Khmer units Main Page
Blue : Mannika
Red : the authors
1 krta yuga (KY)
752.4576 m
432 phyeam
16*108 cubit
1 phyeam
1.7418 m
4 cubit
1 cubit
0.43545 m
40 cubits = 3 LU
360 pheam
627.048 m
20*72 cubit
108 latitude units (LU)
1 latitude unit (LU)
5.8060 m
13.3333 cubit
10/3 phyeam
1 Khmer degree of great circle (kdeg)
112868.64 m
150 KY
600*108 phyeam
1 Khmer arcminute of great circle (kam)
1881.144 m
2.5 KY
10*108 phyeam
= 3*108 LU
= 40*108 cubits
1 Khmer arcsecond of great circle (kas)
31.3524 m
72 cubit
54/10 LU
According to Mannika (1996):
1 krta yuga (KY) = 752.4576 m
We suggest:
5 KY = 2 khmer arcminutes of Earth great circle
As a consequence, 1 khmer arcminute would be equal to 1881.144 m
We propose this value, called “kam” in our articles, was used by the Khmers.
1 Khmer degree = 1 kam * 60 = 112.86864 km
The diameter of Earth would then be : 112.86864 * 360 / pi = 12933.79342 km
Now, according to J.L.E. Dreyer.” he put the diameter of the earth equal to 1050 yojans (of 7.6 miles each) " . "He" is Aryabhata. The Earth diameter is supported by Subhash C. Kak although the latter provides a slightly different value for the yojan (7.5 miles). The reference used by Dreyer is Colebrooke, p. 467". The reference used by Kak is Neugebauer, 1975, page 7.
According to the authors’ hypothesis, the length of one yojan would be :
12933.79342 / (1.609344 * 1050) = 7.65 miles.
As nobody has calculated the precise length of a yojan, we consider the difference of 0.05 mile with respect to the Dreyer-
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References:
Colebrooke, "Notes and Illustrations to the Algebra of Brahmagupta, p. XXXVIII, Essays, II.
Dreyer, J.L.E. "A history of astronomy from Thales to Kepler", Chapter XI .
Kak, Subhash C. “Early theories on the distance to the Sun.pdf,
Mannikka, E. 1996. “Angkor Wat: Time, Space and Kingship” University of Hawai’i Press.
Neugebauer, 1975. “
Copyright Robert Bywater & Jean-