What you will be able to do
इस पाठ के बाद आप क्या कर सकेंगे
- Name the main columns of a Rajasthan jamabandi and say what each records.
- Explain the difference between a khata number and a khasra number.
- Locate the class-of-tenant entry and say why it is checked before anything else.
- Describe what the remarks column (कैफ़ियत) carries and why it is the most important part of the page.
- State what a jamabandi does and does not prove.
What the jamabandi is
जमाबंदी क्या है
The jamabandi is the record of rights — अधिकार अभिलेख — maintained for each village. It is a periodic statement of who holds which land, on what terms, of what class, and what liabilities attach. It is prepared and maintained through the Patwari, renewed on a cycle, and is the single most consulted land document in Rajasthan.
People treat it as a title deed. It is not one. Lesson 1 of Level 1 made this point and it is worth repeating here because the whole of Level 2 depends on it: the jamabandi is a record. It records what the revenue system believes to be the position. It creates a presumption that can be displaced by better evidence — typically a registered deed. What it gives you is not proof of ownership but something almost as useful: a structured, official summary of everything the state thinks it knows about a parcel, including the problems.
rajasthan.gov.in or nic.in sources — we are not a government body and portal addresses change.The columns
कॉलम — एक-एक करके
Layouts vary slightly between formats and eras, and older handwritten records look nothing like a printed portal extract. The substance is consistent. Here is what you are looking at.
| Column | Hindi | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| Khata number | खाता संख्या | The account number grouping one holding. All the khasras held on the same terms by the same holder or set of holders sit under one khata. |
| Khasra number | खसरा संख्या | The individual field or plot numbers making up that khata. One khata commonly contains several khasras scattered around the village. |
| Holder's name | काश्तकार का नाम | Name with father's or husband's name, and often caste or village, used for identification. Multiple names here means a joint holding. |
| Class of tenant | किस्म काश्तकार | खातेदार, गैर-खातेदार, उप-खातेदार. Check this before you read anything else. |
| Share | हिस्सा | Where the holding is joint, the fraction each holder has. Often written as a fraction against each name. |
| Area | रकबा | Area of each khasra, in hectares and ares in metricated records. |
| Class of land | किस्म ज़मीन | चाही, नहरी, बारानी, बंजड़ and grade. Covered in Level 1, Lesson 2. |
| Land revenue | लगान | The revenue assessed. Small in money terms today, but its presence confirms the holding is assessed and recorded. |
| Remarks / other rights | कैफ़ियत / अन्य अधिकार | Mortgages, mutation references, court orders, restrictions, tenancy notes, corrections. The most important column on the page. |
Khata and khasra — the distinction that confuses everyone
खाता और खसरा — फ़र्क समझें
A khasra is a piece of land. A khata is an account. One khata can hold twelve khasras in six different corners of the village. One khasra can be split across two khatas if it has been divided.
The practical consequence is that a buyer who says “I am buying khata number 47” has not identified the land. A buyer who says “I am buying khasra numbers 218 and 219/2 out of khata 47, measuring X hectares” has. Every enquiry, every map lookup, and every deed description works from khasra numbers. Get them written down correctly, with sub-numbers, before you do anything else. A khasra written as 219/2 is a subdivided portion and is not the same parcel as 219.
The remarks column
कैफ़ियत — यहीं सब कुछ छिपा है
Buyers read the name column and stop. Almost everything that will cost you money is written in the remarks column, usually in compressed handwriting or abbreviated portal text. What turns up there:
- रहननामा — a mortgage. The land is security for a debt. Level 2, Lesson 6 deals with this.
- Mutation references — the order number and date by which the current entry came about. This is your thread back into the history.
- Court orders — a stay, an injunction, an attachment. Land under a stay does not move.
- Restrictions on transfer — where the holding came from an allotment with conditions.
- Tenancy or possession notes — someone other than the holder having a recorded interest.
- Corrections — where an earlier entry was wrong and has been amended, which tells you the record has been contested before.
If you cannot read the handwriting, do not guess and do not accept the seller's summary of it. Ask the Patwari to read it to you, and ask what each notation refers to. This is a normal request and takes ten minutes.
Reading a joint holding
संयुक्त खाता कैसे पढ़ें
Where several names appear under one khata with fractional shares, three things follow.
No one holds a specific field. Each holder has a fraction of the whole khata, not a demarcated piece — unless a partition has been recorded, in which case separate khatas would normally have been created.
Every holder must join the sale for the whole to be sold, or the deed transfers only the selling holder's undivided share. A buyer who pays for a field and receives an undivided one-fifth share has bought a lawsuit.
Check for missing heirs. Where a holder has died and mutation by succession has been done, look at whether all the heirs appear. Omitted heirs are one of the most common sources of a claim surfacing years after a sale.
What to do with the page in front of you
पन्ना सामने हो तो क्या करें
- Write down every khasra number with its sub-number and area exactly as printed.
- Read the class of tenant. If it is not खातेदार, stop and find out why.
- Count the names and shares. Establish whether it is sole or joint, and whether the shares add to the whole.
- Read the remarks column line by line and get every notation explained.
- Note the mutation reference for the current entry — that is where Lesson 7's title chain begins.
- Compare the area against what the seller has told you and against the map. Level 1, Lesson 4 covered why these differ.
Six steps, fifteen minutes, and it eliminates most of the parcels that would otherwise waste a month of your time.
Key terms
मुख्य शब्द
- Jamabandi · जमाबंदी
- The village record of rights, recording holders, holdings, class, area, revenue and liabilities.
- Khata · खाता
- The account number grouping land held on the same terms by the same holder or holders.
- Khasra · खसरा
- The individual field or plot number. The unit by which land is identified for every purpose.
- Kism kashtkar · किस्म काश्तकार
- The class-of-tenant entry — khatedar, ghair-khatedar or sub-tenant.
- Kaifiyat · कैफ़ियत
- The remarks or other-rights column, where mortgages, court orders, restrictions and corrections are noted.
- Lagaan · लगान
- The land revenue assessed on a holding.
- Rakba · रकबा
- Area, recorded in hectares and ares in metricated records.
Check yourself
आठ सवाल · 6 या ज़्यादा सही = पास
Q1What is the legal status of a jamabandi entry?
Q2What is the difference between a khata and a khasra?
Q3Which column should you read immediately after identifying the khasra numbers?
Q4Where would a mortgage (रहननामा) normally appear on a jamabandi?
Q5Khasra 219/2 appears in the record. What does the sub-number tell you?
Q6A khata shows five names with fractional shares and no recorded partition. One holder wants to sell you a specific field. What does his deed actually transfer?
Q7Why does the mutation reference in the remarks column matter to a buyer?
Q8Which statement is correct about a jamabandi that shows no liabilities in the remarks column?
What you can do tomorrow
कल से क्या करें
- Obtain one jamabandi extract and write out every column heading in Hindi with its meaning, in your own hand.
- Take the same extract and list every khasra number with its sub-number and area.
- Ask a Patwari to read the remarks column of one record aloud and explain each notation.
- Find one joint khata and work out whether the recorded shares add up to the whole.
Progress is saved in this browser only. Scoring 6 or more on the quiz marks the lesson complete automatically.
Apply this to a real parcel
AgriZameen lists agricultural land in the Phulera – Sambhar – Naraina – Rupangarh corridor, with the documents we have seen on each parcel. Reading a lesson is preparation; a record in your hand is the work.