Ottoman Metrology

The first Turkish publication on the metric system had appeared in Cairo  in 1836 in a translated French geometry  textbook. The work was translated by  an  Istanbul trained  artillery  officer  Ibrahim  Adham,  Mehmed  Ali’s  chief  education  administrator,  keen  Saint Simonian  reformer  and  head  of  Egypt’s  1845 weights and measures commission (Crozet 2008, 72, 423M4; Régnier 1989,  101;  Alleaume,  1989,  126)

See also:

Günergun, Ferza. 1992. “Introduction of the Metric System to the Ottoman State.” In Transfer)of)Modern)Science)and)Technology)to)the)Muslim)World, edited by Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, 297M316. Istanbul: IRCICA. 

Günergun, Ferza. 1996. “Standardization in Ottoman Turkey.” In Introduction)of) Modern)Science)and)Technology)to)Turkey)and)Japan, edited by Ferza Günergun and Kuriyama Shigehisha, 205M225. Istanbul: International Centre for Japanese studies.



Mavi Boncuk | Ottoman Metrology[1]

ABSTRACT


The Ottoman state did not have a single metrological system comprising the whole empire. Different measurements and scales were used in each province and sanjak. It was not possible to bring them to a certain standard since the provinces had been conquered at different times and the empire was spread over a very wide geography. The Ottomans nevertheless accepted certain weight and length measurements as the standard unit, and transactions were carried out by comparing the measurements and scales in each state with these standards. For example, kile (bushel), which is a grain measurement, was a unit of measurement that expresses different weights in each region. However, the state had accepted the Istanbul bushel as the basic unit of measurement and expressed the locally used ones by converting them to the Istanbul bushel. The weight, liquid and length measurements used in the Rumelia Sanjaks were very different from each other. Since it had been used locally before the Ottoman Empire, the state did not abolish them, but tried to explain it with the measurements accepted by the state in the Provincial Administration Regulations. These measurements, which were sometimes referred to by special names and sometimes by the name of the region in which it was used, occupy an important place within the Ottoman metrology. 


See: 
OSMANLI DÖNEMİ BALKAN EKONOMİSİ | THE ECONOMY OF THE BALKANS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ERA Article | RUMELİ SANCAKLARINDA ÖLÇÜLER VE TARTILAR | Measurements and Scales in Rumeli Sanjaks | Mehmet Ali ÜNAL | * (Prof. Dr.); Pamukkale Üniversitesi, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, Denizli, Türkiye, e-mail: maunal@pau.edu.tr


See Also:

Introduction to Ottoman Metrology - Halil İnalcık

Inalcik,  Halil.  1983.  “Introduction  to  Ottoman  Metrology,”  (Turcica)15:311M348

Sinan's Arşin: A Survey of Ottoman Architectural Metrology 

Yerasimos,  Stéphane.  2005.  “Mesures  d’Espace  Ottomanes.”  In  La)Juste)Mesure:) Quantifier,)Évaluer,)Mesurer)entre)Orient)et)Occident)(VIIIe)– XVIIIe)siècle),  edited   by  Laurence  Moulinier,  Line  Sallmann,  Catherine  Verna  and  Nicolas  WeillMParot,   49M56. SaintMDenis:  Presses  Universitaires  de  Vincennes.

Ottoman  Measures of Weight

• Arpa • Bakray • Batman • Buğday • Çeki • Denk • Dirhem • Dirhemi şer'i • Dünük • Fitil • Habbe • Hardal Tanesi • Kantar • Kırat • Kıyye • Kıtmir • Ludre • Misgal (Miskal) • Nakir • Okka • Pirinç • Tonilato • Zerre

1 Buğday (1/4 kırat) 0,05011 gr
1 zerre = 0,0015625 gr

1 kıtmir = 0,003125 gr

1 nekir (nakir) = 0,00625 gr

1 fitil = 0,0125 gr

1 bakray =0,05 gr

1kırat = 0,200046 gr

1 dünük (denk) = 0,80175 gr
1 Kıyye 1,282 kg.

1 dirhem = 3,2073625 gr

1 miskal = 4,8105 gr

1 ludre = 563,2 gr

1 okka (kıyye) = 1 282 gr (1,282 kg)

1 batman = 7 544 gr (7,544 kg)

1 kantar = 56 320 gr (56,320 kg)

1 çeki = 225 798 gr (225,798 kg)

1 tonalito = 1 000 000 gr (1 000 kg)

Ottoman Measures of Length

1 parmak = 12 hat = 0,03157 m 
1 hat = 12 nokta = 0,00263 m 
1 nokta = 0,00022 m 
1 kulaç = 2,5 zirai =1,895 m (rope, depth of  well, pit, shaft) 
1 kara mili = 2500 zirai = 1895 m (land travel) 
1 fersah = 3 mil = 7500 zirai = 5685 m 
1 berid (menzil) = 4 fersah = 12 mil = 30900 arşın = 22740 m 
1 merhale = 2 berid = 45480 m 
1 çarşı arşını = 8 rubu (urup) = 0,680 m (fabric) 
1 rubu = 2 kirah = 0,085 m 
1 kirah = 0,0425 m 
1 endaze = 8 rubu (urup) = 0,650 m (silk fabric) 


Ottoman Measures of Architecture

1 zirai mimari = zirai = mimari arşını = 2 ayak (kadem) = 0,75774 m = 24 parmak = 288 hat = 3456 nokta
(for architecture and roads) 1 Arşın (Zira) 0,757738 mt.
1 Parmak (1/24 zira) 0,031572 mt.
1 Hat (1/12 parmak) 0,002631 mt.
1 Nokta (1/12 hat) 0,000219 mt.

Ottoman Measures of Market

1 Arşın 0,6858 mt.
1 Rub (urub) 0,0857 mt. (1/8 Arşın)
1 Kerrab (Kirâh) 0,0428 mt. (1/16 Arşın)
1 Endaze 0,6525 mt

Ottoman Measures of Length (reversed)

1 m = 1,319261 zirai = 1 zirai + 7 parmak + 7 hat + 10,8 nokta = 31,656 parmak 
1 m = 0,5130740 kulaç = 3 ayak + 11,296 hat 
1 km = 0,5276 mil 
1 m = 1,470588 arşın = 1 arşın + 3 rubu +1,5 kirah 
1 m = 1,538462 endaze = 1 endaze + 4 rubu + 0,6 kirah 

Ottoman Measures of Area


1 Hektar = ( 11 Dönüm ) = 10.105,337 m2 = ( 17.600 zirakare ) 
1 Dönüm = ( 4 Evlek ) = 918,667 m2 = ( 1.600 zirakare ) = ( 40 x 40 zira )
1 Evlek = 229,666 m2 = ( 400 zirakare ) = ( 20 x 20 zira )
1 Zirakare= 0,57416 m2
1 eski dönüm | dunam (old) = 919 m2 (9,890 sq ft)
1 büyük dönüm | dunam (big) = 2,720 m2 (29,300 sq ft)

Ottoman Measures of Volume

1kutu (god, kot, godik) = 4,625 lt (1/8 kile)

1 şinik (peck) = 9,25 lt (varies regionally)

1 kile (bushel) (İstanbul kilesi) = 4 şinik = 37 lt ( always 4 şinik  and varies regionally)

Ottoman Measures of Volumetric Flow

Hilal = 0.6526 L/min 
Çuvaldız =  1.125 L/min
Masura = 4.5 L/min
Kamış = 9 L/min
Lüle = 36 L/min

[1] Metrology is the science of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in France, when a length standard taken from a natural source was proposed. This led to the creation of the decimal-based metric system in 1795, establishing a set of standards for other types of measurements. Several other countries adopted the metric system between 1795 and 1875; to ensure conformity between the countries, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) was established by the Metre Convention.This has evolved into the International System of Units (SI) as a result of a resolution at the 11th Conference Generale des Poids et Mesures (CGPM) in 1960.