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Book/Printed Material Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi miqyāsāt. نظامنامۀ مقياسات.

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About this Item

Title

  • Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi miqyāsāt.

Other Title

  • نظامنامۀ مقياسات.

Summary

  • Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi miqyāsāt (Rule book for measurement standards) deals with the standardization of measurement systems pertaining to length and weight, as well as currency. It was published in Afghanistan during the reign of Amanullah Khan (1919-29), the ruler under whom Afghanistan won its full independence from Great Britain. The book provides the names for the subdivisions and multiples of the units of length and weight in the metric system (i.e., the meter and the gram), but it does not provide information relating these new units to traditional units of measure, such as the dharʻ for length and the mithqal for weight. The introduction of the new standards was instead based on official prototypes that were shipped to various locations in Afghanistan and used as points of reference. The discussion of currency does provide conversion rates for the new monetary unit, the afghani, a silver coin weighing 10 grams that replaced the Kabuli rupee (at a rate of 11 Kabuli rupees to 10 afghanis). Also listed in the work are two gold coins, the amani and the half amani, named in honor of the Afghan ruler, and valued at 20 afghanis and 10 afghanis, respectively. The work includes an implementation timetable, which requests that the conversion project be completed by the spring of 1929, and warns that unspecified penalties will be imposed on those failing to make the conversion to the new system. The work was published in March 1926, in 50 copies, at the Rafiq printing press in Kabul. The author is unknown, but the book is stamped with the official seal of Amanullah Khan. Niẓāmnāmah-i albisah-i ʼaskarīyah (Military uniform regulation book), a slightly earlier work dealing with military uniform regulations under Amanullah Khan, appears to reflect a similar preoccupation with standardization as a key to progress. World Digital Library.
  • Regulations of measuring systems for Afghanistan during the reign of Amanullah Khan, 1892-1960, the Amir of Afghanistan.

Names

  • Afghanistan.

Created / Published

  • [Kabul] : Maṭbaʻah-ʼi Ḥūrūfī-i Riyāsat-i Shirkat-i Rafīq, 1304 [1926]

Headings

  • -  Afghanistan

Notes

  • -  Imperial seal of Amir of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan, dated 1301 [1922 or 1923] is stamped at page 6.
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
  • -  In Persian.
  • -  Acquired for LC only.

Medium

  • 6 pages ; 21 cm

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2002344691

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of Congress Persian Language Manuscript Project are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, African and Middle East Division, Near East Section Persian Manuscript Collection

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Afghanistan. Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi Miqyāsāt. [Kabul: Maṭbaʻah-ʼi Ḥūrūfī-i Riyāsat-i Shirkat-i Rafīq, 1926, 1926] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002344691/.

APA citation style:

Afghanistan. (1926) Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi Miqyāsāt. [Kabul: Maṭbaʻah-ʼi Ḥūrūfī-i Riyāsat-i Shirkat-i Rafīq, 1926] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002344691/.

MLA citation style:

Afghanistan. Niẓāmnāmah-ʼi Miqyāsāt. [Kabul: Maṭbaʻah-ʼi Ḥūrūfī-i Riyāsat-i Shirkat-i Rafīq, 1926, 1926] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2002344691/>.