https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2409%3A4041%3AE99%3AC372%3A20B6%3A2F41%3A4D82%3AD841Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-08-30T01:53:17ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mithqal&diff=236188Mithqal2021-10-15T15:29:04Z<p>2409:4041:E99:C372:20B6:2F41:4D82:D841: </p>
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<div>{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}<br />
[[File:Dinar of Abd al-Malik, AH 75.jpg|thumb|180px|Gold dinar of [[Umayyad Caliph]] [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]], minted at [[Damascus]], [[Syria]] in [[Hijri year|AH]] 75 (697/698 [[Common Era|CE]]), having a weight of almost 1 ''mithqāl'' (4.25 grams)]]<br />
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'''Mithqāl''' ({{lang-ar|{{big|مثقال}}}}) is a unit of mass equal to {{convert|4.25|g|ozt|lk=out}} which is mostly used for measuring precious metals, such as [[gold]], and other commodities, like [[saffron]].<br />
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The name was also applied as an alternative term for the [[gold dinar]], a coin that was used throughout much of the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]] from the 8th century onward and survived in parts of Africa until the 19th century.<ref>{{Citation|last=Johnson|first=Marion|year=1968|title=The Nineteenth-Century Gold 'Mithqal' in West and North Africa|publisher=Cambridge University Press|journal=The Journal of African History|volume=9|number=4|pages=547–569|issn=0021-8537|jstor=180144|doi=10.1017/s0021853700009038}}</ref> The name of [[Mozambique]]'s currency since 1980, the ''[[metical]]'', is derived from ''mithqāl''.<ref>[http://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/metical "Metical"] in ''Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa com Acordo Ortográfico''. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2015. Accessed 1 April 2015. {{in lang|pt}}</ref><br />
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==Etymology==<br />
The word ''mithqāl'' ({{lang-ar|{{big|مثقال}}}}; “weight, unit of weight”) comes from the Arabic ''thaqala'' ({{big|ثقل}}), meaning “to weigh”. Other variants of the unit in English include ''miskal'' (from [[Persian language|Persian]] or [[Urdu]] {{big|مثقال}}; ''misqāl''), ''mithkal, mitkal'' and ''mitqal.''<br />
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== Indian mithqaal ==<br />
In [[India]], the measurement is known as ''mithqaal''. It contains 4 {{transl|hi|mashas}} and 3½ {{transl|hi|raties}} (rata'ii; مثقال).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfovAQAAIAAJ&q=mithqal+mashas&dq=mithqal+mashas&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiP-tWY5uDTAhXLDcAKHWwLAFsQ6AEINjAD|title=Quarterly Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society|date=2006-01-01|publisher=Pakistan Historical Society.|pages=86|language=en}}</ref><br />
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It is equivalent to 4.25&nbsp;grams when measuring [[gold]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=138246|title=Assessing the Nisaab of bank notes|year=2007|work=IslamWeb|access-date=2007-03-09}}</ref> or 4.5&nbsp;grams when measuring commodities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islamic-world.net/economics/word/m.htm|title=M|work=Economic Glossary|access-date=2007-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928134913/http://www.islamic-world.net/economics/word/m.htm|archive-date=2007-09-28|url-status=dead}}</ref> It may be more or less than this.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theclearpath.com/glossary.php?cat=0&start=275&sid=bdcf2885f511acea83f48c3fbad9947c|title=Glossary|year=2005|work=The Clear Path|access-date=2007-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928025356/http://www.theclearpath.com/glossary.php?cat=0&start=275&sid=bdcf2885f511acea83f48c3fbad9947c|archive-date=2007-09-28}}</ref><br />
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==Conversion factors==<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Unit <br />
! Mithqāl<br />
! [[Gold dinar]]<br />
! [[Dirham]]<br />
! [[Gram]]<br />
! [[Troy Ounce|Troy ounce]]<br />
! [[Ounce]]<br />
! [[Grain (unit)|Grain]]<br />
|-<br />
| Mithqāl<br />
| 1<br />
| 1<br />
| 0.70<br />
| 4.25<br />
| 0.13664<br />
| 0.14991<br />
| 65.5875<br />
|}<br />
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The mithqāl in another more modern calculation is as follows:<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|-<br />
! Unit <br />
! Mithqāl<br />
!Nākhud<br />
![[Gram]]<br />
![[Ounce]]<br />
|-<br />
| Mithqāl<br />
| 1<br />
|19<br />
|3.642<br />
|0.117<br />
|}<br />
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Nakhud is a [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] unit of mass used by [[Bahá'u'lláh]].<ref name=PSEncyclo2000GB>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7oQAQAAIAAJ&dq=nakhuds&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=nakhuds |last=Smith |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Smith (historian) |year=2000 |edition=illustrated, reprint |title=Nakhud |pages=250 |encyclopedia=A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |place=[[Oxford]] |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |access-date=2020-10-20 |via=[[Google Books]] |url-access=limited }}</ref> The mithqāl had originally consisted of 24 nakhuds, but in the [[Bayán]], the collective works of the [[Báb]], this was reduced to 19.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5ryCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA508|title=La relevancia de la pragmática en la traducción de textos multi-culturales: versión del Kitab-i-Aqdas|last=Honeyman|first=Nobel Augusto Perdu|date=2004-05-05|publisher=Universidad Almería|isbn=9788482406473|pages=508|language=es}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Troy ounce]]<br />
* [[Gram]]<br />
* [[Gold gram]]<br />
* [[Nisab]]<br />
* [[Mithqal Al Fayez]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}{{Wiktionary}}<br />
{{Islamic banking and finance}}<br />
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[[Category:Units of mass]]<br />
[[Category:Measurement]]<br />
[[Category:Ottoman units of measurement]]<br />
[[Category:Islamic banking]]<br />
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]<br />
[[Category:Islamic banking and finance terminology]]<br />
<br />
<br />
{{Measurement-stub}}<br />
{{Baháʼí-stub}}<br />
{{econ-hist-stub}}<br />
{{Iran-stub}}<br />
{{Turkey-stub}}<br />
{{india-culture-stub}}</div>2409:4041:E99:C372:20B6:2F41:4D82:D841