Glossary
Himachal Pradesh land & survey glossary
Plain-language meanings for the words on your Jamabandi and Tatima / Shajra (village map), what each one is, and which of them you actually need before joining your sheets.
12 terms
- Shajraशजरा
- The field map of a revenue village, showing every Khasra number with its boundaries. It is drawn across several sheets, and one holding's Khasra numbers often straddle two of them, which is why joining the sheets is usually the first job.
- Musaviमुसावी
- The scaled settlement map a village was surveyed onto. The Shajra sheets derive from it, and it is what the revenue office works from when a measurement or a boundary is in doubt.
- Tatimaततीमा
- The supplementary sketch drawn when a Khasra is divided by sale, partition or inheritance, showing its new parts and their numbers. Hill holdings split often, so a current holding is usually a Shajra sheet plus several Tatimas.
- Khasra numberखसरा नंबर
- The number of one field on the Shajra. The Jamabandi, the Girdawari and every map request are keyed on it. When a Khasra is split, its parts get new numbers shown on the Tatima, so use the current numbers from the latest Jamabandi.
- Khewatखेवट
- The ownership account in the Jamabandi: the number under which one owner, or a group of co-owners, holds land in the village. One Khewat can include many Khasras.
- Khatauniखतौनी
- The cultivation account within a Khewat: who actually cultivates the land, whether the owner or a tenant.
- Jamabandiजमाबंदी
- The periodic record of rights for a village: owners and cultivators, each Khasra with its area, and the revenue payable. It says who holds the land and draws nothing. A copy of an entry is often called a Nakal.
- Khasra Girdawariखसरा गिरदावरी
- The Patwari's crop inspection at each harvest, recorded against every Khasra: what was sown and who was in possession. It is often relied on to show possession at a given time.
- Intkalइंतकाल
- The mutation: the entry that records a transfer by sale, inheritance, gift or partition in the revenue record. Until it is attested, the Jamabandi still names the previous owner, whatever the sale deed says.
- Bigha and Biswaबीघा / बिस्वा
- The area units the Jamabandi uses in most of Himachal Pradesh, with Kanal and Marla used in parts of the state. The size of a local unit is not the same everywhere in India, so convert with the figure the tehsil uses before comparing with a deed in square metres or acres.
- Shamlatशामलात
- Common land of a village, recorded as such in the Jamabandi rather than as a private holding. What can be done with land recorded as Shamlat is governed by its own law, and is a question for the tehsildar and an advocate.
- Patwariपटवारी
- The village revenue official for a Patwar circle, who keeps the Jamabandi, the Shajra and the Girdawari and enters mutations. The first person to ask about a Khasra's record or a missing Tatima.