Kos (measure)

The kos is an ancient Indian unit of measurement which has been in use for over three thousand years; evidence exists from Vedic times to the Mughal period, and even now elderly people in rural areas refer to distances from nearby areas in kos.

It is variously spelled "Kos", "Kosh", "Krosh", and "Koss" when rendered in the Latin alphabet.

Kautilya's Artha Shastra, gives this breakup of Indian units of length: [Verify credibility|date=September 2007 cite web|url=http://www.valmikiramayan.net/aranya/sarga69/aranyaitrans69.htm#Verse5|accessdate=2007-09-29|title=Valmiki Ramayana / Book III: Aranya Kanda - The Forest Trek / Chapter (Sarga) 69] Dubious|date=March 2008

* 1 Angul (approximate width of finger) = approx. 3/4 of present day inch;
* 4 Angul = Dharnugrah (bow grip) = 3 in;
* 8 Angul = 1 Dhanurmushti (fist with thumb raised) = 6 in;
* 12 Angul = 1 Vitastaa (span-distance of stretched out palm between the tips of a person's thumb and the little finger) = 9 in;
* 2 Vitastaa (from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger) = 1 Aratni or Hast (cubit or Haath) = 18 in;
* 4 Aratni (Haath) = 1 Dand or Dhanush (bow) = 6 ft;
* 10 Dand = 1 Rajju = 60 ft;
* 2 Rajju = 1 Paridesh = 120 ft;
* 2000 Dand (Dhanush) = 1 Krosh or Gorut = 4000 yards or 2 1/4 miles - nearly 3.66 km;
* 4 Krosh = 1 Yojan = 9 miles - nearly 15 km;

Kos may also refer to about 1.8 km (1 ⅛ mile) or 3.2 km (2 miles). ["Measure for Measure", Young & Glover, 1996]

Along India's old highways, particularly the Grand Trunk Road, one still finds "Kos Minars", or mile markers, erected at distances of a little over two miles [cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060910/spectrum/main2.htm|title=Signposts lost in history|author=C.D. Verma|publisher=Tribune India|accessdate=2007-09-29|date=2006-07-10]

References