Ottoman Empire
The batman (or bateman) was first recorded in English in 1599, in Babylon (probably modern Baghdad), where it was said to be equal to "7 pound and 5 ounces English weight". In the central Ottoman system of weights, the batman was equal to six okas, as is attested in 1811 in Aleppo, 1821 in Baghdad and in 1850 in Constantinople. At this point, the batman was equal to 16 lb. 8 oz. avoirdupois (7.484 kg).
Read more about this topic: Batman (unit)
Famous quotes containing the word empire:
“The war shook down the Tsardom, an unspeakable abomination, and made an end of the new German Empire and the old Apostolic Austrian one. It ... gave votes and seats in Parliament to women.... But if society can be reformed only by the accidental results of horrible catastrophes ... what hope is there for mankind in them? The war was a horror and everybody is the worse for it.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)