Traditional Turkish units of measurement

The list of traditional Turkish units of measurement, aka Ottoman units of measurement, is given below.

History

The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923), the predecessor of modern Turkey was one of the 17 signatories of the Metre Convention in 1875. For 58 years both the international and the traditional units were in use, but after the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, the traditional units became obsolete. In 1931 by Act No. 1782, international units became compulsory and the traditional units were banned from use starting 1 January 1933.^[1]

List of units

Length

Local name	In English	Equivalence	In modern units [2]
nokta	dot		0.219 mm (0.0086 in)
hat	line	12 nokta	2.63 mm (0.104 in)
parmak	finger	12 hat	3.157 cm (1.243 in)
kerrab or kirab			4.25 cm (1.67 in)
rubu or urup		2 kerrab	8.50 cm (3.35 in)
ayak or kadem	foot	12 parmak	37.887 cm (1.2430 ft)
endaze	ell		65 cm (2.13 ft)
arşın	ell		68 cm (2.23 ft)
zirai	agricultural	2 ayak	75.774 cm (2.4860 ft)
kulaç	fathom		1.8288 m (6.000 ft)
berid or menzil	range	600 ayak	227 m (745 ft)
eski mil	old mile	5,000 ayak	1,894.35 m (1.17709 mi)
fersah	league	3 eski mil	5.685 km (3.532 mi)
merhale	stage, phase	200 berid	45.480 km (28.260 mi)

Area

Local name	In English	In modern units
eski dönüm	dunam (old)	919 m2 (9,890 sq ft)
büyük dönüm	dunam (big)	2,720 m2 (29,300 sq ft)

Volume

Local name	In English	Equivalence	In modern units
şinik	peck		0.00925 m3 (2.44 USgal)
kile (İstanbul)	bushel	4 şinik	0.037 m3 (9.8 USgal)

Weight

Local name	In English	Equivalence	In modern units
kırat	carat		0.2004 g (1.002 carats)[3]
dirhem	drachma	16 kırat	3.207 g (0.1131 oz)
okka	oka	400 dirhem	1.282 kg (2.83 lb)
miskal		1.5 dirhem	4.81 gr (0.312 g)
batman		6 okka	7.697 kg (16.97 lb)
kantar	weighbridge		56.449 kg (124.45 lb)
çeki		4 kantar	225.789 kg (497.78 lb)

Time

The traditional calendar of the Ottoman Empire was, like in most Muslim countries, the Hicri calendar. The Hicri calendar counts from 622 AD with an annual duration of 12 lunar months, which is approximately eleven days shorter than a solar year. In 1839, however, a second calendar was put in use for official matters. The new calendar, which was called the Rumi also began by 622, but with an annual duration equal to a solar year after 1840. In modern Turkey, the Gregorian calendar was adopted as the legal calendar, beginning by the end of 1925. The Hicri calendar is still used when discussing dates in an Islamic context.

See also

• Measurement

Reference and notes

1. ^ Türkiye’nin 75 yılı, Tempo yayınları, İstanbul, 1998, p. 53
2. ^ Fethi Yücel: Pratik Matematik,Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür yayınları, Ankara, 1963,p.15
3. ^ In this and following weight units, kg and gr mean technically kg-weight or gr-weight.