How to read a Manipur Patta and Jamabandi
Patta number, Dag number and area: what the valley record tells you, why it can lag behind a sale deed, and how hill land under customary tenure is evidenced instead.
In Manipur's surveyed valley villages the record of land is the Patta and the Jamabandi. Most of the confusion comes from mixing up the two numbers on them, the Dag number and the Patta number. They look alike and mean different things.
The two numbers
- Patta number
- The holding's account in the village: the number under which one holder, or several, holds land there.
- Dag number
- One plot on the village's cadastral map. One Patta can cover many Dag numbers.
Patta and Jamabandi
The Patta is the record of one holding: who holds it, and which Dag numbers it covers with their area. The Jamabandi is the village's register of holdings, every Patta in one place. Read the area with the unit printed on your copy, and convert before you compare it with a deed or a valuation in a different unit.
When the record and the deed disagree
The record only changes when a mutation is made. Until then it still names the previous holder, whatever the registered sale deed says. A Patta that shows the seller after a sale is usually a mutation that has not been made yet, not a sign that the deed is wrong. Check with the revenue office before relying on it.
Hill land: a different kind of record
Most hill land has no Patta in this sense. It is held under customary tenure, and a holding is usually evidenced by a certificate from the village chief or the village authority, sometimes with a survey sketch. That is a real record of a real system, but it is not an extract from a revenue cadastre, and it should not be read as one.
From the record to the map
The Patta lists Dag numbers and stops there. Which of them adjoin, and what the holding looks like as one shape, comes from the cadastral map sheets they fall on. Joining those sheets is usually the last step before a mutation, a loan or a boundary question.
🔗 Manipur land and survey glossary →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Patta number and a Dag number in Manipur?+
The Patta number identifies the holding's account in the village. The Dag number identifies one plot on the cadastral map. One Patta can cover many Dag numbers.
Is there a Patta for land in the hill districts?+
Usually not in the valley's sense. Most hill land is held under customary tenure, and a holding is evidenced by a certificate from the village chief or village authority rather than a Patta in a revenue record.
Why does the record still show the old owner after I bought the land?+
Because the mutation that records the transfer has not been made yet. Until it is, the Patta and Jamabandi name the previous holder regardless of the registered sale deed.