A. Zubko, Ph.D. in History, Associate Professor
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2017.134.3.03
UNITS OF WEIGHT IN CENTRAL ASIA
The development of the civilization in the Central Asia lasted for a long time. For thousands of years, people living there have been domesticating animals, artificially irrigating and cultivating land. This region was the cradle of the unique civilization of farmers and nomads making use of river oases, steppe and submontane pastures.
In the 4th – 8th centuries, caravan trade routes connecting countries of Western Asia and the Far East ran through Central Asia.
Growth of the manufacture and trade gave impetus to gradual development in Central Asia of the system of weights and measures based on measurement standards. Political turmoil and foreign invasions affected this process. Today, the study of Central Asian measures is of contemporary importance for historians.
The article traces the origins of the system of weights in Central Asia and determines degree to which its formation was influenced by systems of weights of other civilizations in various periods of history. The role which science and culture in Central Asia played in development of structure of the region's system of weights was clarified.
Keywords: system of weights and measures, gold mithqāl, silver dirham, ratti, maund.
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