area measurement in ghaj,prevalent in north india

how to convert gaz/ghaz/gaj/ghaj .. a popular area measurement unit in north india into square feet

[Robert Fogt]

I could not find any information on that unit. Can you provide more information about it? Such as where you found it, the context it was used, etc?

Hi,

I too was interested in knowing how to convert gaz.

It is a very common form of measurement in South Asia (in particular, India and Pakistan). It was prevalent during the Mughal period and while the British did attempt to instate the metric system, a majority of the population still uses this unit.

Here is some more info on it:
en.wikipedia..org/wiki/History_of_measurement_systems_in_India
(Fix the .. thing before using the link, apparently without registering I can't post links.)

Thanks,

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi,

I too was interested in knowing how to convert gaz.

It is a very common form of measurement in South Asia (in particular, India and Pakistan). It was prevalent during the Mughal period and while the British did attempt to instate the metric system, a majority of the population still uses this unit.

Hello,

I wasn't sure about your specific reason for interest in the gaz, so I'm assuming you were inquiring about modern usage? If so, here is a webpage corroborating the value 1 gaz = 1 yard for India, and another showing the same value for Pakistan (but see the difference for Iran):

For India (Delhi, National Capital Region)--
See "Agricultural Units of Measurements Used in India" toward bottom of page
1 Gaz/yard = 1 Yard = 0.91 Meters = 36 Inch
http://www.hsngroup.com/consult.html#measurement

For Pakistan--
In Pakistan, 20th century (UN 1966), a unit of length, = 1 yard (exactly 0.9144 meter)
http://www.sizes.com/units/gaz.htm

However, the conversion can be different, depending on circumstances. The difference for Iran was already noted, and I've found references to values in India as much as 25% below the standard value above, varying with when, where, and what the gaz was being used to measure. In addition, there are different variants of the gaz with qualified names, which have different lengths.

Since the gaz predates the British presence in South Asia, the equivalence with the yard was likely instituted later to reconcile the local and Imperial measurement systems. Thus, earlier values of the gaz were different.

So, if you're interested in a value from the time of the Mughal Empire instead, or for a different part of India (e.g., Mumbai vs. Delhi), or for a different use (e.g., architecture vs. agriculture), the standard value may not apply. The information I've seen is scattered and incomplete, but if you need a further lead, feel free to post back here with more specific detail about the information you're seeking, and I might be able to help.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi,

I too was interested in knowing how to convert gaz.

It is a very common form of measurement in South Asia (in particular, India and Pakistan). It was prevalent during the Mughal period and while the British did attempt to instate the metric system, a majority of the population still uses this unit.

Here is some more info on it:
en.wikipedia..org/wiki/History_of_measurement_systems_in_India
(Fix the .. thing before using the link, apparently without registering I can't post links.)

Thanks,

Gaj - yard, 1 Yard = 3 Feet, 1 Sq.Feet = 0.1111111 sq Yard, A piece of land with 60 feet length and 24 feet width having area of 1440 sq feet. for convertion into Gaj OR yard multiply 1440 by 0.1111111, which comes to be 159.999 or say 160 Gaj/Yard...hope it is clear now

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Gaj - yard, 1 Yard = 3 Feet, 1 Sq.Feet = 0.1111111 sq Yard, A piece of land with 60 feet length and 24 feet width having area of 1440 sq feet. for convertion into Gaj OR yard multiply 1440 by 0.1111111, which comes to be 159.999 or say 160 Gaj/Yard...hope it is clear now

Hello Poster,

Could you please tell us the geographical region where the conversion 1 gaj = 1440 square feet is used?

As I mentioned in my post, different regions appear to have different values, but your value of 160 square yards is vastly larger than anything I have seen on the Web. In contemporary northern India, the references I find indicate a value of 1 square yard (9 square feet). Here are some examples....

This article in the Hindu Business Line contains the phrase "It was a 50-gaj (square yard) plot in a small colony ..."--
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...1500161100.htm

This construction company has a table showing "TOTAL AREA Sq. Yrds. (GAJ)"--
http://property.magicbricks.com/micr...li/pptown.html

This property listing shows "150 gaj" in the description and "150.0 Sq Yard" for the area, which would seem to indicate that 1 gaj = 1 square yard--
http://www.propertytalaash.com/fprop...ls.php?id=4240

As far as I underastand Gaz is Unit of Area while Yard is unit of Length.

And per my understanding 1 sq. yard == 1 Gaz.

But I haven't found anything to confirm the conversion.

hey i m working on a project in Haryana as an Architect, so information provided by you is too imp for me,, so can i rely completely on this????????????

1 Gaz (used in North India)= 9 Sqr Feet

How maney gaz in one killa can tell me pls