How to read Form I & XIV in Goa, and where Matriz and Inscrição fit
What each part of Goa's Form I & XIV tells you, why a mundkar or tenant entry matters, what a mutation is, and how Portuguese-era Matriz, Descrição and Inscrição entries relate to today's survey numbers.
Form I & XIV is Goa's record of rights, kept for each survey number and subdivision. It is the document a buyer, a bank or an advocate asks for first, and it is usually read quickly and misread in the same few places.
What Form I & XIV tells you
- Village, survey number and subdivision
- Which parcel the record is for. Copy these exactly into every survey plan request.
- Area
- The extent of the subdivision as the record gives it. Compare it with the deed and the survey plan, and check the units before assuming a mismatch.
- Occupant
- Who the revenue record shows as holding the land. It is not proof of title on its own, but a seller who is not the recorded occupant needs an explanation.
- Tenant and mundkar entries
- Anyone recorded as a tenant cultivating the land, or as a mundkar living in a dwelling on it. Goa has specific laws for both, so an entry here matters to a buyer.
- Crops
- What the record shows as grown on the land. It describes use; it does not change who holds the land.
Mutation: why the record can lag the deed
A registered sale does not change Form I & XIV by itself. The change of holder is entered as a mutation at the Mamlatdar's office, and until it is certified the record still names the previous holder. Check whether a mutation is pending before relying on a Form I & XIV for a purchase.
Communidade land
Some land in Goa is recorded in the name of a communidade, a village community institution that holds land collectively under its own code. It is not a private holding, and dealings in it go through the communidade's own process. If the occupant column names a communidade, that is the first thing to take to an advocate.
Matriz, Descrição and Inscrição
Older Goan deeds often identify a property without a survey number. The Matriz number refers to the Portuguese-era land-tax register. The Descrição and Inscrição numbers refer to the old land registration office's books: the description of the property, and the inscription recording who held it. These are real links in many title chains, but none of them is a survey number, and none maps automatically onto the current survey.
From the record to one map
Form I & XIV describes one subdivision at a time and draws nothing. Once you know every survey number and subdivision the property covers, get the survey plan for each and join them along their shared boundaries. The result shows the property as one shape, which is what a buyer, a bank or an architect usually wants to see beside the record.
🔗 Goa land and survey glossary →Frequently asked questions
Is Form I & XIV proof of ownership in Goa?+
It is the revenue record of who is recorded as holding the land, which is why buyers and banks ask for it, but title comes from the registered deeds and the chain behind them. Read it alongside the deeds.
Why does Form I & XIV still show the old owner after a sale?+
Because the mutation that records the change of holder has not been certified yet. Until it is, the record names the previous holder whatever the registered deed says.
What is a Matriz number?+
A reference to the Portuguese-era land-tax register. Older deeds use it to identify a property. It is not a survey number, so it has to be traced to the current survey and subdivision before a survey plan can be requested.