Paisa

{{Short description|Idiom and monetary unit}} {{About|the currency unit name in general|other uses|Paisa (disambiguation)}} '''Paisa''' (also transliterated as ''pice'', ''pesa'', ''poysha'', ''poisha'' and ''baisa'') is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised idiom for money and wealth. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the ''paisa'' currently equals {{frac|1|100}} of a rupee. In Bangladesh, the ''paisa'' equals {{frac|1|100}} of a Bangladeshi taka. In Oman, the ''baisa'' equals {{frac|1|1000}} of an Omani rial.

==Etymology==

The word ''paisa'' is from the Sanskrit term ''padāṁśa'' ({{lang|sa|पदांश}}, basic unit), meaning 'quarter part base', from ''pada'' ({{lang|sa|पद}}) "foot or quarter or base" and ''aṁśa'' ({{lang|sa|अंश}}) "part or unit".<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paisa |title=paisa |encyclopedia=Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=pada&trans=Translate&direction=AU |title=pada |publisher=spokensanskrit.de (version 4.2) |access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref> The pesa was also in use in colonial Kenya. The colloquial term for money in Burmese, ''paiksan'' ({{lang|my|ပိုက်ဆံ}}), is derived from the Hindi term ''paisa'' ({{lang|hi|पैसा}}).<ref>{{cite book|title=Myanmar-English Dictionary|year=1996|publisher=Myanmar Language Commission|isbn=1-881265-47-1}}</ref> thumb|Chaulukyas. 9th–10th century. Lot of sixty-eight AR 'Gadhaiya Paise'

==History==

Chaulukya coins were often called "Gadhaiya Paise" (9th–10th century CE).<ref name="HPR">{{cite book|last1=Ray|first1=Himanshu Prabha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkyfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT162|title=Negotiating Cultural Identity: Landscapes in Early Medieval South Asian History|date=2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781000227932|pages=161–163|language=en}}</ref> Until the 1950s in India and Pakistan (and before 1947 in British India), the paisa (back then spelled as ''pice'' in English) was equivalent to 3 pies, {{frac|1|4}} of an anna, or {{frac|1|64}} of a rupee. After the transition from a non-decimal currency to a decimal currency, the paisa equaled {{frac|1|100}} of a rupee and was known as a ''naya paisa'' ("new paisa") for a few years to distinguish it from the old paisa(pice) that was {{frac|1|64}} of a rupee.

==Terminology==

In Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Afghan Persian, Urdu, Nepali and other languages, the word paisa often means money or cash. Medieval trade routes that spanned the Arabian Sea between India, the Arab regions and East Africa spread the usage of Indian subcontinent and Arabic currency terms across these areas.<ref name="gsr1953">{{Cite journal | journal=NADA: The Southern Rhodesia Native Affairs Department Annual |title=Cowry: Ndoro |issue=30 | first=M. D. W. |last=Jeffreys | year=1953 | publisher=Government of Southern Rhodesia | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7FAUAAAAIAAJ&q=currency+terms+pesa%2C+upeni | quote=...currency terms pesa, upeni, mali, khete, tickey all derive from Hindu or Arabic currency terms still in use in what was once called the Erythraean Sea |access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref> The word ''pesa'' as a reference to money in East African languages such as Swahili dates from that period.<ref name="gsr1953" /> An example of this usage is the older day Kenyan mobile-phone-based money transfer service M-Pesa (which stands for "mobile pesa" or "mobile money").

==Usage== * Paisa = {{frac|1|100}} of a Bangladeshi taka (no longer in circulation) * Paisa = {{frac|1|100}} of an Indian rupee (only 50 paisa coins are de facto valid but no longer in circulation) * Paisa = {{frac|1|100}} of a Nepalese rupee (no longer in circulation) * Baisa = {{frac|1|1000}} of an Omani rial * Paisa = {{frac|1|100}} of a Pakistani rupee (Officially demonetized from 1 October 2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sbp.org.pk/finance/Coins.asp|title=State Bank of Pakistan}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="100"> File:100 Baisa Oman reverso.png|100 Omani Baisa note (reverse) File:100 Baisa Oman.png|100 Omani Baisa note (1995) File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা সম্মূখভাগ - 50 Paisa year 2001 Front Part.png|50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001) File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা - 50 Paisa year 2001 Back Part.png|50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001, reverse) </gallery>

==See also== {{Portal|Money}} *Bangladeshi taka *Indian paisa * Eco-Pesa

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links ==

Category:Currencies of Asia Category:Currencies of Bangladesh Category:Coins of India Category:Coins of Pakistan Category:Economy of Nepal Category:Economy of Pakistan Category:Rupee