How to read a jamabandi nakal: Haryana, Himachal, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakhजमाबंदी नक़ल कैसे पढ़ें — हरियाणा, हिमाचल, चंडीगढ़, जम्मू-कश्मीर, लद्दाख

What the jamabandi is, and who keeps it

Across the north-west, land records follow a shared pattern that goes back to the same revenue system. The central record is the jamabandi: a periodic record of the owners and cultivators of every holding in a village, with the plots, areas and land class. A certified copy of it is the nakal. Where the fuller record of rights prepared at settlement is kept, it is called the misal haquiat.

Punjab and Rajasthan use the same family of records and have their own guides on this site: the Punjab fard and jamabandi guide and reading a Rajasthan jamabandi. This page covers the rest. The Glossary of Revenue Terms published by the Department of Land Resources names each version:

Where a label is not in the source, we have not read that chapter at field level and do not print a guess. The same broad structure usually applies, but ask the patwari to point out the columns on your copy.

Who keeps it. The jamabandi is maintained by the patwari for the village and held at the tehsil. Mutations are entered by the patwari and attested at the tehsil level. The Glossary records Haryana’s governing text as the Haryana Land Records Manual, 2013, and Himachal Pradesh’s as the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954. See who holds which land record for the chain of offices.

How to read it, part by part

• Header and year. District, tehsil, village (and its hadbast number where shown), and the year of the jamabandi. A jamabandi is prepared periodically; mutations after that year appear separately until the next edition. Note the year and ask for later mutations.
• Khewat number. This is the ownership account. Everyone listed under one khewat is a co-owner of what it contains, in the shares shown.
• Khatauni number. Under each khewat, the khatauni is the cultivation account: who actually tills the land. An owner and a cultivator who are different people means a tenant or other occupant is recorded. That matters to a buyer.
• Owners and shares. Names with parentage, and each person’s share as a fraction. Add the shares; they should make up the whole. Every co-owner has to be part of a sale of their share.
• Plot numbers. In Haryana, consolidated villages identify land by murabba and kila; elsewhere by khasra number. Match each number to the village map and to what the seller shows you on the ground. See khasra and survey numbers.
• Area. Given in local units. In Haryana, the Glossary gives one kanal as 605 square yards and one acre as 8 kanals. Add up the areas and compare them with the deed.
• Land class. The record says what kind of land each plot is, including whether it is irrigated. Check it against the ground.
• Remarks. Mortgages, leases, court orders and mutation references are noted here. Read every line.

What it does not prove

The jamabandi is a revenue record. A nakal is a copy of it. Neither is a title deed, and a name in it is not by itself proof of ownership. Ownership rests on registered sale deeds, inheritance, partition and court orders.

• Mutation history. Ask for the mutations by which each current owner was entered, and read them.
• Encumbrance. Check for loans and charges separately.
• Registered deeds. Read the chain, not only the latest deed.
• Cultivator. If someone other than the owner is recorded as cultivating, find out on what terms before you buy.

We have written separately about why a revenue entry is not title: see jamabandi and mutation are not proof of ownership, and land fraud red flags for the patterns that show up when a record is used to mislead a buyer.

Where to get a copy

The addresses below are those the Department of Land Resources lists, given as plain text. Type them in yourself and check you are on the official site.

An online copy is for checking. For a transaction, get a certified nakal from the tehsil, and work through verify land records in order.

Questions first-time buyers ask

What is the difference between khewat and khatauni on a jamabandi?

In this system the khewat is the ownership account and the khatauni is the cultivation account under it. The Glossary of Revenue Terms gives Khewat / Khatauni as the holder label for Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The owner and the person cultivating the land are not always the same, so read both.

What do murabba and kila numbers mean in Haryana?

The Glossary gives Khasra / Murabba and Kila as the plot label in Haryana. Where a village has been consolidated, land is laid out in large rectangles called murabbas, each divided into kilas, so a plot is identified by the murabba number and the kila number together.

Is a nakal jamabandi proof of ownership?

No. A nakal is a copy of the jamabandi, which is a revenue record. It shows who is recorded as owner and cultivator, but ownership rests on registered deeds, inheritance and orders. Check the mutation history and encumbrances as well.

Which language will the record be in?

Per the Glossary of Revenue Terms, it is kept in Hindi in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, in Punjabi in Chandigarh, and in Urdu in Jammu and Kashmir and in Ladakh. Get a translation you trust before you sign anything based on an Urdu or Punjabi record.

Where is the Punjab jamabandi covered?

Punjab has its own guide on this site, covering the fard and the jamabandi. Rajasthan's jamabandi is covered separately too. This page covers Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Related guides

See how to read land documents, or find your state at records by state. If a record raises a question you cannot answer, find legal help.

About this guide