ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Indian weights and measures

Indian weights and measures are a way to measure different things like weight, length, and volume in India. Just like you use rulers to measure how long things are, and scales to see how heavy something is, people in India have their own ways to measure things.

In India, people use the metric system which has units like meters, kilograms, and liters. For example, if you want to see how long something is, you will use a meter stick to measure it, if you want to see how heavy something is, you will use a scale to weigh it, and if you want to see how much liquid is in a container, you will use a measuring cup to measure the volume.

However, before the metric system was introduced, India had its own set of weights and measures that were used over thousands of years. These were called the "traditional units of measurement" and they varied from region to region. For example, the "ser" was commonly used to measure weight, "cubit" was used to measure length, and "kal" was used to measure volume.

These traditional units were not always standardized, which means that they could vary from place to place or person to person. This made it difficult for people to communicate and trade with each other. To solve this problem, the Indian government decided to adopt the metric system in the 1950s, which is now the standard system of measurement in India.

In summary, Indian weights and measures are simply a way to measure things that are used in India. People in India historically used their own traditional units, but now they use the metric system which is a standard way of measuring things.