View source for Kos unit

{{verify|date=August 2021}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox unit
| symbol   = kos
| standard = [[Arthashastra]]
| quantity = [[length]]
| units1   = [[SI units]]
| inunits1 = {{val|3000|ul=m}}{{fact|date=August 2021}}
| units2   = [[imperial units|imperial]]/[[US customary units|US]]&nbsp;units
| inunits2 = {{val|1.8|ul=mi}}<br /><!--
    -->&emsp;{{val|656|ul=ft}}
| units3   = 
| inunits3 =
}}
The '''kos''' (Hindi: कोस), also spelled ''coss'', ''koss'', ''kosh'', ''krosh'', and ''krosha'', is a unit of measurement which is derived from a [[Sanskrit]] term, क्रोश ''krośa'', which means to "call", as the unit was supposed to represent the distance at which another human could be heard. It is an ancient [[Indian subcontinent]]al standard unit of distance, in use since at least 4 BC. According to the ''Artha-śāstra'', a ''krośa'' or ''kos'' is about 3000 meters or 1.8 miles.{{fact|date=August 2021}}

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 33 inches, making the ''kos'' approximately 4191 meters.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Another conversion suggested a ''kos'' to be approximately 2 English miles.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Arthashastra Standard units==
[[File:Mughal-era Kos Minar in the Delhi National Zoo.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Kos Minar]] 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 [[India]]n units of length:<ref name=Arthashashtra>[https://archive.org/details/Arthasastra_English_Translation Arthashastra, Chanakya, 4th century BC, pp151]</ref>{{better|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* 1 Angul (approximate width of a finger) = approx. 3/4 of an inch;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 4 Angul = Dhanurgrah (bow grip) = 3 in;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 8 Angul = 1 Dhanurmushti (fist with thumb raised) = 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) = 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) = 18 in;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 4 Aratni (Haath) = 1 Dand or Dhanush (bow) = 6&nbsp;ft;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 10 Dand = 1 Rajju = 60&nbsp;ft;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 2 Rajju = 1 Paridesh = 120&nbsp;ft;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 10 Rajju = 1  Goruta = 219 yards or {{fraction|1|8}} miles - nearly 200&nbsp;m;{{fact|date=August 2021}}
* 10 Goruta= 1 Krosh/ Kos = Nearly 3350 Yards or 3060 meters or 1.9 Miles{{fact|date=August 2021}}

==Conversion to SI units and Imperial units==
Kos may also refer to roughly  1.8&nbsp;km (1.12 mile)<ref>''Measure for Measure'', Young & Glover, 1996</ref>  ''Arthashastra Standard unit'' of Kos or krosh is equal to 3075 [[metre]]s in [[SI units]] and 1.91 [[mile]]s in [[Imperial units]].<ref name=StdConv1>Cosmic Order and Cultural Astronomy: Sacred Cities of India, By Rana P. B. Singh with a Foreword by John, 2009. pp.4</ref>{{dubious|date=August 2021}}

==Usage of Kos==
Evidence of official usage exists from [[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 [[720 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra]]. Along [[India]]'s old highways, particularly the [[Grand Trunk Road]], one still finds 16th to early 18th century ''[[Kos Minar]]s'', or mile markers, erected at distances of a little over two miles.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* Measurement
** [[Rajju|Hasta]], unit of smaller distance
** [[Yojana]], unit of longer distance
** [[Palya]], unit of time
** [[Vedic meter]], 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]]
{{col div end}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

{{SI units of length}}

[[Category:Units of length]]
[[Category:Customary units in India]]
[[Category:Hindu astronomy]]
[[Category:Indian mathematics]]
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]


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