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 of a rupee. In Bangladesh, the paisa equals of a Bangladeshi taka. In Oman, the baisa equals of an Omani rial.
Etymology
The word
paisa is from the
Sanskrit term
padāṁśa (पदांश, basic unit), meaning 'quarter part base', from
pada (पद) "foot or quarter or base" and
aṁśa (अंश) "part or unit".
The pesa was also in use in colonial
Kenya. The colloquial term for money in
Burmese language,
paiksan (ပိုက်ဆံ), is derived from the Hindi term
paisa (पैसा).
History
Chaulukya coins were often called "Gadhaiya Paise" (9th–10th century CE).
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, of an
Indian anna, or of a rupee. After the transition from a non-decimal currency to a
decimal currency, the paisa equaled 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 of a rupee.
Terminology
In
Punjabi language,
Hindi,
Bengali language,
Afghan Persian,
Urdu,
Nepali language 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.
The word
pesa as a reference to money in East African languages such as
Swahili language dates from that period.
An example of this usage is the older day
mobile-phone-based money transfer service
M-Pesa (which stands for "mobile pesa" or "
Mobile payment").
Usage
Gallery
File:100 Baisa Oman reverso.png|100 Omani Baisa note (reverse)
File:100 Baisa Oman.png|100 Omani Baisa note (1995)
File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা সম্মূখভাগ - 50 Paisa year 2001 Front Part.png|50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001)
File:৫০ পয়সা ২০০১ সালের নকশা - 50 Paisa year 2001 Back Part.png|50 Bangladeshi Paisa (2001, reverse)
See also
External links
