In most of north India a buyer asks for one extract. In Tamil Nadu the question "whose land is this?" is answered by more than one register, and a careful buyer reads them against each other. The Glossary of Revenue Terms, published by the Department of Land Resources, lists Tamil Nadu’s record as Patta & A-Register & TSLR — three separate documents, with 11, 19 and 22 fields, kept in Tamil.
What the document is and who keeps it
At village level the records are kept by the Village Administrative Officer (VAO), under the tahsildar at the taluk office. The patta is the holder’s record: it is issued in the holder’s name and lists the survey numbers held under one patta number. The chitta is the village account of land arranged by holding. The A-Register is arranged the other way, survey number by survey number. The TSLR, the Town Survey Land Register, does the job of the A-Register for land surveyed as town land.
Our source gives the plot label as Pula En (the survey field number) and the holder label as Patta Number. Those are the two numbers you will search by.
Puducherry keeps five documents, all in Tamil according to the same source: Chitta, Chitta (Natham), Patta, Patta (Natham) and Patta (Town), with 11, 11, 12, 13 and 13 fields. The source does not give their plot and holder labels, so we have not supplied them.
How to read it, part by part
- Location: district, taluk, village. Confirm all three. The same survey number exists in many villages.
- Patta number and holders. The patta names the holder or joint holders. Where a patta has several names, every one of them has an interest in what is listed under it, and a sale by one of them does not carry the others’ shares.
- Survey number and sub-division (pula en). Each survey number held under the patta, with its sub-division. Make sure the survey number in the sale papers is on this list. See our note on survey numbers and khasra numbers for how sub-division numbering works.
- Land classification. Agricultural land is commonly classed as nanjai (wet land) or punjai (dry land). The classification affects how the land may be used and what permission a change of use needs.
- Area. Recorded against each survey number, in hectares and ares on current extracts. Add them up and compare with the area in the sale deed.
- Assessment. The land revenue due. It is not a valuation.
- The A-Register entry for the same survey number. Look up each survey number in the A-Register. It shows the classification of the land and the patta it falls under. If the A-Register classes the land as poramboke, which is government land set aside for public purposes, a private patta over it is a serious warning.
- TSLR, if the land is in a town. Town land is identified by ward, block and town survey number rather than village survey number. Read the TSLR entry in the same way.
Adangal. You may also be offered an adangal, the VAO’s village account of cultivation. It shows who is cultivating a survey number and what is grown. Adangal is not one of the three documents our source lists for Tamil Nadu, so treat it as supporting evidence of use, not a record of rights.
What it does not prove
A patta is a revenue record. It exists so that the state knows whose name a holding stands in, what it is classified as and what is grown on it. Indian courts have long treated entries of this kind as records kept for fiscal purposes rather than as documents of title. A name on the extract is strong evidence of who the revenue office recognises today; it is not, on its own, proof that the person can give you clean title.
Before you rely on it, put these next to it:
- Mutation history. Ask for the mutation entries that brought the land to the present holder, and read each one. A name that appears without a mutation behind it is a question, not an answer.
- Encumbrance certificate. Obtain it from the sub-registrar for a long enough period to cover the chain of sales. Mortgages and agreements registered with the sub-registrar do not always reach the revenue record.
- Registered deeds. The sale deeds, partition deeds, gift deeds or settlement deeds that make up the chain of title. The revenue record should follow these, not the other way round.
- Patta transfer history. A patta that changed names recently, or more than once in a short time, deserves a closer look at the deeds behind each change.
- The field map. The patta gives an area; the survey sketch shows the shape and boundaries. Walk them.
Our guide to land fraud red flags lists the patterns that show up when a revenue extract and the deeds do not agree.
Where to get a copy
The Department of Land Resources lists this portal for Tamil Nadu. Type it in yourself rather than following a link sent to you.
- Tamil Nadu:
eservices.tn.gov.in - Puducherry: no address published. The source’s link is malformed, a relative path joined by mistake, and we will not guess a replacement. Ask the taluk office.
For a transaction, ask the taluk office whether an online extract is enough or a certified copy is needed. Our verify land records page tracks portal changes.
हिंदी में
तमिलनाडु में ज़मीन का एक नहीं, तीन रिकॉर्ड होते हैं — पट्टा, ए-रजिस्टर और शहरी ज़मीन के लिए टी.एस.एल.आर.। पट्टा ज़मीन के धारक के नाम पर होता है और उसमें पट्टा नंबर, धारक का नाम और उसके सभी सर्वे नंबर लिखे होते हैं। चिट्टा गाँव का खाता है, जिसे ग्राम प्रशासनिक अधिकारी (VAO) रखता है। ए-रजिस्टर हर सर्वे नंबर का ब्योरा देता है — ज़मीन किस वर्ग की है, कितना क्षेत्रफल है और किस पट्टे में दर्ज है। अगर ए-रजिस्टर में ज़मीन "पोरम्बोके" यानी सरकारी ज़मीन लिखी है, तो सौदा वहीं रोक दीजिए और जाँच कराइए। पट्टा मालिकाना हक़ का अंतिम सबूत नहीं है; रजिस्ट्री के दस्तावेज़ और ऋणभार प्रमाणपत्र भी देखिए। पुदुच्चेरी में पाँच अलग रिकॉर्ड होते हैं, और उनकी जानकारी तालुक कार्यालय से लीजिए।
This short section is a plain-language summary and has not been reviewed by a native-speaker lawyer. The English text is the reference.
தமிழில் சுருக்கமாக
பட்டா நிலத்தின் உரிமையாளர் பெயரில் இருக்கும் வருவாய் ஆவணம். அதில் பட்டா எண், உரிமையாளர் பெயர், புல எண் மற்றும் பரப்பு இருக்கும். சிட்டா கிராம நிர்வாக அலுவலர் வைத்திருக்கும் கிராமக் கணக்கு. அ-பதிவேட்டில் ஒவ்வொரு புல எண்ணின் வகைப்பாடு தெரியும்; புறம்போக்கு என்றால் அது அரசு நிலம். பட்டா மட்டும் உரிமைக்கான இறுதிச் சான்று அல்ல; பத்திரங்களையும் வில்லங்கச் சான்றிதழையும் பாருங்கள்.
- பட்டா எண் — patta number
- புல எண் — survey field number
- சிட்டா — village account by holding
- அ-பதிவேடு — A-Register
- நஞ்சை / புஞ்சை — wet land / dry land
- வில்லங்கச் சான்றிதழ் — encumbrance certificate
Common questions
What is the difference between Patta and Chitta?
The patta is the holder’s document: it shows the patta number, the holder’s name and the survey numbers held under it. The chitta is the village-level account of land by holding, kept by the Village Administrative Officer. Online extracts now commonly present the two together.
What is the A-Register?
It is the village register kept survey number by survey number. It records how each survey number is classified, its area and the patta it falls under. It is the place to check whether a survey number is government land.
What is TSLR?
The Town Survey Land Register, used for land surveyed as town land rather than village land. The Glossary of Revenue Terms lists Patta, A-Register and TSLR as three separate documents in Tamil Nadu, with 11, 19 and 22 fields respectively.
Is a patta proof of ownership in Tamil Nadu?
A patta shows whose name the revenue department has recorded against the land. It is not by itself a document of title. Check the registered deeds, the encumbrance certificate and the history of patta transfers before relying on it.
Where do I get Puducherry land records?
Puducherry keeps five documents: Chitta, Chitta (Natham), Patta, Patta (Natham) and Patta (Town). The Department of Land Resources link for Puducherry is malformed, so we publish no portal address. Ask the taluk office for the correct route.
Related guides on AgriZameen
- How to read land documents — the full series
- Land records by state — what each state calls its record
- Verify land records — the official portals, state by state
- Khasra, survey number and plot number: the difference
- Tamil Nadu state page
- Legal help — when to bring in an advocate
About this page. AgriZameen is an independent platform. It is not a government body and is not affiliated with any land-records department of any state or union territory. Record names, field counts and portal addresses on this page are taken from the Glossary of Revenue Terms and the Citizen Centric Services list published by the Department of Land Resources; anything those sources do not give, we have said so rather than filled in. Verify every entry on the official portal and with the office concerned before you rely on it. Nothing here is legal advice; for a transaction, have your own advocate read your own papers.