From Byzantium to the Republic: a history of measurement
The units used across what is now Turkey do not come from a single source: there is an unbroken historical thread running from the Byzantine Empire's fathom and litra, through the Ottoman arshin and okka, to the Old Turkic tribes' cig, and finally to the metric system adopted with the 1931 Weights and Measures Act.
This page brings together units from these three different eras. You can find each unit's modern SI equivalent, a short history, and conversion tools for related units in the sections below.
Historical Length Unit Converter
Convert instantly between arshin, endaze, the Byzantine foot, the Byzantine fathom and cig, alongside the modern meter equivalent. (For all modern length units like meters and kilometers, use the length conversions page.)
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Historical Mass Unit Converter
Convert instantly between okka, dirhem, the Byzantine litra and the Byzantine ounkia, alongside the modern gram equivalent. (For all modern mass units like kilograms and tonnes, use the mass conversions page.)
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Byzantine-Era Units of Measurement
The Byzantine Empire inherited the Ancient Greek measurement tradition and used its own length (pous, orgyia) and mass (litra, ounkia) units until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Byzantine Foot (pous)
≈ 0.3148 m — Derived from the Ancient Greek pous, used until 1453.
Byzantine Fathom (orgyia)
= 6 pous ≈ 1.8888 m — The distance between fingertips with arms spread wide.
Byzantine Litra (litra)
≈ 324 g — The base mass unit, from the tradition of the Roman libra.
Byzantine Ounkia (ounkia)
= 1/12 litra ≈ 27 g — Different from the modern imperial ounce (28.35 g).
Ottoman-Era Units of Measurement
Units such as arshin, endaze, okka and dirhem were used in Ottoman trade, construction and everyday life; they were fully abolished by the 1931 Weights and Measures Act, following the first metric reform efforts in 1869.
Arshin
≈ 0.68 m (market arshin) — 68 cm in trade, 75.77 cm in construction (architect's arshin).
Endaze
= 0.65 m — Used especially for measuring fabric and textiles.
Okka (Kiyye)
= 400 dirhem ≈ 1282.945 g — The most common weight unit used in markets and bazaars.
Dirhem
= 1/400 okka ≈ 3.207 g — Used for small quantities like precious metals, spices and medicine.
Old Turkic (Köktürk) Units of Measurement
The most important source for pre-Ottoman Turkic units of measurement is Mahmud al-Kashgari's 11th-century work Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk. Trade relations with China during the Göktürk period also led to an exchange of terminology in units of measurement.
Cig
≈ 0.333 m — An Old Turkic length unit mentioned in Mahmud al-Kashgari's Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk.
Why are these units still searched for?
Although these measures are no longer official, they are still frequently sought after in history and archaeology research, in interpreting old land registry records and endowment deeds (vakfiye) and Ottoman sharia court records, in school assignments, and among general culture enthusiasts. The tools on this page let you quickly convert these values to modern units.