As described in ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ by Abul Fazl-i-Allami, ‘gaz’ (unit of measuring length) was divided into equal parts called ______.

The correct answer is tassuj.

Key Points

• Abul Fazl-i-Allami described in Ain-i-Akbari that during the period of Mughal Emperor Akbar, the gaz was used as the unit of measuring length.
• Each gaz was divided into 24 equal parts and each part was called Tassuj.
• Gaz was extensively used to measure land pieces, for the construction of buildings, houses, wells, gardens, and roads.
• The gaz was widely used as a unit of length till the metric system was introduced in 1956.
• Even today in many parts of our country, particularly in the rural areas, gaz is being used as a unit of length.​

Additional Information

• Angul
  • Angul(finger) is a traditional unit of measurement used in India.
  • It is used to measure a small length by a finger.
  • One Aṅgula during the Maurya period is believed to be approximately equal to 1.763 centimeters.
• Rajahkan​
  • The smallest unit of length was parmanu.The elements of measurement system and
    definition of some of the units of length and their conversion may be written as
    8 parmanu =1 rajahkan (dust particle coming from the wheel of a chariot)
    8 rajahkan = 1 liksha (egg of lice)
    ​In ancient times the smallest unit of length was parmanu.
  • The smallest unit of length was parmanu.The elements of measurement system and
    definition of some of the units of length and their conversion may be written as
    8 parmanu =1 rajahkan (dust particle coming from the wheel of a chariot)
    8 rajahkan = 1 liksha (egg of lice)
    8 parmanu = 1 rajahkan (dust particle coming out of chariot wheel).
  • 8 rajahkan = 1 liksha (egg of Lice).
• Liksha
  • ​Likṣha refers to the “egg of a louse”.
  • It represents a type of absolute measurement, as defined in the texts dealing with silpa (arts and crafts), known as silpashastra.