The name is Turkic (Ottoman Turkish: بطمان, romanized: baṭmān; Chagatay: bātmān),[1] but was also sometimes used for the equivalent unit in Persia (من man).
[2][3] The equivalent unit in British India was anglicized as the maund (Bengali: মন and Hindustani: من).
[4][5] It was originally equal to one-ninth of the weight of an artaba of water,[6] or approximately four kilograms in modern units.
He reported the batman as the main unit of mass in Ayasluğ ("Altoluogo di Turchia" to Pegolotti; modern Selçuk, in western Turkey), equivalent to 32 Genoese pounds (libbre).
[1] In the central Ottoman system of weights, the batman was equal to six okas, as is attested in 1811 in Aleppo,[8] 1821 in Baghdad[9] and in 1850 in Constantinople.
[2] Kelly also distinguishes a man used for copra and "provisions" at Gamron (modern Bandar-Abbas) of 7 lb 12 oz av.
[12][13] The man was divided into mithqals (the number depending on the locality): larger subdivisions included the abbassi and the ratl.
[2][12] The mann (Pashto: من) was and still is also used as a unit of mass in Afghanistan, but varied widely between different localities.