Template:Other uses A guz (also spelled gaz; Template:Lang-fa; Template:Lang-hi) 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 Template:Convert 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 Template:Convert.[1] By 1875, the average value of the guz in Bengal was Template:Convert, but was Template:Convert in Madras and Template:Convert in Bombay.[1][2]
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".[3]
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 Template:Convert in India (so that "5 guzz = 4 yards").[4] 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, 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.[5]
Regional definitions
Arabia
In Arabia, it varied between Template:Convert.[6]
Persia
In Persia, it was reported in the 1880s that 1 guz was Template:Convert for cloth, but Template:Convert for silk and carpet.[7]
Nepal
In Nepal, 1 guz was Template:Convert in the 20th century.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 [{{{url}}} A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles].
- ↑ The sailor's pocket book: A Collection of Practical Rules, Notes and Tables..
- ↑ Gaj to Feet / Square Feet | Square Gaj to Square meters, Admin. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
- ↑ A Minor case: OED contributions from a prison cell http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/
- ↑ The Plymouth Command - Origin of the Nickname GUZZ http://www.godfreydykes.info/THE_PLYMOUTH_COMMAND.htm
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Guz. Sizes, Inc..
- ↑ A Minor case: OED contributions from a prison cell http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/