How to read a Jammu and Kashmir Jamabandi and Fard
Khewat, Khasra, Kanal and Marla: what each column of a J&K Jamabandi tells you, what a Fard is, and why the Girdawari and the Intiqal matter before a purchase.
The Jamabandi is the record of rights for a village, and in Jammu and Kashmir it reads the way it does across the old Punjab system. It is a table, and most confusion comes from mixing up its numbers. Three of them look alike and mean different things.
The three numbers
- Khewat
- The ownership account: the number under which one owner, or a group of co-owners, holds land in the village.
- Khatauni
- The cultivation account within a Khewat: who actually cultivates, whether the owner or a tenant.
- Khasra
- The field: one parcel on the Shajra. One Khewat can include many Khasras, and one Khasra can be shared by several Khewats.
Area: Kanal and Marla
Area is given in Kanal and Marla. One Kanal is 20 Marla, and 8 Kanal make an acre. A Khasra shown as 3 Kanal 10 Marla is 3.5 Kanal, a little under half an acre. Convert before you compare with a deed, a valuation or a plan in acres or square feet, because a mismatch in units is the most common false alarm.
Ownership and classification
Read the owner column before anything else. Land recorded as Khalsa Sarkar belongs to the government and cannot be sold as a private holding. Shared village land and grazing land are recorded under their own entries too. The classification column says what kind of land the Khasra is, irrigated or not, cultivated or not, which matters to a valuation and to what can be done with it.
Fard: the copy you hand over
A Fard is a certified copy of the entry. The version you view online is for information; a bank, a registration or a court will want the certified Fard from the Patwari or the tehsil.
Girdawari and Intiqal
The Khasra Girdawari is the Patwari's inspection at each harvest: what was sown, and who was in possession. It is often what shows possession at a given time. The Intiqal is the mutation, the entry that records a transfer. Until an Intiqal is attested, the Jamabandi still names the previous owner, whatever the sale deed says, so check its status before relying on a Jamabandi for a purchase.
From the record to the map
The Jamabandi lists Khasra numbers and stops there. Which of them adjoin, and what the holding looks like as one shape, comes from the Shajra sheets they fall on. Joining those sheets is usually the last step before an Intiqal, a loan, a demarcation request or a court annexure.
🔗 Jammu and Kashmir land and survey glossary →Frequently asked questions
How many Kanal make an acre in Jammu and Kashmir?+
Eight. One Kanal is 20 Marla, and 8 Kanal make one acre.
What is the difference between a Jamabandi and a Fard?+
The Jamabandi is the record of rights itself. A Fard is a certified copy of an entry in it, issued by the Patwari or the tehsil, and is what a bank, a registration or a court asks for.
Why does the Jamabandi still show the old owner after I bought the land?+
Because the Intiqal, the mutation that records the transfer, has not been attested yet. Until it is, the record names the previous owner regardless of the registered sale deed.