How to read a khatiyan: Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkimखतियान कैसे पढ़ें — बिहार, झारखंड, बंगाल, ओडिशा, त्रिपुरा, सिक्किम

What a khatiyan is, and who keeps it

In the eastern states the record of rights for a piece of agricultural land is called the khatiyan. It is the page that says, for one holder’s account in one village, which plots that holder has, how large they are, what kind of land they are, and on what terms they are held. It is the first document a buyer is shown.

The name is shared, but the form is not. The Glossary of Revenue Terms published by the Department of Land Resources lists each state’s version separately, with its own number of fields and its own language:

Where a label is not in the source, we do not guess it. Ask the local revenue official to point out the plot and account columns on your copy.

Who keeps it. The khatiyan is a revenue record, so it sits with the revenue administration at the lowest level. In Bihar and Jharkhand that is the circle (anchal) office, where the halka karmachari maintains the village records under the circle officer. In West Bengal it is the Block Land and Land Reforms Office for the block. In Odisha it is the tahasil office. For Tripura and Sikkim, ask at the revenue office for the area which office holds the record for your village; we have not confirmed the local arrangement. Our note on who holds which land record explains the chain of offices in more detail.

One thing to understand early: in several of these states the khatiyan was prepared during a survey settlement, and a survey khatiyan can be many decades old. What happened afterwards — inheritance, sale, partition — is tracked through mutation and, in Bihar, the current jamabandi register. Our Bihar land record guide covers how the two fit together there.

How to read it, part by part

• Start with the header. It identifies the district, the circle, block or tahasil, and the village or mouza with its survey number. Check every one against the sale deed and the map; similar mouza names are a common mistake.
• Find the account number. Each khatiyan is one holder’s account. In Bihar the Glossary calls this the Khata Sankhya; in Jharkhand, the Khata / Khevat Number. Note it down exactly; every later search on a portal uses it.
• Read the holder block. It gives the name of each holder, usually with a father’s or husband’s name and place of residence, and where there is more than one holder, each person’s share. Where the class of the holding or the tenancy is recorded, note it; it decides what the holder can transfer.
• Go through the plot lines. Each plot in the account appears on its own line with its plot number (the Khesra Sankhya in Bihar, the Khesra Number in Jharkhand), its area and its land class. In Bihar, area is often in acres and decimals; the Glossary defines one decimal as one-hundredth of an acre. Add the plot areas and check that they match the area in the deed.
• Look at the land class. The khatiyan records what kind of land each plot is. A plot recorded as something other than cultivable land, or as common or government land, is a question for the circle office before anything else.
• Read the remarks. Other rights, encumbrances, orders and notes are recorded in the remarks or rights portion of the form. A charge, lease, court order or dispute note here matters more than the columns above it.
• Check the version. Is this the original survey khatiyan or a current copy reflecting later mutations? If the holder is long dead, ask for the entries that bring it up to date.
• Match it to the map. The plot number should appear on the village map in the place the seller shows you on the ground. See khasra and survey numbers for how plot numbering works across states.

What it does not prove

A khatiyan is a revenue record. It tells you who the revenue administration shows as holding the land, and on what terms. It is not a title deed, and a name in it is not by itself proof of ownership. Title rests on the chain behind the entry: registered sale deeds, partitions, inheritance, gifts and court orders.

• Mutation history. Ask how the current holder came to be recorded, and see the mutation orders that did it.
• Encumbrance. Check whether the land is mortgaged, charged or under attachment. The khatiyan may not show a loan registered elsewhere.
• Registered deeds. Read the deeds behind the holding, not only the latest one.
• Every heir. Where the entry is in an ancestor’s name, every legal heir has a share until a partition or a family settlement says otherwise.

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

Each state publishes its records through its own portal. The addresses below are those the Department of Land Resources lists. They are given as plain text, not links: type them in yourself and check you have reached the state’s own site.

An online copy is for checking. For a transaction, get a certified copy from the office concerned, and use our verify land records page to work through the checks in order.

Questions first-time buyers ask

Is the khatiyan the same document in Bihar, Bengal and Odisha?

The name is shared but the form is not. The Glossary of Revenue Terms lists the Bihar khatiyan with 15 fields, Jharkhand with 22, West Bengal with 21, Odisha's Form 39A with 26, Tripura's Form 7 with 14 and Sikkim's Parcha or Khatiyan with 17. Read each one as its own state's form.

Does a khatiyan in the seller's name prove the seller owns the land?

No. A khatiyan is a revenue record of who holds the land and on what terms. It is strong evidence and a necessary check, but title rests on the chain of registered deeds, inheritance and orders behind it. Check the mutation history and encumbrances as well.

What if the khatiyan is in the name of a grandparent?

That is common where the survey khatiyan is decades old. It means the land has passed by inheritance or transfer since, and each step should show up as a mutation or in the current register. Ask for those entries and for the consent of every heir before any sale.

Which language will the khatiyan be in?

Per the Glossary of Revenue Terms, the khatiyan is kept in Hindi in Bihar and Jharkhand, in Bengali in West Bengal and Tripura, in Odia in Odisha and in Nepali in Sikkim. Portals often show an English interface, but the record itself stays in the state's language.

Related guides

Start from how to read land documents, or pick your state from records by state. If something in the record does not add up, find legal help before you pay anything.

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