Paisa (also transliterated as ''pice'', ''pesa'', ''poysha'', ''poisha'' and ''baisa'') is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

for money and wealth. In

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 ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, the ''paisa'' currently equals of a

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

. In

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, the ''paisa'' equals of a

Bangladeshi taka The taka (, , currency sign, sign: , ISO 4217, code: BDT, Short form (linguistics), short form: Tk) is the currency of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of banknotes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, while the ...

. In

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

, the ''baisa'' equals of an

Omani rial The Omani rial (, ISO 4217 code OMR) is the currency of Oman. It is divided into 1000 ''paisa, baisa'' (also written ''baiza'', ). Fixed exchange rate From 1973 to 1986, the rial was pegged to the United States dollar, U.S. dollar at 1 Omani rial ...

Etymology

The word ''paisa'' is from the

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 ...

term ''padāṁśa'' (, basic unit), meaning 'quarter part base', from ''pada'' () "foot or quarter or base" and ''aṁśa'' () "part or unit". The pesa was also in use in colonial

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. The colloquial term for money in

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a ...

, ''paiksan'' (), is derived from the Hindi term ''paisa'' (). INDO-SASANIAN

History

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

coins were often called "Gadhaiya Paise" (9th–10th century CE). Until the 1950s in India and

(and before 1947 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 ...

), the paisa (back then spelled as ''pice'' in English) was equivalent to 3

pies A pie is a Baking, baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Savoury taste, savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie) ...

, of an

anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, or of a rupee. After the transition from a

non-decimal currency A non-decimal currency is a currency that has sub-units that are a non-decimal fraction of the main unit, i.e. the number of sub-units in a main unit is not a power of 10. Historically, most currencies were non-decimal, though virtually all are n ...

to a

decimal currency Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

, the paisa equaled of a rupee and was known as a ''naya paisa'' ("new paisa") for a few years to distinguish it from the old paisa(pice) that was of a rupee.

Terminology

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

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 ...

Afghan Persian Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian L ...

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 ...

, Nepali and other languages, the word paisa often means money or cash. Medieval trade routes that spanned the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

between India, the Arab regions and East Africa spread the usage of

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 ...

and Arabic currency terms across these areas. The word ''pesa'' as a reference to money in East African languages such as

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

dates from that period. An example of this usage is the older day

n mobile-phone-based money transfer service

M-Pesa M-PESA (M for mobile, ''PESA'' is Swahili language, Swahili for money) is a mobile banking, mobile phone-based money transfer service, payments and Micro-finance, micro-financing service, launched in 2007 by Vodafone and Safaricom, the largest ...

(which stands for "mobile pesa" or "

mobile money Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cas ...

").

Usage

* Poysha = of a

(no longer in circulation) *

Paisa Paisa (also transliterated as ''pice'', ''pesa'', ''poysha'', ''poisha'' and ''baisa'') is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised idiom for money and wealth. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the ''paisa'' currently equa ...

= of an

Indian rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...

(only 50 paisa coins are de facto valid but no longer in circulation) * Paisa = of a

Nepalese rupee The Nepalese rupee (; currency sign, sign: रु; ISO 4217, code: NPR) is the official currency and legal tender of Nepal. It is also sometimes abbreviated as N₨ or Re./Rs. informally. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paisa, although coins of ...

(no longer in circulation) * Baisa = of an

* Paisa = of a

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee (; ISO code: PKR; symbol: ; abbreviation: Re (singular) and Rs (plural)) is the official currency in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan. It was officia ...

(Officially demonetized from 1 October 2014)

Gallery

File:100 Baisa Oman reverso.png, 100 Omani Baisa note (reverse) File:100 Baisa Oman.png, 100 Omani Baisa note (1995) File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা সম্মূখভাগ - 50 Paisa year 2001 Front Part.png, 50 Bangladeshi Poysha (2001) File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা - 50 Paisa year 2001 Back Part.png, 50 Bangladeshi Poysha (2001, reverse)

References

External links

Currencies of Asia Currencies of Bangladesh Coins of India Coins of Pakistan Economy of Nepal Economy of Pakistan Rupee {{SAsia-stub