https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=A%E1%B9%85gulaAṅgula - Revision history2026-07-31T18:21:25ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=A%E1%B9%85gula&diff=183144&oldid=prev>John Maynard Friedman at 21:57, 9 October 20202020-10-09T21:57:16Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Aṅgula''' (from {{lang-sa|अङ्गुल}} {{lang|sa|aṅgula}} - 'a finger; the thumb; a finger's breadth'<ref>Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Monier-Williams, 1899</ref>) is a measure equal to eight barley-corns. Twelve ''aṅgulas'' make a [[Vitasti]] or span, and twenty-four a [[Hasta (unit)|Hasta]] or [[Cubit]]. 108 Angulam make a 'Dhanusha'. These measurements are claimed{{by whom|date=May 2015}} to have been used since the Harappan civilization and that these were also used for the construction of Taj Mahal. <br />
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One ''Aṅgula'' during the Maurya period is believed to be approximately equal to 1.763 centimetres. Dimensional analysis of the oldest engineered caves at the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills (dated to the Mauryan Period) has revealed that the basic length measure (angulam) of this period was 1.763 cm. The planning of these cave complexes was executed using the traditional measurement units mentioned in the Arthashastra, in particular the Danda measuring 96 Angulams. As the basic length measure is also noted in several Harappan civilization sites, this sudy confirms that Harappan metrological ideas were transmitted virtually unchanged from the Harappan civilization to the Ganga civilization, thereby proving the continuity of the people themselves who built their settlements upon this tradition.<ref> [http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_097_05_0680_0682_0.pdf New Insights on metrology during Maurya period]</ref><br />
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In the Hindu {{lang|sa|Āgamas}}, the size of an aṅgula is considerably larger{{snd}} "the length of the middle digit <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[phalange]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> of the middle finger",<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35798/page/n10/mode/1up | title= "Talamana Or Iconometry," Memoirs Of The Archaeological Survey Of India No. 3 |location=Calcutta |publisher = Superintendent Government Printing |year = 1920 | author = T. A. Gopinatha Rao, M.A.| page= 38}}</ref> (about 4.5 cm), but the ratios with the larger units remain unchanged.<ref>''ibid''</ref><br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Angula}}<br />
[[Category:Units of length]]<br />
[[Category:Customary units in India]]<br />
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]</div>>John Maynard Friedman