Mithqāl () is a unit of mass equal to which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, and other commodities, like

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of '' Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent ...

. The name was also applied as an alternative term for the

gold dinar The gold dinar () is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word denarius, which was ...

, a coin that was used throughout much of the

Islamic world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

from the 8th century onward and survived in parts of Africa until the 19th century. The name of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

's currency since 1980, the ''

metical The metical (; plural: ) is the currency of Mozambique, abbreviated with the symbol ''MZN'' or ''MT''. It is nominally divided into 100 centavos. The name ''metical'' comes from Arabic ('' mithqāl''), a unit of weight and an alternative name f ...

'', is derived from ''mithqāl''.

Etymology

The word ''mithqāl'' (; “weight, unit of weight”) comes from the Arabic ''thaqala'' (), meaning “to weigh” (cf. ). Other variants of the unit in English include ''miskal'' (from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

; ''misqāl''), ''mithkal, mitkal'' and ''mitqal.''

Indian mithqaal

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the measurement is known as ''mithqaal''. It contains 4 and 3½ (rata'ii; مثقال). It is equivalent to 4.25 grams when measuring

, or 4.5 grams when measuring commodities. It may be more or less than this.

Nikki mithqal

A gold coin minted in

Nikki, Benin Nikki is a town, arrondissement, and commune located in the Borgou Department of Benin. The commune covers an area of 3171 square kilometres and as of 2002 had a population of 99,251 people. Nikki is a major centre of the Batonuo people and ...

and known as the mithqal was in wide circulation in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

in the 18th century, particularly the Niger bend. It was useable in the trans-Saharan trade and coexisted with the use of

cowries Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae. Cowrie shells have held cultural, economic, and ornamental significance in various cultures. The cowrie was the shell most widely used wo ...

shell money Shell money is a medium of exchange similar to coin money and other forms of commodity money, and was once commonly used in many parts of the world. Shell money usually consisted of whole or partial sea shells, often worked into beads or otherw ...

Conversion factors

The mithqāl in another more modern calculation is as follows: Nakhud is a Baháʼí unit of mass used by Bahá'u'lláh. The mithqāl had originally consisted of 24 nakhuds, but in the

Bayán In Bábism, Bayán (), or exposition, denotes the whole body of the works of the Báb. It also refers more specifically to a set of two books written by the Báb around 1848: *'' Persian Bayán'', written in Persian *'' Arabic Bayán'', written in ...

, the collective works of the

Báb The Báb (born ʻAlí-Muḥammad; ; ; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) was an 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, Azerbai ...

, this was reduced to 19.

References

{{Islamic banking and finance Units of mass Measurement Ottoman units of measurement Islamic banking Arabic words and phrases Islamic banking and finance terminology

Etymology

Indian mithqaal

Nikki mithqal

Conversion factors

See also

References