Glossary

Jharkhand land & survey glossary

Plain-language meanings for the words on your Panji-II / Khatiyan and Bhu-Naksha (cadastral map), what each one is, and which of them you actually need before joining your sheets.

Bhu-Nakshaभू-नक्शा

The cadastral map of a mauza, showing each Khesra number with its boundaries. A mauza is drawn across several sheets, so a holding whose Khesra numbers sit near a sheet edge comes out cut and needs the neighbouring sheet as well.

Khesra numberखेसरा नंबर

The plot number in Jharkhand: one numbered piece of land within a mauza. The map is drawn against it and Panji-II lists it. It is the same word Bihar uses, both states having inherited the Bengal survey vocabulary.

Khatiyanखतियान

The settlement record from the cadastral survey: the raiyat, the Khata and the Khesra numbers as they stood when the village was surveyed. Old title and inheritance work is traced through it, and a deed naming a number the current register does not show usually needs it.

Panji-IIPanji-II

Register II: the current record of rights held at the anchal office, showing who holds each Khesra number now and how much area. Where the Khatiyan is the historical record, this is the live one, and a title question usually needs both.

CNT ActCNT

The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, which governs most of Jharkhand and restricts transfer of land held by a member of a Scheduled Tribe. It is the first thing to establish about a parcel in the state, because a sale that ignores it is not merely irregular. What is permitted on a specific parcel is a question for the Anchal Adhikari and an advocate.

SPT ActSPT

The Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, which governs Dumka, Deoghar, Godda, Sahibganj, Pakur and Jamtara. It restricts transfer of tribal land more strictly than the CNT Act does, and which of the two applies follows from the district the land is in.

Bhuinhari landभुइँहरी

Land held under the original clearer's tenure, recognised separately in the Chotanagpur record and recorded in its own register. Bhuinhari rights descend within the family that cleared the land, and the tenure carries its own restrictions, so a Bhuinhari entry changes what a transaction can be.

Raiyatरैयत

The tenant recorded as holding the land, and the name that appears against a Khesra number in the Khatiyan. The word survives from the settlement-era record, and modern registers still describe the holder in these terms.

Anchal AdhikariCOअंचल अधिकारी

The Circle Officer: the revenue officer for an anchal, who holds Panji-II, decides mutation applications and is where a question about whether a transfer is permitted under the CNT or SPT Act is first put.

Dakhil-Kharijदाखिल खारिज

Mutation: the entry that records a transfer against the holding in Panji-II. Until it is done the register still names the previous holder, so a registered deed and an updated record are two separate things.

Lagan receiptलगान रसीद

The rent receipt issued when land revenue is paid against a holding. A current receipt in the holder's name is treated in practice as evidence that the record recognises them, which is why it is asked for alongside Panji-II.

Mauzaमौजा

The revenue village: the unit the map and the register are both organised by. Mauza names repeat across anchals in Jharkhand, so a request has to name the district and anchal as well, or it comes back with a plausible sheet for somewhere else.

The full Jharkhand guide · Tamil Nadu's glossary