{{Short description|Unit of length used in South Asia}} {{Redirect|Guj|other uses|Guz (disambiguation)|and|Guj (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox unit <!--| symbol = Ga{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}--> | standard = | quantity = [[Length]] | units2 = [[SI base unit]]s | inunits2 = 0.9144 [[Metre|m]] | units1 = [[Imperial units]] | inunits1 = {{Convert|3|ft|in|abbr=off|lk=on}} }} A '''guz''' (also spelled '''gaz''', from [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] {{wikt-lang|hi|गज़}}/{{wikt-lang|ur|گز}} and [[Persian language|Persian]] {{wikt-lang|fa|گز}}), or '''Mughal yard''', is a [[unit of length]] used in parts of Asia. Historically, it was a regionally variable measurement similar to the English [[yard]] both in size and in that it was often used for measuring textiles. Values of the guz ranged from {{convert|24|to|41|in|lk=in}} over time. Today, it is generally used in the [[Indian subcontinent]] as the word for a yard. A present day [[sari]] is still measured as 7 guz while a traditional one can be as long as 9 guz.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
==History== Use of the guz in India was first established during the [[Mughal Empire]]. The guz in [[Rajasthan]] at the end of the 17th century was quoted as being {{convert|28+1/2|in}}.<ref name="OED">{{citation | contribution = Guz | title = A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles | volume = 4 | page = 525 | year = 1900| title-link = Oxford English Dictionary }}</ref> By 1875, the average value of the guz in [[Bengal]] was {{convert|36|in|yd mm}}, but was {{convert|33|in}} in [[Madras]] and {{convert|27|in}} in [[Bombay]].<ref name="OED"/><ref>{{citation | author = Bedford, Frederick George D. | authorlink = Frederick Bedford | year = 1875 | title = The sailor's pocket book: A Collection of Practical Rules, Notes and Tables | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BmABAAAAQAAJ | page = 323}}.</ref>
By the 20th century, the guz was uniformly quoted as being equal in length to one yard in the [[English system]], or 0.91 metres in the [[metric system]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aceonlinetools.com/converters/area/square-guz-to-square-meter-sqgaj-to-sqm-converter/|title=Conversion of Square Guz to Square Meter|access-date=10 October 2022}}</ref> But there are some different values still in use, like [[Bikaner]] has 1 guz/gaz = 2 ft officially recognized and in use.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 August 2021|title=Shri Jitender Kumar Kochar, ... vs Department Of Income Tax on 12 June, 2013|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/40179591/|access-date=5 August 2021|website=Indian Kanoon}}</ref>
The guz is still commonly used in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It has become the standard word in [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] for "yard".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.areaconvert.com/2019/10/gaj-to-feet-square-feet-square-gaj-to.html|title=Gaj to Feet / Square Feet {{!}} Square Gaj to Square meters|last=Admin|access-date=4 October 2019}}</ref>
==Name== {{wiktionary|guz|gudge}} The word ''guz'' (also spelled ''guzz'', at the time) entered the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] in the late 19th century, having been originally submitted by the noted lexicographer [[William Chester Minor]], originally as being equal to {{convert|28+4/5|in}} in India (so that "5 guzz = 4 yards").<ref name="blog.oxforddictionaries.com">A Minor case: OED contributions from a prison cell http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216111334/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/02/william-minor/ |date=2013-02-16 }}</ref> The word also is reputed to have given the [[Royal Navy]] base at [[HMNB Devonport]], in [[Plymouth]], the affectionate nickname of "Guzz", as sailors referring to the [[Dockyard]], used to regularly abbreviate the word to simply "The Yard", leading to the slang use of the Hindi word for the unit of measurement of the same name.<ref>The Plymouth Command - Origin of the Nickname GUZZ http://www.godfreydykes.info/THE_PLYMOUTH_COMMAND.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120104416/http://www.godfreydykes.info/THE_PLYMOUTH_COMMAND.htm |date=2015-01-20 }}</ref>
==Regional definitions==
===Arabia=== In [[Arabia]], it varied between {{convert|27|and|37|in}}.<ref name="Sizes">{{citation | title = Guz | url = http://www.sizes.com/units/guz.htm | work = Sizes, grades, units, scales, calendars, chronologies] | publisher = Sizes, Inc. | year = 2008 | accessdate = 20 January 2007}}</ref>
===Persia=== In [[Persia]], it was reported in the 1880s that 1 guz was {{convert|37+1/2|in}} for cloth, but {{convert|27|in}} for silk and carpet.<ref name="blog.oxforddictionaries.com"/>
===Nepal=== In [[Nepal]], 1 guz was {{convert|1|yd}} in the 20th century.<ref name="Sizes" />
===Southeast Asia=== 1 [[Malay world|Malay]] ''gaz'' is around {{convert|33|in|ft|abbr=off|lk=off}} or 83.82 centimetres.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=gaz|url=http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Cari1?keyword=gaz|dictionary=Kamus Dewan|publisher=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia|date=2017|edition=4th}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == *{{citation | author = Prinsep, James | year = 1840 | title = Useful tables, forming an appendix to the Journal of the Asiatic Society: part the first, Coins, weights, and measures of British India | url = https://archive.org/details/usefultablesfor01pringoog | edition = 2nd | publisher = Bishop's College Press}}
[[Category:Customary units of length in India]] [[Category:Obsolete units of measurement]]