Obsolete Russian weights and measures

Obsolete Russian weights and measures were used in Imperial Russia and after the Russian Revolution until they were replaced in the Soviet Union by a metric system in 1924.

Russian system

Weight

• Funt (фунт) is 409.5124 g
• Pood (пуд) is 40 funt, i.e. 16.38 kilograms.

Length

• Verst, Versta (верста́) is 3,500 feet (1.0668 km), about two-thirds of a mile
  • 1 versta = 500 sazhen
  • also the "border versta" (межева́я верста́) equal to 1000 sazhen was in use, to measure land plots and distances between settlemets.
• Sazhen (са́жень) is 7 feet or 2.1336 m.
  • 1 sazhen is 3 arshin
  • Swung sazhen (махова́я са́жень) is 1.76 m
  • Skew (oblique) sazhen (коса́́я са́́жень) is 2.48 m
• Arshin (арши́н) is 0.77 yard or 71.12 cm.
• Chetvert (че́тверть, quarter) the same as "pyad"
• Pyad (пядь) is about 7 inches or 17.78 cm. Historically it corresponded to the distance between ends of the spreaded thumb and index finger. See also span
  • 1 pyad is 4 vershok
• Vershok (вершо́к) is 1.75 inch or 4.45 cm.
  • 1 arshin is 16 vershok
• Desyatina (десяти́на)
  • State desyatina (казённая десяти́на) is 2.7 acres or 1.09 hectares
    • equals to 2400 square sazhen
  • Proprietor (владе́льческая десяти́на) (18th, beginning of 19th century) is 3.6 acres or 1.45 hectares
    • Equals to 3200 sqare sazhen

Volume

Dry measures

• Chetvert (че́тверть, quarter) is 209.91 litres
• 1 chetvert is 2 osminas
• Osmina (осьми́на) is 104.95 litres
  • 1 osmina is 4
• Chetverik (четвери́к) is 26.24 litres
  • 1 chetverik is 8 garnetses
• Garnets (га́рнец) is 3.28 litres

Liquid measures

• Bochka (бо́чка, barrel) is 491.96 litres
  • 1 bochka is 40 vedros. It is not equal to barrel.
• Vedro (bucket) (ведро́) is 12.3 litres. It is not equal to the Imperial bucket.
• Chetvert (че́тверть, quarter) is 3.08 litres
  • 1 chetvert is 1/4 of vedro
• Shtof (штоф, from German "Stof") is 1.23 litres
• 1 shtof is 2 vodka bottles is 10 "charkas"
• Butylka (буты́лка во́дочная, vodka bottle) is 0.624 litres
  • 1 butylka is 1/20 of vedro or 5 charkas
• Charka (ча́рка, "wine glass") is 0.123 litres
• 1 charka is 2 shkaliks
• Shkalik (шка́лик, "косу́шка", a small vodka glass) is 0.06 litres

Note: The liquid measures were such because of Vodka monopoly in Imperial Russia.

Tatar system

The Tatar system is very similar to the Russian one, but some names are different.

External links

• Traditional Russian measures
• Conversion between various units of all kinds