>ClueBot NG at 14:57, 25 October 2020

2020-10-25T14:57:08Z

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{{other uses}}
A '''guz''' (also spelled '''gaz'''; {{lang-fa|گز}}; {{lang-hi|गज़}}) or '''Mughal yard''' is a [[unit of length]] used in parts of [[Asia]]. Historically, it was a regionally variable measurement, similar to the English [[yard]] both in size and in that it was often used for measuring textiles. Values of the guz ranged from {{convert|24|to|41|in|lk=in}} over time. Today, it is generally used in the Indian subcontinent as the word for a yard. A present day [[sari]] is still measured as 7 guz while a traditional one can be as long as 9 guz.

==History==
Use of the guz in India was first established during the [[Mughal Empire]]. The guz in [[Rajasthan]] at the end of the 17th century was quoted as being {{convert|28+1/2|in}}.<ref name="OED">{{citation | contribution = Guz | title = A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles | volume = 4 | page = 525 | year = 1900| title-link = Oxford English Dictionary }}</ref> By 1875, the average value of the guz in [[Bengal]] was {{convert|36|in|yd mm}}, but was {{convert|33|in}} in [[Madras]] and {{convert|27|in}} in [[Bombay]].<ref name="OED"/><ref>{{citation | author = Bedford, Frederick George D. | authorlink = Frederick Bedford | year = 1875 | title = The sailor's pocket book: A Collection of Practical Rules, Notes and Tables | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BmABAAAAQAAJ | page = 323}}.</ref>

By the 20th century, the guz was uniformly quoted as being equal in length to one yard in the [[English system]], or 0.91 metres in the [[metric system]].

The guz is still commonly used in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It has become the standard word in [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] for "yard".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.areaconvert.com/2019/10/gaj-to-feet-square-feet-square-gaj-to.html|title=Gaj to Feet / Square Feet {{!}} Square Gaj to Square meters|last=Admin|access-date=2019-10-04}}</ref>

==Name==
The word ''guz'' (also spelled ''guzz'', at the time) entered the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] in the late 19th century, having been originally submitted by the noted lexicographer [[William Chester Minor]], originally as being equal to {{convert|28+4/5|in}} in India (so that "5 guzz = 4 yards").<ref>A Minor case: OED contributions from a prison cell http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/</ref> The word also is reputed to have given the [[Royal Navy]] base at [[HMNB Devonport]], in [[Plymouth]], the affectionate nickname of "Guzz", as sailors referring to the [[Dockyard Port of Plymouth|Dockyard]], used to regularly abbreviate the word to simply "The Yard", leading to the slang use of the Hindi word for the unit of measurement of the same name.<ref>The Plymouth Command - Origin of the Nickname GUZZ http://www.godfreydykes.info/THE_PLYMOUTH_COMMAND.htm</ref>

==Regional definitions==

===Arabia===
In [[Arabia]], it varied between {{convert|27|and|37|in}}.<ref name="Sizes">{{citation | title = Guz | url = http://www.sizes.com/units/guz.htm | work = [http://www.sizes.com/indexes.htm Sizes, grades, units, scales, calendars, chronologies] | publisher = Sizes, Inc. | year = 2008 | accessdate = 2007-01-20}}</ref>

===Persia===
In [[Persia]], it was reported in the 1880s that 1 guz was {{convert|37+1/2|in}} for cloth, but {{convert|27|in}} for silk and carpet.<ref>A Minor case: OED contributions from a prison cell http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/</ref>

===Nepal===
In [[Nepal]], 1 guz was {{convert|1|yd}} in the 20th century.<ref name="Sizes" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{citation | author = Prinsep, James | year = 1840 | title = Useful tables, forming an appendix to the Journal of the Asiatic Society: part the first, Coins, weights, and measures of British India | url = https://archive.org/details/usefultablesfor01pringoog | edition = 2nd | publisher = Bishop's College Press}}

[[Category:Units of length]]
[[Category:Customary units in India]]
[[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]

Guz - Revision history

>ClueBot NG at 14:57, 25 October 2020