Traditional units of measurement in Bangladesh
South Asia · 9 documented units · reviewed 2026-07-31
Quick answer
Bangladesh registers land in bigha, kattha and dhur (Bengal standard: 1 bigha = 1,337.8 m²) and still trades food in seer, maund and chatak.
How measurement works in Bangladesh
The Bengal bigha of 1,600 square yards (about 1,337.8 m²) is the standard used across most of Bangladesh, subdivided into 20 kattha and each kattha into 20 dhur. This is a smaller bigha than most Indian states use, which is the single most common source of cross-border conversion error.
Retail and kitchen measurement runs on chatak and seer. A chatak is one-sixteenth of a seer, and remains the practical unit for spices, oil and small grain purchases in bazaars.
Deeds written before 1982 may quote area in the colonial-era survey units of the Bengal Presidency; those figures follow the same bigha but with different rounding conventions in the record.
area units of Bangladesh
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bigha | 1 Bigha = 2,508.38 square metre | agriculture, surveying | Bigha → square metresIn-depth guide |
| Kattha/Katha | 1 Kattha/Katha = 125.419 square metre | agriculture | Kattha/Katha → square metresIn-depth guide |
| Dhur | 1 Dhur = 16.929 square metre | agriculture | Dhur → square metresIn-depth guide |
mass units of Bangladesh
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatak/Chittak | 1 Chatak/Chittak = 0.05832 kilogram | cooking | Chatak/Chittak → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
| Chhatank | 1 Chhatank = 0.05831 kilogram | cooking, trade | Chhatank → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
| Seer | 1 Seer = 0.9331 kilogram | trade, general | Seer → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
| Maund | 1 Maund = 37.3242 kilogram | trade, agriculture | Maund → kilogramsIn-depth guide |
length units of Bangladesh
| Unit | Value in SI | Typical use | Convert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hath (Cubit) | 1 Hath (Cubit) = 0.4572 metre | textiles | Hath (Cubit) → metresIn-depth guide |
| Gaz (Yard) | 1 Gaz (Yard) = 0.9144 metre | textiles, surveying | Gaz (Yard) → metresIn-depth guide |
Units that vary within Bangladesh
- Bigha — reported range: 1,600–6,772 m²
Before you convert
- A Bangladeshi bigha (1,337.8 m²) is roughly a fifth of a Nepali Terai bigha (6,772.6 m²) — never carry a figure across the border unconverted.
- Kattha in Bangladesh is 66.89 m²; kattha in Bihar is about 126 m². The word alone tells you nothing.
Sources
- Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) weights and measures schedule
See our methodology and data provenance pages, or review published corrections.