Ratti (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: ) is a traditional Indian unit of measurement for mass. Based on the nominal weight of a Gunja seed (''Abrus precatorius''), it measured approximately 1.8 or 1.75

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

s or 0.1215 g as standardized weight. It is still used by jewellers in the Indian Subcontinent.

History

Ratti-based measurement is the oldest measurement system in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, highly favoured for its uniformity of weight. The smallest weight in the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...

, historically called the ''masha'', was equal to 8 rattis. The Indus weights were the multiples of masha and the 16th factor was the most common weight of 128 ratti or 13.7 g. A unit called , literally a "hundred standard" or "hundred measures", representing 100 ''krishnalas'' is mentioned in Satapatha Brahmana. A later commentary on ''Katyayana Srautasutra'' explains that a ''Śatamāna'' could also be 100 rattis. A Satamana was used as a standard weight of silver coins of

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

between 600–200 BCE. Ratti is also known for its attractive colour. Other Indian currency weights like

Karshapana Karshapana (, IAST: ''Kārṣāpaṇa''), according to the Ashtadhyayi of Panini, refers to ancient Indian coins current during the 6th century BCE onwards, which were unstamped and stamped (''āhata'') metallic pieces whose validity depende ...

s were also based on the weight of ratti. Gold coins excavated from southeast Asia have been analysed as following the ratti based weight system as well. During the period of Kautilya, the 32 ratti standard was called as Purana or Dharana which was in vogue before the

Mauryan empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

, but Kautilya provides a new standard of 80 ratti called Svarna, which was widely adopted from that time onwards. The ball weights from jeweller's hoard discovered from

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

conform to the 32 ratti standard also called Purana by Kautilya, while the Mathura weights (Dated from 1st century BC-2nd century AD) with Brahmi numeral 100 (100 svarna or 100 karsha) conforms with the new svarna standard. Great Mogul Diamond copy

The Mughal empire employed Ratti as a unit of measure for the weight of precious stones such as diamonds. Around 1665 the Shah's son,

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

, showed a

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

to the famous jeweler and world traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier. At that time Tavernier wrote in his Six Voyages:

Unit conversion

The following info provides the unit conversion from ratti to other units in traditional Indian system of measurements.

Jeweller's conversion

*1 Tola = 12 Masha or 11.664 g *1 Masha = 8 Ratti or 0.972 g 1 Tola = 12 Masha = 96 Ratti = 11.664 grams. Hence *1 Ratti (sunari) goldsmith = 121.5 mg *1 Pakki Ratti (for astrological gemstones) = 1.5 x Sunari Ratti = 1.5 x 121.5 mg = 182.25 mg.

References

Bibliography

* * {{citation , first=B. N. , last=Mukherjee , author-link=B. N. Mukherjee , chapter=Money and Social Changes in India (up to c. AD 1200) , editor=Saiyid Zaheer Husain Jafri , title=Recording the Progress of Indian History: Symposia Papers of the Indian History Congress, 1992-2010 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4SzQL1uds4C&pg=PA412 , year=2012 , publisher=Primus Books , isbn=978-93-80607-28-3 , pages=411– , ref={{sfnref, Mukherjee, Money and Social Changes in India, 2012

External links