Indian Antiquary Vol 26

SR No.: 032518
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 360
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 216

210
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(AUGUST, 1897.
£238-2-0 sterling. Bat of course no Burman would think of making such a calculation as this.
• In making presents, the quality of the silver was discreetly omitted, and merely the weight was given. Thus, in Symes, Ava, p. 493, we find the chief Queen of King Bodòp'aya presenting the Governor-General with " a silver box weighing 90 tackall, and a silver cup of 114 tackall. Also another silver box weighing 44 tackall and another cup weighing 6 tackall, and two silver trays, one weighing 66 tackall, the other 77." The "tackall" on this occasion was "a little more than half an ounce," as Symes tells us.
From the Kalyani (Pega) Inscriptions, dated 1476, A. D.,93 we have some very interesting evidence on this head, as it not only shews that at that time gold, silver and jewels were valued by weight, but also that the tickal of silver was then, as now, the standard of value.94
King Dhammachêtt of Pegu sent emissaries to Ceylon, and offered, among other things, to the Holy Tooth Relic, "& stone almsbowl, embellished with sapphires of great value and having for its cover a pyramidal covering made of gold weighing 50 phalas; an almsbowl with stand and cover complete made of gold weighing 60 phalas; a golden vase weighing 30 phalas; a duodecagonal betel-box made of gold weighing 30 phalas ; & golden relic-receptacle weighing 33 phalas." He also sent "for presentation to Bhúvanêkabaha, King of Sinhaladipa (Ceylon) :-two sapphires valued at 200 phalas of silver ; two rabies valued at 430 phalas." Also “200 phalas of gold were given to the emissaries for the purpose of providing the 22 thóras (monks) and their disciples with the "four requisites."
Now, the PAli phala is the Sanskrit pala, for which the modern Burmese equivalent is 16(1),a weight equal to 5 tickals (kyat), or 20 to the pêkbú (vissa), i.e., 20 to the viss. The oli pala, however, as far as I can at present calculate, was about half the modern 66(1), or weight of 5 tickals.
That the old priests of Burms intended to calculate weights in the old familiar Indian style of pala and tula, wbatever weights they may have meant by these denominations, is clear from the statement in the same Kalyani Inscriptions, that King Dhammachett presented to the chétiya at Tigampanagara, i.e., to the Shwedagon Pagoda at Rangoon, "a large bell made of brass, weighing 3,000 tulás:"97 Taking the tula at about 145 oz. troy, iie, about 10 lbs. av., we get the weight of this bell to be about 11 2/5 tons. A weight, I may Bay, more than doubled by the Mahaghanta, or Great Bell, of the same Pagoda, cast in 1842 by King Dârâwadi, and usually said to weigh over 25 tons; while King Bôdòp'aya's (1781-1819) bell at Myingun weighs about 80 tons.
• Ante, Vol. XXII. p. 11.
# In 1436 A, D. and 1618 A, D., we find the Chinese valuing gold coins by weight. Indo-China, 2nd Series, Vol. I. pp. 215, 222.
· Latter's Burmese Grammar, p. 170.
► Vis., 1.59 oz. av. against 2-92 os. Bat the point will be discussed later in its appropriate place. So the Siamese catty is double the Chinese catty. See Crawford, Biam, p. 381.
OT Ante, Vol. XXII. p. 45, where tula is unfortunately miaprinted tola.
» Phayre, Hist. of Burma, p. 219. King Dhammacheti's bell, I am told by the Trustees of the Shwedagon Pagoda, never reached the Pagoda, having been dropped in the stream, Dear Raugoon, known as the Pazundsung Creek. It may be there nevertheless, as the second large bell in the North-West ogrner of the Pagoda platform was "the greut bell" of the War of 1824, and was then estimated to weigh 18,000 lbs., or about 8 tons. See Laurie, Second Burmese War, Rangoon, p. 126. There is a valuable note on the two great bells in Bigaodet's Life of Gaudanu, Or. Ser. Ed., Vol. I. p. 74. The Bishop makes the weight of the Mahaghants to be 94,682 lbs. plus 25% to be added for copper, gold and silver thrown into the mould by the devout, during the process of casting. This gives two weights of about 421 tons and 50 tons respectively. The Bishop also says that the Myingun Bell is supposed to exceed 200,000 lbs, in weight, i. ., to exceed 89 tons. The measurements he gives of the two bells shew that his statement of 42 tons for the weight of the Mahaghupta must be nearer the truth than the 25 tons. See also Yule, Ava,