Units of Length Measurement and Speed of Light in Ancient India

Dr M R Goyal <mrgoyal@gmail.com> May 30, 2013

Abstract
An exact value of the unit of length measurement, used in IndusSaraswati Civilization, has been determined from the precise scale discovered by Ernest Mackay in the 1930-31 season excavation at Mohenjodaro, and further correlated with the present day units of measurement. It has then been calculated and shown that the speed of light as given in the Vedic literature, when referenced with this erstwhile unit of length measurement (used in Indus-Saraswati Civilization), works out to be precisely equal to the speed of light as per modern measurements. The present article is a step-wise process followed to unveil this equality.

The Precise Scale

In his 1930-31 season at Mohenjo-daro, Ernest Mackay discovered a broken piece of shell bearing 8 divisions of 6.7056mm each, with a dot and circle ve graduations apart, which suggests a decimal system. However, attempts by Mackay, to relate such a unit to the dimensions in Mohenjo-daro, were not very successful(ref Michel Danino [1]) and thus were abandoned.

Units of Length in Chanakya's Arthashas-

tra
Chanakya was the political mentor of the legendary Indian monarch Chandragupta Maurya of 4th century BC. He was a man learned in many disciplines and wrote the famous book

Arthashastra.

In

Arthashastra,

Chanakya

mentions two types of tances. other

One is the ordinary

Dhanusha is Angulas, used for measurement of roads and distances. Chanakya also mentions that a Dhanurgraha consists of 4 Angula s and a Yojana consists of 8000 Dhanusha s.

Dhanusha s as units for measuring lengths and disDhanusha, consisting of 96 Angula s, and the mentioned as Garhpatya Dhanusha and consists of 108

3
or 4

Decoding the Mohenjo-daro Scale

Angula s,
the precise length of an

If we keep 10 divisions of the Mohenjo-daro scale to be equal to a

Angula

Dhanurgraha

works out to be 16.764mm.

A Dhanusha of 96 Angulas = 96 16.764mm = 1.609344m

And

(1)

A Dhanusha of 108 Angulas = 108 16.764mm = 1.810512m

(2)

A Y ojana = 8000 Dhanushas(of 108 Angulas each) = 8000 1.810512m = 14.484096km

Further

(3)

(4)

14.484096km = 9 miles, (exactly !).

Also

(5)

1000 Dhanushas of 96 Angulas each = 1 mile

Interestingly, when we look into the history of mile is derived from

(6)

mille,

which means

mile, we nd that the word a thousand.

4
4.1

Other Ancient Scales

The Indus Inch

The Indus civilisation unit of length, widely known as

Indus Inch

was 1.32

Inches which is exactly equal to 2 Angulas of 16.764mm each.

4.2
The

The Gudea's Rule

Gudea's rule (2175 B.C.) preserved in the Louvre shows intervals in Sumerian Shusi of 0.66 inches, which is exactly equal to the Indus-Saraswati
Angula of 16.764mm.

4.3

Temple Wall-Engravings

Two engravings on a wall of the temple at Tiruputtkali (12th Century A.D.) near Kanchipuram, show two scales[8] one measuring 7.24 metres in length, with markings dividing the scale into 4 equal parts, and the second one measuring 5.69 metres in length and markings dividing the scale into 4 equal parts. It may be observed that each division of the rst scale is precisely equal to a Dhanusha of 108 Angulas of 16.764mm each. Interestingly, the second scale is precisely equal to

times Dhanusha i.e. equal to the circumference

of a circle with one Dhanusha as its Diameter. It is interesting to note here that Mackay reports[9] at Mohenjo-daro, a lane and a doorway having both a width of 1.42m, which is precisely equal to one division of the second scale at the Tiruputtkali Temple, indicating that both the scales were prevalent in Indus-Saraswati Civilization as well as in South India.

Correlation with Dimensions of Ancient Structures

5.1

Mohenjo-daro's Great Bath

The height of the corbelled drain forming the outlet of Mohenjo-daro's Great Bath[2, pp. 133-142] is about 1.8m, which is equal to a Dhanusha of 108 Angulas of 16.764mm each.

5.2

Standard Street-Widths

Kalibangam, a city in the Indus-Saraswati Civilization (in Rajasthan, India) had street widths[3] of 1.8m, 3.6m, 5.4m and 7.2m i.e. 4 Dhanushas respectively. built to the stanBigdard dimensions being equal to 1 Dhanusha, 2 Dhanushas, 3 Dhanushas and Such widths are found at other sites also. ger streets of Banawali[3] another town in Indus-Saraswati Civilization (in Haryana, India) measure 5.4m i.e 3 Dhanushas.

5.3

The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt 3104BC[12]

From accurate measurements of the base of the Great Pyramid, the length of its north-west-south-east diagonal works out to 325.87 m, which is precisely equal to 180

Dhanushas

of 108

Angulas

each, the dierence being only 0.02 m,

which is well within the error of measurement. Clearly the Indus Saraswati units of length were prevalent in Egypt at that time.

5.4

Taj Mahal

A Persian manuscript Shah Jahan Nama contains a very particular description of three principal buildings of Agra  the Taj Mahal, Moti Masjid and Jamah Masjid. In the Shah Jahan Nama, the dimensions of these three buildings are given in

Gaz.

These dimensions were got measured by col. J.A.

Hodgson in December, 1825, in feet and inches. The various (28) dimensions, in feet and inches, as well as in

Gaz,

are given by Hodgson in his article[4],

in Table A. The weighted mean length of a

Gaz

works out to 31.7 inches,

(80.5 cm) from Table A. It is pertinent to mention here that Barraud[5, pp. 108-109, 258-259] in The Complete Taj Mahal and the River front Columns of Agra, has taken a a

Dhanusha

of 96

Gaz as Angulas.

equal to 80.5cm which is precisely equal to half

5.5

Mayan City in Mexico (North America)

Drewitt[6] and Drucker[7] made a study of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, belonging to

Mayan

Civilization , in Mexico, and hypothesised a unit of

80.5cm, which is precisely equal to half a

Dhanusha

of 96

Angulas.

Speed of light in Vedic Literature

Sayanacharya

In the commentary on Rig-Veda, Mandal 1, Sukta 50, Mantra 4, (14th Century AD) writes: ...

Meaning. . . Salutations to Thee (the Sun) who approacheth (at a speed of )

2202 yojanas

in a

nimishardha. shloka. th 67] to the son of Kanva Maharshi (5

4

Clearly it is the Speed of light(or sunrays) that is mentioned in the This

shloka

is attributed[10, pp.

mellenium B.C.).

Bhatt Bhaskara (10th Century A.D.) also mentions[11]

this shloka, in his commentary on Taittiriya Brahmana. To put it in mathematical terms, as stated by the above shloka, the speed of light would be:

Speed Of Light = 2202 Y ojanas/N imishardha

of

(7)

As we have calculated earlier, a Yojana = 14.484096 Km. For the value

Nimishardha,
15 30 30 30 Thus

we refer to

Vishnu Purana

(Book 1, Chpater 3, shloka 8,9),

wherein it is stated that:

Nimisha s Kashta s Kala s Muhurta s

= 1 = 1 = 1 = 1

Kashtha Kala Muhurta day & night

one day & night = 405, 000 N imishas = 810, 000 N imishardhas.
(Literal meaning of In that a stitute one

(8)

Nimishardha being half a Nimisha ). Surya Sidhant (Chapter 1, Shloka 12), it is stated Muhurta

Sidereal Day and Night (

= 2

that 60

Nadis

con-

). It is also well known

Nadi s.

It is clear from this that in Astronomical calcu-

lations, the sidereal day was taken as the unit of time. A sidereal day is the time taken by the stellar constellations to complete one revolution around the Earth. A sidereal day is equal to 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds, or equivalently 86,164.1 sec. Thus. . .

N imishardha = 86164.1/810000 sec = 0.1063754sec

(9)

The speed of light as given in the Vedic Literature therefor comes out to be:

2202 14.484096 km = 2.998 105 km/sec 0.1063754 sec

(10)

which is precisely equal to the speed of light as per the latest modern measurements.

Conclusions

From the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. The basic unit of length measurement in the Indus-Saraswati Civilization was an

Angul

of 16.764mm. This unit was used not only in the

Indus-Saraswati Civilization, but also in South India, and other ancient world Civilizations including tions. 2. The modern age concept of globalization was an established way of life in the Vedic/Indus-Saraswati Civilization era, as proven by the shared unit of length measurement found across far-ung cultures spread over Asia, Europe, Africa and America. 3. The Speed of Light as given in the Vedic literature, is precisely equal to the Speed of Light as per modern measurements, which shows that during the period 5000 B.C. to 3000 B.C., Science and Technology was very much advanced, which was somehow lost during the medieval ages.

Sumerian, Egyptian

and

Mayan

Civiliza-

References
[1] Danino, Michel Books, 2010. [2] Jansen, Michael

The Lost River  On the Trail of Saraswati, Mohenjo-daro: architecture et urbanisme,

Penguin

Les cits ou-

blies de lndus: Archologie du Pakistan, 1988. [3] Lal, B.B.

The Earliest Civilization of South Asia, Aryan Books InternaMemoir on the Length of the Illahi, Guz,
Journal of

tional, New Delhi, 1997 [4] Hodgson, Col. J.A.

the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland., 1840. [5] Barraud, R.A.

The Complete Taj Mahal and the Riverfront Gardens of Agra (ed. Koch E.) Thames and Hudson. London, 2006. Measurement Units and Building Areas at Teotihuacan,
1987

[6] Drewitt,

[7] Drucker, R. David.

Precolumbian Mesoamerican Measurement Systems: Unit Standards for Length, 1977

[8] James Heitzman and S. Rajagopal,

Urban Geography and Land Measurement in the Twelfth Century : The Case of Kanchipuram, The Indian
Economic and Social History Review. SAGE, 2004

[9] Mackay, E.J.H.,

Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro,

Govt. of India.

vol. I. republished Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998.

[10]

Pride of India,

Published by Sanskrit Bharati, 2006. 2001.

[11] Subhash Kak,

The Speed of Light and Puranic Cosmology,

[12] S.G. Taseos: Back in Time 3104 B.C. to the Great Pyramid, 1990