A number of
units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind can be expressed as a multi ...
were used in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
to measure length, mass, capacity, etc.
Metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the definition of the Interna ...
adopted in 1923 and has been compulsory in Indonesia since 1938.
System before metric system
Old Dutch and local measures were used under
Dutch East Indies. Local measures were very variable, and later they have been legally defined with their metric equivalents.
Length
A number of units were used to measure length. One depa was equal to 1.70 m by its legal definition.
Some other units and their legal equivalents are given below:
1
hasta = depa
1 kilan = depa.
Mass
A number of units were used to measure mass.
Ordinary
One pikol (or one pecul) was equal to kg by its legal definition.
Some other units and their legal equivalents are given below:
1 thail = pikol
1 catti = pikol
1 kabi = pikol
1 kulack = 0.0725 pikol
1 amat = 2 pikol
1 small
bahar = 3 pikol
1 large
bahar = 4.5 pikol
1 timbang = 5 pikol
1 kojang (Batavia) = 27 pikol = 1667.555 kg
1 kojang (Semarang) = 28 pikol = 1729.316 kg
1 kojang (Soerabaya) = 30 pikol = 1852.839 kg.
For precious metals
One thail was equal to 54.090 kg by its legal definition.
Some other units and their legal equivalents are given below:
1 wang = thail
1 tali = thail
1 soekoe = thail
1 reaal = thail.
For opium
One thail was equal to 38.601 kg by its legal definition.
Some other units and their legal equivalents are given below:
1 tji = thail
1 tjembang Mata = thail
1 hoen = thail.
Area
Several units were used to measure area. One bahoe (or 1 bouw) was equal to 7096.5 m
2 and lieue
2 (Geographic) was equal to 55.0632 km by its legal definition.
Capacity
Two systems, dry and liquid, were used to measure capacity.
Dry
Several units were used to measure dry capacity. One kojang was equal to 2011.2679
L by its legal definition.
One pikol was equal to kojang.
Liquid
A number of units were used to measure liquid capacity. Some other units and their legal equivalents are given below:
1 takar (for oil) = 25.770
L
1 kit (for oil) = 15.159
L
1 koelak (for oil) = 3.709
L
1 kan (for various products) = 1.575
L
1 mutsje (for various products) = 0.1516
L
1 pintje (for oil) = 0.0758
L.
Sumatra
Several local units were used in
Sumatra.
Length
Units for length included:
1 etto = 2 jankal
1 hailoh = 2 etto
1 tung = 4 hailoh = 12 feet.
Capacity
Units for capacity included:
1 koolah = 2.1173 bushel
1 pakha = 0.14535 gallon.
Mass
Units for mass included:
1
catty
The catty, kati or , pronounced as jin in Mandarin and gan in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries in some wet markets, street markets, and shops ...
= 2.118 lb
1
maund
The maund (), mun or mann (Bengali: ; Urdu: ) is the anglicized name for a traditional unit of mass used in British India, and also in Afghanistan, Persia, and Arabia:. the same unit in the Mughal Empire was sometimes written as ''mann'' or ''mun ...
= 77 lb
1 pecul = lb
1 candil = lb
1 ootan (for camphor) = 4 lb.
Java
Several local units were used in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
. Old Dutch units too were in use, and other units were varied for example one town to another.:
Length
One covid was equal to yard and other units were Dutch.
Mass
Units for mass included:
1 gantang (for coffee) = 10 catties
1 pecul = 100 catties = 135.6312 lb
1
bahar (at
Bantam) = 396 lb
1
bahar (at
Bantam; used for pepper) = 406.78 lb
1
bahar (at
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
) = 610.17 lb
1 timbang (for grain) = 677.9625 lb
1
(at
Bantam) = 0.1511 lb
1
(at
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
) = 0.0847 lb.
Capacity
Units for capacity included:
1 kanne = 0.394 gallons
1 legger (for arrack) = 160.0 gallons
1 bambou (at
Bantam) = 0.09223 bushels
1 koyang = 147.568 bushels
1 koyang (at
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
; measure for rise) = bushels.
Celebes
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sul ...
(Modern Sulawesi)
Units were resemble or identical with the units of neighbouring islands under Netherlands.
Mass
One pecul was equal to 135.64 lb.
Molucca
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
Islands
Dutch units and other units resembling the units in Java, Sumatra, etc. were used.
Amboyna
=Mass
=
Units included:
1 bahar = 597.61 lb
1 mace = grain
1 tael = 55.3371 bushel.
Ternate
Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the ...
=Mass
=
One catty was equal to 1.3017 lb.
References
{{Systems of measurement
Indonesian culture
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...