Glossary

Rajasthan land & survey glossary

Plain-language meanings for the words on your Jamabandi (Nakal) and Bhu-Naksha (village map), what each one is, and which of them you actually need before joining your sheets.

Bhu-Nakshaभू-नक्शा

The cadastral map of a revenue village, showing each Khasra number with its boundaries. Rajasthan serves it a sheet at a time against district, tehsil and village, so a holding spread across several Khasra numbers needs several sheets to see whole.

Khasra numberखसरा नंबर

The field number: one numbered parcel in a revenue village. The map is drawn against it and the Jamabandi lists it. A Khatedari holding is usually a list of Khasra numbers, and they are not necessarily adjacent.

JamabandiNakalजमाबंदी

The record of rights for a village, revised periodically: the Khatedar for each Khasra number, the area, the class of land and anything charged against it. A copy is what people mean by a Nakal. It describes the holding in words; the Bhu-Naksha shows where it sits.

Khatedarखातेदार

The person recorded as holding the land under Khatedari tenancy, which is how most agricultural land in Rajasthan is held. The Khatedar is the name against the Khasra in the Jamabandi. Khatedari rights are heritable and transferable, subject to the restrictions the Tenancy Act sets.

Girdawariगिरदावरी

The crop inspection the Patwari records each season against every Khasra number: what was sown and whether the land was irrigated. It keeps the record's description of the land current, and a crop-loss or compensation claim is usually decided on what it says.

Tarmimतरमीम

The correction that redraws the village map after a sub-division has been entered in the record. Until Tarmim is done the Bhu-Naksha still shows the parent Khasra whole, which is why a partitioned holding so often appears divided on paper and undivided on the map.

Namantaranनामांतरण

Mutation: the entry that records a transfer by sale, inheritance or partition against the Khasra in the Jamabandi. Until it is sanctioned the record still names the previous Khatedar, which is what a buyer checking a Khasra number needs to know.

Patwar Mandalपटवार मंडल

The Patwari's circle: the group of villages whose records one Patwari maintains. A map or Jamabandi request is routed through the Patwar Mandal the village falls in, and a holding that straddles two circles means dealing with two Patwaris.

Patwariपटवारी

The village revenue officer who maintains the Jamabandi and the Girdawari for a Patwar Mandal, prepares mutation entries and holds the working copy of the village map. Most practical questions about a Khasra number are answered here before they reach the tehsil.

Tehsildarतहसीलदार

The revenue officer for a tehsil, who sanctions mutations, issues certified copies of the Jamabandi and decides applications the Patwari prepares. Where a record and the ground disagree, the measurement request goes here.

Abadi landआबादी

The inhabited part of a revenue village: house sites and the built-up area, as against the agricultural Khasra numbers around it. Abadi parcels are recorded and mapped differently from farm land, and a plot inside the abadi does not carry Khatedari tenancy.

Charagahचारागाह

Land recorded as village pasture. It is common land rather than anyone's holding, and it cannot be treated as available for sale or construction. A Khasra number classified as Charagah on the Jamabandi is one of the commonest reasons a purchase in Rajasthan fails at verification.

The full Rajasthan guide · Tamil Nadu's glossary