tola

Tola, also transliterated tolā, is a traditional unit of mass used in the Indian subcontinent and parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It has long been employed in the weighing of precious metals such as gold and silver, as well as in local trade for other goods. The tola does not have a single fixed value across all regions or historical periods; its exact weight has varied by country, era, and market practice.

In modern practice, two common conventions appear in markets that still reference the tola. A widely cited approximate value is about 11.66 grams, used in many gold markets. In some contexts, particularly for convenience in pricing, markets also reference 10-gram increments. Because there is no universal standard, merchants typically state both the weight and the unit when quoting prices involving a tola.

Historically, the tola was part of regional weight systems and circulated alongside other traditional units such as the maund and seer. It spread through trade networks influenced by Persian and Mughal administration. In today’s global economy, many countries have metricized weights, and grams are used for official measurements, but the tola remains in use in informal jewelry markets and in everyday speech within parts of South Asia and neighboring regions.

See also: units of mass, weights and measures in South Asia, gold markets.