Guz

A guz (Persian: ﮔﺰ), also written as gaz, guzz, guj or gudge, is an obsolete unit of length used in parts of Asia. It was a regionally variable measurement, corresponding culturally to the yard in that it was often used for measuring textiles. Values of the guz range from 24 inches to 41 inches over time. Today, it is generally used in the Indian subcontinent as the word for a "yard".

Contents

India and Pakistan

Use of the guz in India was first established during the Mughal Empire. The guz in Rajasthan at the end of the 17th century was quoted as being 28½ inches.[1] By 1875, the average value of the guz in Bengal was 36 inches (that is, one yard), but was 33 inches in Madras and 27 inches in Bombay.[1][2]

By the 20th century, the guz was uniformly quoted as being equal in length to one yard in the English system, or 0.91 metres in the Metric system.

The guz is still commonly used in the Indian subcontinent. It has become the standard word in Hindi and Urdu for "yard".[3]

Arabia

Nepal

References

Further reading