Maund

A one maund weighing stone of the Madras Presidency

The vast extent of the Bengal Presidency (shown here in 1858) facilitated the adoption of the standard of 100 Troy pounds for the maund throughout British India.

The maund /ˈmɔːnd/ is the anglicized name for a traditional unit of mass used in British India, and also in Afghanistan, Persia and Arabia: the same unit in the Moghul Empire was sometimes written as mun in English, while the equivalent unit in the Ottoman Empire and Central Asia was called the batman. At different times, and in different South Asian localities, the mass of the maund has varied, from as low as 25 pounds (11 kg) to as high as 160 pounds (72½ kg): even greater variation is seen in Persia and Arabia.

In British India, the maund was first standardized in the Bengal Presidency in 1833, where it was set equal to 100 Troy pounds (82.28 lbs. av.). This standard spread throughout the British Raj. After the independence of India and Pakistan, the definition formed the basis for metrication, one maund becoming exactly 37.3242 kilograms. A similar metric definition is used in Nepal.

The Old English, 'maund' may also be the origin of Maundy Thursday. As a verb, 'maund' to beg; as a noun, 'a maund'a small basket held out for alms.

Origins

Anglicized as "maund", the man as a unit of weight is thought to be of at least Chaldean origin, with Sir Henry Yule attributing Akkadian origins to the word. The Hebrew maneh (מנה) and the Ancient Greek mina (μνᾶ) are thought to be cognate. It was originally equal to one-ninth of the weight of an artaba of water, or approximately four to seven kilograms in modern units.

The modification of the vowel in the anglicized name is thought to be an indication that the word came into English via Portuguese. The Portuguese version was mão (pronounced: [ˈmɐ̃w̃], as in the word for "hand"), a regular [aːn] → [ɐ̃w̃] development in Portuguese.

South Asia

British Indian units of mass
Mughal Empire 1 maund = 40 seers 1 seer = 30 dams 1 dam = 5 tanks 1 tank = 3 mashas 1 masha = 8 ruttees
Bengal Presidency 1 maund = 8 passerees 1 passeree = 5 seers 1 seer = 16 chitaks 1 chitak = 5 tolas 1 tola = 12 mashas 1 masha = 8 rattis 1 ratti = 4 dhans Regulation VII 1833 fixed the mass of one tola as 180 troy grains (11.663 8038 grams)
Bombay Presidency 1 candy = 20 maunds 1 maund = 40 seers 1 seer = 72 tanks The maund was fixed at 28 pounds avoirdupois (¼ hundredweight) (12.700 586 36 kilograms)
Madras Presidency 1 candy = 20 maunds 1 maund = 8 vis 1 vis = 5 seers 1 seer = 8 pollums 1 pollum = 10 pagodas The maund was fixed at 25 pounds avoirdupois (11.339 809 25 kilograms)

Mughal Empire

Prinsep (1840) summarizes the evidence as to the weight of the mun (later "maund") during the reign (1556–1605) of Akbar the Great, which comes from the Ain-i-Akbari written by the vizier Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (anglicized as "Abul Fuzl"). The principal definition is that the mun is forty seers; and that each seer is thirty dams.

1 mun = 40 seers = 1200 dams

The problem arises in assigning the values of the smaller units.

The section of the Ain-i-Akbari that defines the mun also defines the dam as five tanks. A separate section defines the tank as twenty-four ruttees. However, by the 19th century, the tank was no longer a uniform unit across the former Mughal territories: Prinsep quotes values of 50 grains (3.24 g) in Darwar, 72 grains (4.67 g) in Bombay and 268 grains (17.37 g) in Ahmednugur.

The jilály, a square silver rupee coin issued by Akbar, was said by the Ain-i-Akbari to be 11¼ mashas in weight: surviving jilály and other Mughal rupee coins weigh 170–175 Troy grains (11.02–11.34 g), so the masha, defined as eight ruttees, would be about 15½ grains (1 g). Masha weights sent back to London in 1819 agree with this value. This basis gives a mun of 34¾ lb. av. (15¾ kg). One Koni was 4 muns.

However, in yet another section of the Ain-i-Akbari, the dam is said to be "twenty mashas seven ruttees": using this definition would imply an Imperial mass of about 47 lb. av. (21⅓ kg) for the mun. Between these two values, the maund in Central India was often found to be around 40 lb. av. (18 kg) in the East India Company survey of 1821.

A Maund was 55.5 British pounds under Akbar.

Nineteenth century

British India is shown in pink on this 1837 map. The Madras Presidency is in the southeast, the Bombay Presidency is in the west and the Bengal Presidency is in the northeast.

The maund of India may as a genus be divided into four different species:

1. That of Bengal, containing 40 seers, and averaging about 80 lbs. avoir.
2. That of Central India (Malwa, Ajmeer, &c.) generally equal to 40 lbs. avoir. and containing 20 seers (so that the seer of this large portion of the continent assimilates to that of Bengal.)
3. The maund of Guzerat and Bombay, equal to ¼ cwt. or 28 pounds and divided into 40 seers of smaller grade.
4. The maund of Southern India, fixed by the Madras government at 25 lbs. avoir.

There are, however many other varieties of maund, from 15 to 64 seers in weight; which it is unnecessary to particularize.

— Prinsep (1840), p. 77

Prinsep's values for the maund come from a survey organized by the East India Company in 1821. The Company's agents were asked to send back examples of the standard weights and measures used in the places they were stationed, and these were compared with the English standards in London by Patrick Kelly, the leading British metrologist of the time. The results were published as an appendix to the second edition of Kelly's Universal Cambist (1831), and later as a separate book entitled Oriental Metrology (1832).

It will be seen from Kelly's results below that Prinsep's generalizations are only partially correct. The Gujarat maund is more closely related to the Central Indian maund than to the standardized Bombay maund, except in the town of Anjar, except that it is divided into 40 seers instead of 20 as was found in Malwa.

Central India and Gujarat

Ahmadābād

Baroda

Broach

Calicut

Indore

Kota

Masulipatam

Mundissor

Oujein

Surat

Tellicherry

Vizagapatam

The towns where the maund was found to be approximately 40 lb. av. (18 kg) in the 1821 East India Company survey, superimposed onto a map of modern India.

Chanadore

Dewas

Dindoor

Jamkhair

The towns where the maund was found to be more than 130 lb. av. (59 kg) in the 1821 East India Company survey, superimposed onto a map of modern India.

Place	Sub- division	Imperial			Metric kg
		lb.	oz.	dr.
Ahmadābād, in Gujarat	40 seers	42	4	13	19.817
Amod, in Broach	40 seers	40	8	12
Anjar, in Cutch	40 seers	27	3	8
Bairseah, in Malwa	40 seers	77	1	12
Bārdoli, in Surat	39¾ seers, 2 pice	37	4	4¾
Broach, in Gujarat	40 seers	40	8	12
Baroda, in Gujarat	42 seers	44	9	10
Cambay, in Gujarat	40 seers	37	8	0
Chanadore, Central Provinces	64 seers	149	12	0
Dewas, in Malwa	64 seers	137	8	2
Doongurpoor, in Rajputana	40 seers	50	1	14
Hānsot, in Broach	40 seers, "market"	38	9	9
	42 seers, for oil	40	8	6
	40 pergunna seers	39	3	10
Indore, in Malwa	20 seers, for grain	40	8	6
	40 seers, for opium	81	0	12
Jambusar, in Broach	40 seers, "market"	40	6	4
	42 seers, for cotton	42	6	9
Kota, in Rajputana	40 seers	30	0	0
Kumbharia, in Surat	40 seers 8 pice	37	13	10
Kurod, in Surat	40 seers 15 pice	37	15	8½
Malwa	20 seers	40	7	8
Mundissor, in Malwa	15 seers	34	4	4½
Okalesur, in Broach	40 seers	38	8	13
	40 seers, "pergunna"	40	6	13
Omutwara, in Malwa	28 seers	54	10	8
Oujein, in Malwa	16⅞ seers	33	5	13
Pertabgurh, in Ajmer	20 seers	38	8	14
Rutlam, in Malwa	20 seers	40	7	8
Surat, in Gujarat	40 seers	37	8	0
Source: Kelly's Oriental Metrology (1832)

Bombay Presidency

Anjar

Belgaum

Bombay

Cochin

Mangalore

Poona

Quilon

The towns where the maund was found to be approximately 28 lb. av. (12¾ kg) in the 1821 East India Company survey, superimposed onto a map of modern India.

Place	Sub- division	Imperial			Metric kg
		lb.	oz.	dr.
Ahmadnagar	40 seers	78	15	12
Aurangabad	40 seers	74	10	10
Belgaum	44 seers	26	3	15
Bombay	40 seers	28	0	0
Carwar, in Kanara	42 seers	26	0	0
Dindoor	64 seers	157	10	10
Dukhun Poona	12½ seers, for ghee, etc.	24	10	4⅓
	14 seers, for metals	27	9	9⅔
	48 seers, for grain	94	9	8
Goa (Portuguese)	—	24	12	0
Jamkhair, in Ahmednagar	64 seers	147	10	0
Jaulnah, in Hyderabad	40 seers	80	2	8
Onore, in Kanara	40–44 seers	25	0	0
Poona	12½ seers, for ghee, etc.	24	10	4⅓
	14 seers, for metals	27	9	9⅔
	48 seers, for grain	94	9	8
Roombharee, in Ahmednagar	64 seers	160	13	8
Source: Kelly's Oriental Metrology (1832)

Madras Presidency

Bellary

Coimbatoor

Goa

Hyderabad

Madras

Madura

Mangalore

Negapatam

Onore

Pondicherry

Poona

The towns where the maund was found to be approximately 25 lb. av. (11⅓ kg) in the 1821 East India Company survey, superimposed onto a map of modern India.

Place	Sub- division	Imperial			Metric kg
		lb.	oz.	dr.
Anjengo, in Travancore	—	28	0	0
Bangalore, in Mysore	40 seers	25	0	0
Bellary, in Madras	48 seers	25	6	0
Calicut, in Malabar	68 seers	34	11	11
Cochin, in Malabar	42½ seers	27	2	11
Coimbatoor, in Mysore	40 seers	24	1	0
Colachy, in Travancore	125 pollums	18	12	13
Hyderabad, in Madras	12 seers, "kucha"	23	13	0
	40 seers, "pucka"	79	6	0
Madras	40 seers, or 8 vis	25	0	0
Madura, in Carnatic	39.244 seers	25	0	0
Mangalore	46 seers, "market"	28	2	4
	46 seers, "Company's"	28	8	13
	40 seers, for sugar	24	7	8
Masulipatam, in Madras	"kucha"	35	10	0
	"pucka"	80	0	0
Negapatam, in Carnatic	41.558 seers	25	0	0
Pondicherry	8 vis	25	14	5½
Quilon, in Travancore	25 old Dutch pounds	27	5	8
Sankeridroog, in Carnatic	41.256 seers	25	0	0
Seringapatam	40 seers, "kucha"	24	4	8
Tellicherry, in Malabar	64 seers	32	11	0
Tranquebar, in Coromandel	68 Danish pounds	74	12	9.6
Travancore, in Madras	—	25	0	6½
Trichinopoly, in Carnatic	13.114 seers	25	0	0
Vizagapatam, in Madras	"kucha"	35	10	0
	"pucka"	80	0	0
Source: Kelly's Oriental Metrology (1832)

Bengal

Ahmednugur

Aurungabunder

Bairseah

Calcutta

Indore

Jaulnah

Luckipoor

Masulipatam

Poona

Tranquebar

Vizagapatam

The towns where the maund was found to be approximately 80 lb. av. (36 kg) in the 1821 East India Company survey, superimposed onto a map of modern India.

Place	Sub- division	Imperial			Metric kg
		lb.	oz.	dr.
Calcutta	40 seers	82	4	​9 1⁄7
Luckipoor, in Bengal	as Calcutta	82	4	​9 1⁄7
Source: Kelly's Oriental Metrology (1832)

External links

• Sizes.com
• The maund in India (historical values)