<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The history of measurement systems in India begins in early Indus Valley Civilisation with the earliest surviving samples dated to the 5th millennium BCE . Since early times the adoption of standard weights and measures has reflected in the country's architectural, folk, and metallurgical artifacts . A complex system of weights and measures was adopted by the Maurya empire (322--185 BCE), which also formulated regulations for the usage of this system . Later, the Mughal empire (1526--1857) used standard measures to determine land holdings and collect land tax as a part of Mughal land reforms . The formal metrication in India is dated to 1st october 1958 when the Indian Government adopted the International System of Units (SI). </P> <P> Standard weights and measures were developed by the Indus Valley Civilisation . The centralised weight and measure system served the commercial interest of Indus merchants as smaller weight measures were used to measure luxury goods while larger weights were employed for buying bulkier items, such as food grains etc . Weights existed in multiples of a standard weight and in categories . Technical standardisation enabled gauging devices to be effectively used in angular measurement and measurement for construction . Uniform units of length were used in the planning of towns such as Lothal, Surkotada, Kalibangan, Dolavira, Harappa, and Mohenjo - daro . The weights and measures of the Indus civilisation also reached Persia and Central Asia, where they were further modified . Shigeo Iwata describes the excavated weights unearthed from the Indus civilisation: </P> <P> A total of 558 weights were excavated from Mohenjodaro, Harappa, and Chanhu - daro, not including defective weights . They did not find statistically significant differences between weights that were excavated from five different layers, each measuring about 1.5 m in depth . This was evidence that strong control existed for at least a 500 - year period . The 13.7 - g weight seems to be one of the units used in the Indus valley . The notation was based on the binary and decimal systems . 83% of the weights which were excavated from the above three cities were cubic, and 68% were made of chert . </P>

What were weights used for in the indus valley
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