Glossary
Nagaland land & survey glossary
Plain-language meanings for the words on your Land holding certificate / village record and village / plot sketch, what each one is, and which of them you actually need before joining your sheets.
12 terms
- Article 371A
- The constitutional provision that says no Act of Parliament on Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, civil and criminal justice decided under customary law, or the ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies to Nagaland unless the state Legislative Assembly resolves that it should. It is why land in Nagaland is held under customary law rather than a central land code.
- Clan land
- Land owned by a clan under Naga customary law. Members use and inherit it according to the clan's customs, and a transfer generally needs the clan's agreement, not only that of the family occupying it.
- Community land
- Land owned by the village as a whole, managed through its Village Council under customary law. Village commons such as forest and grazing land are usually of this kind, and no single person can sell them as their own.
- Individual land
- Land owned by a person or family under customary law, often acquired by clearing, inheritance or purchase. It is the kind most often sold, and the Village Council's certificate is what shows who holds it.
- Khel
- A division of a Naga village, broadly a ward or quarter grouped by clan. Land within a village is often associated with a khel, so the khel is part of how a plot is described and who is asked about it.
- Village Council
- The body that runs a village under the Nagaland Village and Area Councils Act, 1978, drawn from its customary leaders. For customary land it is the practical record keeper: it knows who holds what and issues the land holding certificate.
- Gaon BuraGB
- A village elder recognised by the government as its representative in the village. The Gaon Bura is a member of the Village Council, is often asked to sign or witness a land holding certificate, and knows the village's boundaries.
- Dobashi
- An officer of the customary courts attached to the Deputy Commissioner's office, versed in the customary law of a tribe. Land disputes that the village cannot settle often go before the Dobashi court.
- EAC, SDO and ADC
- The administrative officers who head a circle, a sub-division or a group of circles under the Deputy Commissioner: the Extra Assistant Commissioner, the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) and the Additional Deputy Commissioner. Banks and offices commonly ask for a land holding certificate countersigned at this level.
- Land holding certificate
- A certificate from the Village Council confirming who holds a plot under customary law and describing its boundaries, sometimes with a sketch. For most land in Nagaland it stands in for the record of rights a cadastral state would issue.
- Patta
- A revenue title to a numbered plot, recorded in the Deputy Commissioner's land records. In Nagaland pattas are found mainly in and around Dimapur, where land came under revenue administration; most of the state's customary land has none.
- Plot sketch
- The drawing a plot comes with: a surveyor's sketch for a sale, a sketch with the land holding certificate, or a sheet from the revenue record where one exists. There is no state-wide cadastral map, so neighbouring plots are often on separate sketches that need joining to be read together.