Maund

Indian subcontinentTraditional unit (still used in some regions)

40 seers, about 37.32 kg (82 2/7 lb). The standard British Indian unit for bulk goods; values varied across regions.

1 maund = 37.32417216 kilograms (exactly).

About the maund

Across the Indian subcontinent the maund, also spelled mun or mann, served for centuries as the working weight of the grain market, the warehouse and the tax collector. Its size was never fixed. A survey made for the East India Company in 1821 found Bengal maunds near 80 pounds, Bombay maunds near 28 pounds, and Madras maunds near 25 pounds, while a few western districts used 64-seer maunds of well over 130 pounds.

Earlier rulers had their own values too. Estimates for the Delhi Sultanate under Alauddin Khalji are around 15 kg, and for Akbar's Mughal Empire anywhere from about 15.75 kg to 21.3 kg depending on how the sources are read. The word has a close counterpart in the Ottoman and Central Asian batman.

The Bengal Presidency settled the matter for British India in 1833 by defining the maund as 100 troy pounds, or 82.28 pounds avoirdupois, and the standard spread across the Raj. It was divided into 40 seers. After independence the figure was restated as 37.3242 kg, which is the one used here. Wikipedia notes that Bangladesh and the southern plains of Nepal use a rounded 40 kg maund, and that its own article gives Pakistan both 40 kg and 37.3242 kg.

Sources: Wikipedia: Maund (unit)

Maund conversion chart

1 maund expressed in every other weight & mass unit:

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• seer (weight & mass)
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