Marhala (unit)

Marḥala (Arabic: مرحلة) was an ancient Arab unit of distance traditionally defined as the length of a day’s journey on foot or by camel under ordinary travel conditions. Estimates of its length vary,^[1] but it is generally considered to correspond to 40–45 kilometers (24.5–28 miles) in modern measurement.^[2][3]

The Marḥala served as a practical measure for organizing travel routes, particularly for trade caravans and pilgrimage journeys, where distances were often calculated in terms of stages or “day’s marches”. Prominent geographers such as al-Baladhuri, Yaqut al-Ḥamawi, and al-Idrisi^[4] employed the term to describe distances between cities, regions, and stations along major travel routes.