Kos (unit)
{{Short description|Ancient Indian unit of distance}}
{{Verify|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox unit
| symbol = kos
| standard = Arthashastra
| quantity = length
| units1 = SI units
| inunits1 = {{val|3075|ul=m}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
| inunits2 = {{val|1.9|ul=mi}}
{{val|656|ul=ft}}
| units3 =
| inunits3 =
}}
The kos ({{langx|hi|कोस}}), also spelled coss, koss, kosh, koh(in Punjabi), krosh, and krosha, is a unit of measurement which is derived from a Sanskrit term, {{lang|sa|क्रोश}} {{transl|sa|IAST|krośa}}, which means a 'call', as the unit was supposed to represent the distance at which another human could be heard. It is an ancient Indian subcontinental standard unit of distance, in use since at least 4 BCE. According to the Arthashastra, a {{transl|sa|IAST|krośa}} or {{transl|hi|ISO|kos}} is about {{convert|3000|m}}.{{Cite web |title=How many kilometers are there in one kos? |url=https://www.quora.com/How-many-kilometers-are-there-in-one-kos |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=Quora |language=en}}
Another conversion is based on the Mughal emperor Akbar, who standardized the unit to 5000 guz in the Ain-i-Akbari. The British in India standardized Akbar's guz to {{convert|33|in}}, making the kos approximately {{convert|4191|m}}.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/hobsonjobsonbein00yuleuoft/page/261/mode/1up|page=261 |title=Hobson-Jobson : being a glossary of Anglo-India colloquial words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive| author=Yule, Henry| author2= Burnell, A. C.|editor=Crooke, William | year=1903| place= London| publisher= John Murray}} Another conversion suggested a kos to be approximately 2 English miles.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/usefultablesfor01pringoog/page/n109/mode/1up| author=Prinsep, James|page=91|title=Useful Tables, Forming an Appendix to the Journal of the Asiatic Society|place=Calcutta| year=1840| publisher= Bishop's College Press}}
Arthashastra Standard units
File:Mughal-era Kos Minar in the Delhi National Zoo.jpg in Delhi]]
The "Arthashastra: Chapter XX. "Measurement of space and time", authored in 4th century BC by Chanakya (Vishnugupta Kauṭilya), sets this standard breakup of Indian units of length:[https://archive.org/details/Arthasastra_English_Translation Arthashastra, Chanakya, 4th century BC, p. 151]{{better|date=August 2021}}{{Unreliable source?|date=September 2007}} {{cite web|url=http://www.valmikiramayan.net/aranya/sarga69/aranyaitrans69.htm#Verse5|accessdate=2007-09-29|title=Valmiki Ramayana / Book III: Aranya Kanda - The Forest Trek / Chapter (Sarga) 69}}
- 1 angul (approximate width of a finger) = approx. {{convert|3/4|in|mm|adj=pre|of an}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 4 angul = 1 dhanurgrah (bow grip) = {{convert|3|in}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 8 angul = 1 dhanurmushti (fist with thumb raised) = {{convert|6|in}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 12 angul = 1 vitastaa (span-distance of stretched out palm between the tips of a person's thumb and the little finger) = {{convert|9|in}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 2 vitastaa (from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger) = 1 aratni or hast (cubit or haath) = {{convert|18|in}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 4 aratni (haath) = 1 dand or dhanush (bow) = {{convert|6|ft}};{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 10 dand = 1 rajju = {{convert|60|ft}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 2 rajju = 1 paridesh = {{convert|120|ft}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 10 rajju = 1 goruta = {{convert|219|yd|mi m|frac=-8}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
- 10 goruta= 1 krosha/kos = nearly {{convert|3350|yd|m mi|abbr=off}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
Conversion to SI units and imperial units
Kos may also refer to roughly {{convert|1.8|km}}Measure for Measure, Young & Glover, 1996 Arthashastra standard unit of kos or krosha is equal to 3075 metres in SI units and 1.91 miles in imperial units.Cosmic Order and Cultural Astronomy: Sacred Cities of India, By Rana P. B. Singh with a Foreword by John, 2009. pp.4{{dubious|date=August 2021}}
Usage of kos
Evidence of official usage exists from the Vedic period to the Mughal era. Elderly people in many rural areas of the Indian subcontinent still refer to distances from nearby areas in kos. Most Hindu religious Parikrama circuits are measured in kos, such as 48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra. Along India's old highways, particularly the Grand Trunk Road, one still finds 16th to early 18th century Kos Minars, or mile markers, erected at distances of a little over two miles.{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060910/spectrum/main2.htm|title=Signposts lost in history|author=C.D. Verma|publisher=Tribune India|accessdate=2007-09-29|date=2006-07-10}}
See also
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- Measurement
- Hasta, unit of smaller distance
- Yojana, unit of longer distance
- Palya, unit of time
- Vedic metre, measurement of rhythmic structure of verses
- Hindu units of time
- Indian weights and measures
- History of measurement systems in India
- Other related
- Hindu astronomy
- Hindu calendar
- Hindu cosmology
- Indian mathematics
- Indian science and technology
- List of numbers in Hindu scriptures
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References
{{reflist|20em}}
{{SI units of length}}
Category:Customary units in India