Khatiyan or Jamabandi? How to read Bihar's two land records
Why Bihar keeps a settlement record and a live revenue register that disagree, which one answers which question, and what Gair Mazarua land means for a buyer.
Almost every serious Bihar land dispute comes down to the same thing: the Khatiyan says one thing and the Jamabandi says another, and the parties are each holding the document that favours them. Understanding what the two records are for — and why they are allowed to disagree — is most of what it takes to read a Bihar title.
Two records, made at different times, for different purposes
- Khatiyan
- The survey record made at the cadastral settlement. The raiyat, the Khata and the Khesra numbers as they stood when the village was surveyed — decades ago. It is the historical anchor an inheritance claim is traced through.
- Jamabandi
- The live register of who is recorded as paying revenue now. It reflects transfers that have actually been entered. It says nothing about what happened before it.
- Bhu-Naksha
- The map. Neither record draws the land; this is the only document that does.
The two disagreeing is not, by itself, evidence of fraud. Land changes hands and mutation lags; a partition happens in a family and is never entered; a raiyat dies and the Jamabandi keeps their name for years. The question is never 'which document is right' but 'what happened between them, and is it recorded anywhere'.
What to check, in order
- The current Jamabandi for the Khesra numbers. Does it name the seller? If not, ask why, and get the answer in documents rather than in explanation.
- Whether dakhil-kharij has been applied for or completed for the transfer the seller is relying on. Until it completes, the register names the previous raiyat whatever the deed says.
- The Khatiyan, to see how the holding was originally recorded and whether the chain from then to now is explicable.
- Whether any Khesra number is Gair Mazarua. Aam is common land, Khas is government land — neither can be transferred by a private seller, and encroachment on it is a frequent and expensive surprise.
- Whether a batwara has been done. An undivided family holding sold by one member is a share, not a parcel.
Why you need the map to finish the job
Both records are lists. They will tell you that a Khata holds Khesra numbers 231, 234, 402 and 519. They will not tell you whether 231 and 234 are adjacent, whether 402 is across a road, or whether 519 touches the Gair Mazarua pond the record mentions. Those are exactly the questions a partition, a purchase or a boundary argument turns on.
So the last step is the drawing: get the Bhu-Naksha sheet each Khesra number falls on, join the sheets along their shared boundaries, and look at the holding as one shape. For most Bihar families it is the first time the land has been seen whole — and it frequently answers the question everyone was arguing about.
🔗 Bihar land & survey terms, explained →Frequently asked questions
Which is more important in Bihar, the Khatiyan or the Jamabandi?+
Neither replaces the other. The Jamabandi shows who is recorded as holding the land now and is what a current transaction is checked against. The Khatiyan is the settlement record and is how an older claim or an inheritance chain is traced. A serious title check uses both, plus the map.
What is Gair Mazarua land?+
Government land within a mauza. Gair Mazarua Aam is common land held for public use — roads, ponds, burial grounds. Gair Mazarua Khas is land the state holds in its own right. Neither can be transferred by a private seller, so the classification is worth checking before money moves.
What is dakhil-kharij and why does it matter before buying?+
It is the mutation application that enters a transfer against the Jamabandi. Until it completes, the register still names the previous raiyat regardless of what the sale deed says. Checking its status is the practical first step in verifying that a seller can sell.