The batman () was a

unit Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

used in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and among

Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. It has also been recorded as a unit of

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

-speaking regions of Central Asia. The name is Turkic (; ),. but was also sometimes used for the equivalent unit in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

( ).. The equivalent unit in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

was anglicized as the

maund Maund may refer to: * Maund (unit), traditional Indian unit of mass measurement * Maundy (foot washing), religious rite observed by various Christian denominations * Maund (surname), surname * Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday, also referred ...

(

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: and Hindustani: ). The value of the batman (or maund) varied considerably from place to place.

Origins

The ''man'' as a unit of weight is thought to be of at least

Chaldea Chaldea () refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of southern Mesopotamia. It is mentioned, with varying meaning, in Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, the Hebrew Bible, and in classical Greek texts. The Hebrew Bible uses the term (''Ka� ...

n origin, with

Sir Henry Yule Colonel (United Kingdom), Colonel Sir Henry Yule (1 May 1820 – 30 December 1889) was a Scottish Oriental studies, Orientalist and geographer. He published many travel books, including translations of the work of Marco Polo and ''Mirabil ...

attributing Akkadian origins to the word.. The

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

() and the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

() are thought to be cognate. It was originally equal to one-ninth of the weight of an '' artaba'' of water, or approximately four

kilogram The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

s in modern units. İnalcık believes the

ancient Persian Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

''patimāna'' may have come from the late Assyrian word for 'mana of the king'.. The ''man'' or ''batman'' spread throughout Arabia and Persia: it was adopted by the Ottoman Empire, and brought to India by the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. The first attestation which gives a comparison to European weights was by Pegolotti in his ''

Pratica della mercatura The ''Practica della mercatura'' (Italian for "The Practice of Commerce"),. also known as the ''Merchant's Handbook'', is a comprehensive guide to international trade in 14th-century Eurasia and North Africa as known to its compiler, the Florenti ...

'', written about 1340. He reported the ''batman'' as the main unit of mass in Ayasluğ ("Altoluogo di Turchia" to Pegolotti; modern

Selçuk Selçuk is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 317 km2, and its population is 38,151 (2022). The town Selçuk is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, o ...

, in western

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

), equivalent to 32 Genoese pounds ().

Ottoman Empire

The batman (or bateman) was first recorded in English in 1599, in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

(probably modern

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

), where it was said to be equal to "7 pound and 5 ounces English weight". In the central Ottoman system of weights, the batman was equal to six okas, as is attested in 1811 in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, 1821 in Baghdad. and in 1850 in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. At this point, the batman was equal to 16 lb 8 oz

avoirdupois Avoirdupois (; abbreviated avdp.) is a measurement system of weights that uses pounds and ounces as units. It was first commonly used in the 13th century AD and was updated in 1959. In 1959, by international agreement, the definitions of the p ...

(7.484 kg).

Arabia

The ''mann'' ( مَنّ ) had doubtless formed a part of the Arabian system of weights before the arrival of the Ottomans. It was divided into '' uqiyyas'' (the number varying with the location), while ten ''mann'' made one '' frazil''. A still larger unit of mass was the '' bahar'', of ten to forty ''frazils''. The Arabic ''mann'' was smaller than the Ottoman ''batman'' at about 2–3 lb av. (1–1½ kg), except in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

where there were two

s in use, both much larger than either the Arabic ''mann'' or the Ottoman ''batman''.

Turkey

The Turkish system of weights and measures was metricated in 1931. The ''oka'' was redefined as exactly one kilogram, while the ''batman'' became ten ''okas'' (10 kg).

Central Asia

The batman was used in Central Asia up until at least the 18th century. In

Khiva Khiva ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva, Хива, ; other names) is a district-level city of approximately 93,000 people in Khorazm Region, Uzbekistan. According to archaeological data, the city was established around 2,500 years ago. In 1997, Khiva celebr ...

in 1740, there were said to be two batmans (as in Persia): the "great batman" of 18

Russian pound The pound or pound-mass is a Units of measurement, unit of mass used in both the imperial units, British imperial and United States customary units, United States customary systems of measurement. Various definitions have been used; the most c ...

s (, ''funt''; approx. 7.4 kg) and the "lesser batman" of 9¼ Russian pounds (approx. 3.8 kg). In

, the batman was also a measure of land area, the area that could be sown with one batman (in mass) of seed.

Idel-Ural

The Tatar batman is an equivalent to 4

pood ''Pood'' ( rus, пуд, r=pud, p=put, plural: or ) is a unit of mass equal to 40 Funt (mass), ''funt'' (, Russian pound). Since 1899 it is set to approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pound (mass), pounds). It was used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukr ...

or 65.5 kg.

Persia

The two main commercial weights in

were the ''tabrézy man'' ( من تبریز ), literally the ''man'' of

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, and the ''sháhy man'' ( من شاء ), literally the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

's ''man'', which was twice as large. The ''sháhy man'' was particularly used in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

and

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Kelly'' (Kelly Price album), 2011 * ''Kelly'' (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), by Mark Charlap, 1965 * "Kelly" (song), by Kelly Rowland, 2018 * ''Kelly'' (film), Canada, 1981 * ...

also distinguishes a ''man'' used for

copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

and "provisions" at Gamron (modern

Bandar-Abbas Bandar Abbas (, ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. Bandar Abbas is a port on the southern coast of the country, on the Persian ...

) of 7 lb 12 oz av. (3.5153 kg). The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Statistical Office found a wide range of values for the ''man'' in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1966, from 3 kg to 53 kg... The ''man'' was divided into ''

mithqal Mithqāl () is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as gold, and other commodities, like saffron. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the gold dinar, a coin that was used throughout ...

s'' (the number depending on the locality): larger subdivisions included the '' abbassi'' and the ''

ratl A ratl (رطل ) is a medieval Middle Eastern unit of measurement found in several historic recipes. The term was used to measure both liquid and weight (around a pound and a pint in 10th century Baghdad, but anywhere from 8 ounces to 8 pounds depe ...

''. The term ''batman'' appears to be reserved for the ''tabrézy man'', approximately 2.969 kg in 1966.

Afghanistan

The ''mann'' () was and still is also used as a unit of mass in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, but varied widely between different localities. In

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

it was about 8 lb av. (3½ kg), while in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

it was 80 lb av. (35 kg)..

Notes

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Sizes.com
Obsolete units of measurement Units of mass Ottoman units of measurement