Cavan (unit)

Cavan, sometimes spelled Caban or Kaban^{[1][nb 1]}), is a term which has been used in the Philippines as both as a unit of mass and as a unit of volume or dry measure.

Cavan was defined by the 19th-century Spanish colonial government of the Philippines as being equivalent to 75 liters.^[2] Though officially the Philippines became entirely metric, this value still obtained in the 20th century,^[3] Cavan was reported in the late 19th century as a measure for rice equivalent to 98.28 liters.^[4]

Caban is described in various 19th-century sources as a unit of mass: for rice, 133 lb (about 60.33 kg); for cocoa, 83.5 lb, (about 37.87 kg) one source says on the average 60 kg for rice and 38 kg for cacao^[5]). Other sources say 58.2 kg. In all likelihood this is a case in which some commodities began to be traded by weight instead of volume, and a “caban of rice” became a certain mass rather than a certain volume. One source states that before 1973 a cavan of any type of rice weighed 50 kg. One source says that after 1973 a cavan of rough rice weighed 44 kg and a cavan of milled rice weighed 56 kg (the significance of the 1973 date is unclear).^[6]

Usage example: "At present, owing to the late scarcity of rice in Camarines and Leyte, the price of paddy at Iloilo has risen to 10 rials per province cavan, which is equal to one and a half of the measure (cavan del rey) used at Manila."^[7]

Notes

References