Indian Antiquary Vol 27

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 17

JANUARY, 1898.] CURRENCY AND COINAGE AMONG THE BURMESE.
Neither the man who gave the above information, nor the men from Momeit and Pindy& recognised the expressions, fúang, sulung, bat, and chang.
For the Siamese Shans, on the authority of Prof. Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, p. 162, we get a table :
This, of course, is the Siamese Table pure and simple, substituting lat for saling (sling, as Prof. Ridgeway writes it), a fact which is further proved by the chang being said to be a double one of 1,200 grammes.
7
8
9
It is apparently rare for a Shân in British territory to know much of Siamese financial terminology, but an Eastern Shan living at Longnis'êk in the Amherst District on the Attaran (or as he called it the Ataràm) River, gave me the following instructive table of terms applied to British-Indian money :
1 anna
2 annas
3
4
L
10
11
12
13
14
15
English.
39
"
""
39
are bat
4 lat03 4 bat 1 damling 20 damling, 1 chang
50 chang ,, 1 picul
39
"3
ガラ
31
39
1 rupee 7
stplas
flang sampet
Siamese-Shan.
saling
impet
...salung-fuang
saling-sampet
singanlung
songsalüngpaipet...
sippet
sipyntpet...
signaling fang.. sôngsalüngflang-paipet
sipalpet
batyonpet
bat
For pice the same man gave the following terms:
1 pice pening
2 pice sômpê
3 pice sampê
4 pice stpê or 1 anna
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sense of the Shan terms.
4 pice
a flang
3 pet
18
a salung
5 pet
a saling and a fûang
a salung 3 pet
2 salung
2 saling and a pet
10 pet 11 pet
2 saling-fûangs
2 salung-fuangs and a pet
14 pet
a rupee less by a pet. a bat
For a figure of the lat, see Colquhoun, Amongst the Shans, illustrations facing p. 315.
In Siam 1,440 grammes according to Bowring, Siam, Vol. I. p. 258.
Another Eastern Shan trader settled at Maalmain gave me, more correctly for his tonguej songpe, i..., 2 (Siamese) pe for 'one anna,'
I. e., sipitpl.
97 This man also gave ' catty' as chang. 95 Cushing, Shin Handbook, p. 196, gives paing for "pie."
"Oddly enough in this list we have på for 'pios' and pet (byst) for 'anns,' reversing the usual terminology.