BANKING TRADE AND COMMERCE

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

At the time the Old District Gazetteer of Chanda was published, there were no standard weights and measures in the district. The chief measures in use were the paili weighing 100 tolas or 2½ English pounds, and the kuro composed of eight pailis. At certain places such as Rajgarh and Talodhi the paili was some-what larger and weighed 105 tolas. Kuros were of two kinds: the lambari kuro comprising 8 pailis or 20 lbs. and the bhatya kuro, comprising 6 pailis or 15 lbs.; the latter was employed in calculating the grain remuneration of farm servants. One hundred and sixty pailis made one lambari khandi while 120 pailis made a bhatya khandi. The lowest unit of weight was the ringa;4 ringas made one seer and 4 sers made one paili. It was proposed to introduce standard weights in the municipalities of Warora and Chandrapur. These were the chatak of 5 tolas, the seer of 80 tolas, and the maund of 40 seers. The maund was of varying composition, differing in weight with different commodities as the following statement would reveal-

Sironcha had a table of weights and measures peculiar to itself. The most important weight was the tawa, which was equal to 1¾ seers or 140 tolas. Eight tawas made 1 kuncha or handi.

This system of weights and measures was gradually replaced by standard weights of maunds and seers and continued till the Government of Bombay enacted the Bombay Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1958, for the enforcement of the standard Weights and Measures based on metric system in the State. Adoption of this system began in 1958 and it was completed by the end of 1966.

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