The oka, okka, or oke () was an Ottoman measure of

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, equal to 400 dirhems (Ottoman

dram Dram, DRAM, or drams may refer to: Technology and engineering * Dram (unit), a unit of mass and volume, and an informal name for a small amount of liquor, especially whisky or whiskey * Dynamic random-access memory, a type of electronic semicondu ...

s). Its value varied, but it was standardized in the late empire as 1.2829

kilogram The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...

s. 'Oka' is the most usual spelling today; 'oke' was the usual contemporary English spelling; 'okka' is the modern Turkish spelling, and is usually used in academic work about the Ottoman Empire. In

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, oka varied in weight between 1.25 kg (small oka) and 1.408 kg (large oka) depending on the region. It was formally replaced by the metric system in 1922 but continued to be used until a comprehensive implementation of the metric system in 1946. In

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the traditional unit is now called the ''eski okka'' 'old oka' or ''kara okka'' 'black okka'; the ''yeni okka'' 'new okka' is the kilogram. In

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, the oka (, plural ) was standardized at 1.282 kg and remained in use until traditional units were abolished on March 31, 1953—the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

had been adopted in 1876, but the older units remained in use. In

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, the oka was equal to 1.270058636 kg or 4 onjas, each weighing 100 drams, and it remained in use until 1986, when Cyprus adopted the metric system. OED In

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, the monetary oka weighted 1.23536 kg. In

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

, it weighed 1.2208 kg, equal to 2½ artals. The oka was also used as a unit of

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

. In

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, it was 1.283 liters of liquid and 1.537 L of grain (

dry measure Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to ** Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medica ...

). In Greece, an oka of oil was 1.280 kg, which would have translated to about 1.340 litres (at 0.916 kg/l).

References

General references

* A.D. Alderson and Fahir İz, ''The Concise Oxford Turkish Dictionary'', 1959 * Γ. Μπαμπινιώτης (Babiniotis), Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens, 1998 *

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...

, 1911 * La Grande Encyclopédie * Diran Kélékian, ''Dictionnaire Turc-Français'', Constantinople: Imprimerie Mihran, 1911 * OED Obsolete units of measurement Units of mass Units of volume Ottoman units of measurement {{standard-stub