Ratti
Encyclopedia
A ratti is a traditional Indian unit of mass measurement
, and has now been standardized as 0.12125 gram. It was measured by ratti seed. This seed is actually "Abrus precatorius" seed.
Gunja Seed: Common name: Coral bead vine, Rosary pea, गुंची Gunchi (Hindi), गुंजा Gunjaa (Sanskrit), गुलगुंजी Gulugunji (Kannada), गुंच Gunch (Bengali), Ratti रत्ती (Gujarati), குந்து மணி kundu maNi (Tamil), गुंज Gunja (Marathi), Kaincha (Oriya)
Botanical name: Abrus precatorius Family: Fabaceae (pea family)
What is it?
A high-climbing, twining, or trailing woody vine with alternately compound leaves, indigenous to India. Leaves alternate, 5–13 cm long, even-pinnately compound with 5-15 pairs of leaflets, these oval to oblong, to 1.8 cm long, with margins entire.
The flowers, shaped like pea flowers, are small, pale, violet to pink and arranged in clusters. Fruit a short, oblong pod, splitting before falling to reveal 3-8 shiny hard seeds, 6–7 mm long, scarlet with black bases. The seeds of abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. The third of the bean with the hilum (attachment scar) is black, while the rest is bright red, suggesting a ladybug.
Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is dangerous, and there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork. The seeds were traditionally used to weigh jewelry in India. The measure ratti रत्ती is equal to the weight of one seed.
Indian weights and measures
India officially uses the metric system of weights and measures. Other prominent systems that have been used historically include British Imperial units, the Akbar system, and many regional traditional systems, some of which have been used for thousands of years....
, and has now been standardized as 0.12125 gram. It was measured by ratti seed. This seed is actually "Abrus precatorius" seed.
- 1 tola = 12 masha or 11.67 gram
- 1 masha = 8 ratti or 0.97 gram
Botanical name: Abrus precatorius Family: Fabaceae (pea family)
What is it?
A high-climbing, twining, or trailing woody vine with alternately compound leaves, indigenous to India. Leaves alternate, 5–13 cm long, even-pinnately compound with 5-15 pairs of leaflets, these oval to oblong, to 1.8 cm long, with margins entire.
The flowers, shaped like pea flowers, are small, pale, violet to pink and arranged in clusters. Fruit a short, oblong pod, splitting before falling to reveal 3-8 shiny hard seeds, 6–7 mm long, scarlet with black bases. The seeds of abrus precatorius are much valued in native jewelry for their bright coloration. The third of the bean with the hilum (attachment scar) is black, while the rest is bright red, suggesting a ladybug.
Jewelry-making with jequirity seeds is dangerous, and there have been cases of death by a finger-prick while boring the seeds for beadwork. The seeds were traditionally used to weigh jewelry in India. The measure ratti रत्ती is equal to the weight of one seed.