nadu. “Kanam was a measure of gold (coin?), very small in size. Pons referred to perhaps the same measure as kanam.”
[1]
[1]: (Agnihotri 1988, 355) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection |
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The following quote refers to weight systems from the 16th- 18th centuries CE in southern India. “Also, measurements were largely matters of local custom. Not only did they vary across regions (for example, the Chingleput veli was six times larger than the Thanjavur veli) but, in the same place, the same standard of measurement could be applied differently to different commodities and even people.”
[1]
[1]: (Washbrook 2010, 272) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection |
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The following are weight systems from the 17th Century during the period of the Nayaks of Madurai. “1 kandi – 500 pounds (ponden); 1 bahar – 480 pounds (ponden); 1 boi – ca. 220 pounds (ponden); 1 heavy quintal – 117.4 pounds (ponden); 1 light quintal – 102.8 pounds (ponden); 1 man – 24 pounds (ponden); 1 tolam – 100 palam or 16.5 pounds (ponden); 1 palam – 1/100 tolam or 0.17pound (pond); 1 (Amsterdam) pound (pond) – 0.494 kilograms or 494 grams.”
[1]
[1]: (Vink 2015, 634) Vink, Markus. 2015. Encounters on the Opposite Coast: The Dutch East India Company and the Nayaka State of Madurai in the Seventeenth Century. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/9U7MCK4E/collection |
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The following suggests the existence of a standardised weighing system among the Mande at this time, especially as they would have likely traded both with the Akan of Ghana and Arabs from North Africa. "For weighing gold-dust, the standard based on the Roman ounce and the solidus was retained by the Arabs, and survived until the nineteenth century in the Western Sudan. It was also adopted by the Akan of Ghana and Ivory Coast, who made it the basis of their weight-system from about 1400 to 1900."
[1]
[1]: (Garrard 1982: 461) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/IVG2H488/collection. |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Kingdom of Jimma. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties."
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Kingdom of Gomma. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Harla Kingdom. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Hadiya Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, because Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the Ethiopian Empire, it is likely that weight measurements such as this would have existed in Medri Bahri as well. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Funj Sultanate. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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Within the trans-Saharan trade networks the mithqal was a pre-colonial measurement system that was used up until the nineteenth century. “The salt bar was to regional western African exchange what the gold mithqal was to international trade. But the mithqal was a considerably more stable measure across the markets of African and the Middle East, from Timbuktu to Kumasi, Marrakech, Tripoli and Cairo […] It was the only precolonial western African measure, besides the ratl used for ostrich feathers, corresponding to an actual weight as opposed to a quantity. Silver was also weighted in mithqals.”
[1]
[1]: (Lydon 2009, 250) Lydon, Ghislaine. 2009. On Trans-Saharan Trails: Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/BDKW7A68/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Kingdom of Kaffa. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Kingdom of Gumma. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Emirate of Harar. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, suggesting that the weight measurements were likely present in the Sultanate of Aussa. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.”
[1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection |
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"Islam was unifying element in much of the Indian Ocean, especially on both sides—the east African coast and the Malay world. The east African societies relied on Islam to help create their world since their identity derived not only from commercial links with co-religionists but on specific modes of social and commercial behavior. The Muslim religion gave prescriptions as to everyday conduct. The Koran had specific admonitions on fair practice in the market place. The Koranic injunction to have balance scales led to the appearance of a market inspector called the muhtash whose specific job was to oversee local transactions and check weights and measures among other duties."
[1]
[1]: (Rothman 2002: 80) Rothman, Norman C. 2002. “Indian Ocean Trading Links: The Swahili Experience,” Comparative Civilizations Review. Vol 46:6. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Rothman/titleCreatorYear/items/3WJ42ET7/item-list |
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Within the trans-Saharan trade networks which the Kingdom of Cayor was a part of, the mithqal was a pre-colonial measurement system that was used up until the nineteenth century. “The salt bar was to regional western African exchange what the gold mithqal was to international trade. But the mithqal was a considerably more stable measure across the markets of African and the Middle East, from Timbuktu to Kumasi, Marrakech, Tripoli and Cairo […] It was the only precolonial western African measure, besides the ratl used for ostrich feathers, corresponding to an actual weight as opposed to a quantity. Silver was also weighted in mithqals.”
[1]
[1]: (Lydon 2009, 250) Lydon, Ghislaine. 2009. On Trans-Saharan Trails: Islamic Law, Trade Networks, and Cross-Cultural Exchange in Nineteenth-Century Western Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/BDKW7A68/collection |
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The following quote suggests that weight systems likely existed in the Imamate of Futa Toro. “During the Islamic era trade the weight system we hear most evidence of in West Africa is the mithqal, based on the standard operating widely throughout the majority of the Islamic world. We are provided with details of the value of the mithqal against the dirham in North Africa (c. 25 dirhams to the mithqal), and likewise of rates for the mithqal against copper in West Africa (100 mithqals of copper for 66 2/3 mithqals of gold).”
[1]
[1]: (Nixon 2017, 174-175) Nixon, Sam. 2017. ‘Trans-Saharan Gold Trade in Pre-Modern Times’. In Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Edited by V. Leitch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CJ6VZSEM/collection |
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The following quote suggests that weight systems likely existed in the Futa Toro region of the Empire of the Great Fulo. “During the Islamic era trade the weight system we hear most evidence of in West Africa is the mithqal, based on the standard operating widely throughout the majority of the Islamic world. We are provided with details of the value of the mithqal against the dirham in North Africa (c. 25 dirhams to the mithqal), and likewise of rates for the mithqal against copper in West Africa (100 mithqals of copper for 66 2/3 mithqals of gold).”
[1]
[1]: (Nixon 2017, 174-175) Nixon, Sam. 2017. ‘Trans-Saharan Gold Trade in Pre-Modern Times’. In Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Edited by V. Leitch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CJ6VZSEM/collection |
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The following quote refers to weight systems from the 16th- 18th centuries CE in southern India. “Also, measurements were largely matters of local custom. Not only did they vary across regions (for example, the Chingleput veli was six times larger than the Thanjavur veli) but, in the same place, the same standard of measurement could be applied differently to different commodities and even people.”
[1]
[1]: (Washbrook 2010, 272) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection |
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The quote below discusses general systems of measurement in ancient India suggesting that weight measurements were likely present under the Pallava Empire. “The basic weight of ancient India was the raktika, the bright red seed of the gunja (abrus precatorius), which was conventionally reckoned at about 1.83 grains (.118 grams). Many sources give series of weights rising from this, which are not wholly consistent, and show that standards varied very widely with time and place.
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[1]: (Kumar 2003, 329) Kumar, Raj. 2003. Essays on Ancient India. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House Pvt. Limited. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/BME9K992/collection |
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The quote below discusses general systems of measurement in ancient India suggesting that weight measurements were likely present under the Kalabhra. “The basic weight of ancient India was the raktika, the bright red seed of the gunja (abrus precatorius), which was conventionally reckoned at about 1.83 grains (.118 grams). Many sources give series of weights rising from this, which are not wholly consistent, and show that standards varied very widely with time and place.
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[1]: (Kumar 2003, 329) Kumar, Raj. 2003. Essays on Ancient India. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House Pvt. Limited. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/BME9K992/collection |
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Standard weights were prescribed by King Offa of Mercia and were used for centuries.
[1]
Scales and weights have been found in a small number of graves in the south-east of England, which were used for assessing bullion and coins.
[2]
[1]: (Donnachie 2015) Donnachie, Ian. 2015. ‘Weights and Measures’, in The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199677832.001.0001/acref-9780199677832-e-4444. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6JQDSKYN [2]: (Hamerow 2005: 285) Hamerow, Helena. 2005. “The Earliest Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.” Chapter. In The New Cambridge Medieval History, edited by Paul Fouracre, 1:263–88. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521362917.012. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5JNINHPQ |
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By 1300 a standard weight was being was for coins.
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[1]: (Agnew 2004: 21) Agnew, Hugh LeCaine. 2004. The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. California: Hoover Institution Press. http://archive.org/details/czechslandsofboh0000agne. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6LBQ5ARI |
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“About AD 1300, London merchants adopted a system of weights known as ‘avoirdupois’ from the Old French aver de peis (goods of weight).”
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England had a complex system of weights for different items such as wool (Load, sack, wey) and straw (Load, truss, pound).
[2]
[1]: (Cardarelli 2003: 34) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34 [2]: (Cardarelli 2003: 49) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34 |
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Standard weights were prescribed by King Offa of Mercia and were used for centuries thereafter.
[1]
Scales and weights have been found in a small number of graves in the south-east of England, which were used for assessing bullion and coins.
[2]
[1]: (Donnachie 2015) Donnachie, Ian. 2015. ‘Weights and Measures’, in The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199677832.001.0001/acref-9780199677832-e-4444. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/6JQDSKYN [2]: (Hamerow 2005: 285) Hamerow, Helena. 2005. “The Earliest Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.” Chapter. In The New Cambridge Medieval History, edited by Paul Fouracre, 1:263–88. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521362917.012. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5JNINHPQ |
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The phrase "standard measurements of beads", in the following quotes, implies the possible existence of a measurement system, at least one used to measure beads in terms of quantity and/or quality. "We are short of evidence on whether glass beads evolved to serve as a standard currency, especially as a means of pricing. However, strings and other standard measurements of beads were likely used for purchasing high-value products and services."
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[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 107-108) |
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The sources consulted have not confirmed the system used, however it is likely they had one given their extensive infrastructures, and that they probably used a Persian system.
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Measurement systems have not been mentioned in the sources consulted.
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One pood was equivalent to approximately 16.38 kilograms or 36.11 pounds. It was a standard measure for a range of goods, from agricultural produce to industrial materials.
Additionally, smaller units like the "funt" (equivalent to roughly one pound) were also in use. [1] [1]: Очерки Истории Русской Метрологии. XI - Начало XX Века - Шостьин Н.А., n.d., Zotero link: K39G27B6 |
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There was not one centralised measurement system in the HRE, rather each country had their own standards. For example, Germany and Austria used Stein/Pfund, while in Italy they used rubbo/libbra.
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[1]: Cardarelli 2003: 87-88, 100-103. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34. |
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During this period the Austrian measurement systems were derived from Prussian and German systems. Pfund (pound), Stein (stone), Zentner (quintal) etc.
[1]
[1]: (Cardarelli 2003: 102) Cardarelli, François. 2003. Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights, and Measures: Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London; New York: Springer. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/UWS9ZN34 |
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