Measurements - why the confusion?

Probably before any analysis about measurements, it will be important to just mention that the most important reason for the variations is due to the fact that different measurements have made their place somewhere in the revenue records of the region.

However, the genesis is also to be understood for the recording of the measures differently at different places….

A general definition of Language is:  human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way

A general definition of measurement is: Values made meaningful by quantifying into specific units

Thus, the purpose of both language as well as measurement is structuring and specification, or to put in another way, “standardization” for the purpose of understanding. Expressing this in other words, it can be said that measurement is a mathematical language for the purpose of communication. The need of communication at different places in a structured way is what has led to a lot of variation and confusion in measurement. People have always communicated what they understood at a certain place, and this ‘regional essence’ has prevailed earlier and still prevails.

Since land is one of the most fundamental things that a person is attached with right from the time he is born till the time he dies- he is born on it, draws his food from there and his remains are placed therein - from cradle to the grave. It is was always connected to a person’s very essence and so he had to measure it, whether there was a defined rule of measurement or not. Therefore, he used measures that were available at any given time.

In the olden times, in the absence of measuring systems and tapes, the measure used to be in terms of  the arm or the hand (palm) or the foot or the thumb. Or even measured by how much land can be ploughed by an ox on a given day.

A problem arises here because of non standardization of arm/ hand / foot / thumb length: a child , adult of short stature or an adult with above average growth. Or a healthier ox can plough more than a weaker one. To sort this out, development of systems continued and there were various region specific measurement standards  which defined the units by law and issued standards. These standards became acceptable at the region they were implemented in and reflected in revenue records also. There was evolution of various standards- there was a fathom  (fingertip to fingertip arms outstretched) or a ‘rood’, the traditional furlong could vary in length from country to country, so did the acre and so on. 

To understand the above analysis more clearly, do observe that there are hundreds of languages in the world. In fact in India itself, dialects change every few hundred kilometres. Due to its essential nature, measurement of land could never be avoided and found its way into the language of the region. Measurement terminology related to land thus became a  form of mathematical communication which was region specific . And this is the reason for the difference in measurement definitions in different geographical areas.