Some of us think that Drona is a name of a person who taught Pandavas. But in ancient India, which was including Iran, Afghanistan and present India in Vedic age the rulers collected taxes from people. The people paid the yaxes in the form of Corn and Paddy. The measure was called Drona and the officer who collected the tax was called Dronaapaka (Source: State and Governments in Ancient India)
Dear Ramacchandran, The word "Drona", as is usual in Sanskrit, has several meanings, some of which are given below (of course, copied from dictionary):
drona, n. a wooden vessel, bucket, trough &c.; a Soma vessel [Zd. draona]; m. n. a measure of capacity
( = 4 Adhakas = l6 Pushkalas = I28Kuncis = 1024 Mushtis, or =2OoPalas= one-twentieth of a Kumbha, or =one-tenth of a Khari-4 Adhakas, or 3 Adhakas = one-half of a Surpa = 64 Seras, or -= 3 2 Seras); a measure for measuring fields (as much land as is sown with a Drona of corn),
an altar shaped like a trough; m. a lake or large piece of water of 400 poles length; a scorpion; a kind of plant (prob. Leucas Linifolia); drona vr^shti=a kind of cloud (from which the rain streams forth as from a bucket); drona kaaka=; a raven or crow; (cf. dntna); one of the 8 Vasus (husband of Abhimati and father of Harsha, Soka, Bhaya &c.); a Brahman said to have been generated by Bharadvaja in a bucket (the military preceptor of both the Kuru and Pandu princes; afterwards king of a part of Pancala and general of the Kurus, the husband of KripI and father of Asvatthaman); of one of the 4 sons of Mandapala and Jaritaa (born as birds); wooden trough or tub; any vessel or implement made of wood; a valley; a kind of creeper, etc.
This word "drona" has morphed to "donnai" a small trough shaped container made of two pieces of plantain leaf used mainly during Sraaddham ceremony in our houses.
