Paisa
Template:Short description Template:About Paisa (also transliterated as pice, pesa, poysha, poisha and baisa) is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised idiom for money and wealth. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the paisa currently equals Template:Frac of a rupee. In Bangladesh, the paisa equals Template:Frac of a Bangladeshi taka. In Oman, the baisa equals Template:Frac of an Omani rial.
Etymology
The word paisa is from the Sanskrit term padāṁśa (Template:Lang, basic unit), meaning 'quarter part base', from pada (Template:Lang) "foot or quarter or base" and aṁśa (Template:Lang) "part or unit".<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The pesa was also in use in colonial Kenya. The colloquial term for money in Burmese, paiksan (Template:Lang), is derived from the Hindi term paisa (Template:Lang).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
History
Chaulukya coins were often called "Gadhaiya Paise" (9th–10th century CE).<ref name="HPR">Template:Cite book</ref> Until the 1950s in India and Pakistan (and before 1947 in British India), the paisa (back then spelled as pice in English) was equivalent to 3 pies, Template:Frac of an anna, or Template:Frac of a rupee. After the transition from a non-decimal currency to a decimal currency, the paisa equaled Template:Frac of a rupee and was known as a naya paisa ("new paisa") for a few years to distinguish it from the old paisa(pice) that was Template:Frac of a rupee.
Terminology
In Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Afghan Persian, Urdu, Nepali and other languages, the word paisa often means money or cash. Medieval trade routes that spanned the Arabian Sea between India, the Arab regions and East Africa spread the usage of Indian subcontinent and Arabic currency terms across these areas.<ref name="gsr1953">Template:Cite journal</ref> The word pesa as a reference to money in East African languages such as Swahili dates from that period.<ref name="gsr1953" /> An example of this usage is the older day Kenyan mobile-phone-based money transfer service M-Pesa (which stands for "mobile pesa" or "mobile money").
Usage
- Paisa = Template:Frac of a Bangladeshi taka (no longer in circulation)
- Paisa = Template:Frac of an Indian rupee (only 50 paisa coins are de facto valid but no longer in circulation)
- Paisa = Template:Frac of a Nepalese rupee (no longer in circulation)
- Baisa = Template:Frac of an Omani rial
- Paisa = Template:Frac of a Pakistani rupee (Officially demonetized from 1 October 2014)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
-
100 Omani Baisa note (reverse) -
100 Omani Baisa note (1995) -
50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001) -
50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001, reverse)
See also
References
External links
Template:Historic Indian currency and coinage Template:Rupee