Of all the land units in India, the bigha causes the most trouble. It is widely used in the north, east and parts of the west, yet it has no single national size. Two sellers can both say “five bigha” and be offering plots that differ by tens of thousands of square feet. Katha, biswa and dhur have the same problem. Here is why, and what you can do about it.
Where the differences come from
The word “bigha” is old, and it was never fixed by a central authority. Different rulers, princely states and later provincial governments defined it using the local unit of length: the local gaj, the local rope, or a count of paces. When the British standardised some records, they often kept the local definition, so the differences carried into modern revenue records. Today the size depends on the state, and in some states on the district, the soil type or whether the record is “pucca” or “kachha”.
A pucca bigha is the larger, standard version used in official records in some states. A kachha bigha is a smaller, informal version used in everyday talk. If you do not know which one a seller means, you cannot know how much land you are being offered.
Examples of the spread
Two commonly quoted figures show how large the gap can be. In West Bengal, a bigha is usually taken as 20 katha, and a katha as 720 sq ft, which makes a bigha about 14,400 sq ft. In Assam, a bigha is usually taken as 5 katha, but an Assamese katha is much larger, about 2,880 sq ft, so the bigha again comes to about 14,400 sq ft. The same word “katha” therefore means 720 sq ft in one state and 2,880 sq ft in the next, a fourfold difference. Other states use larger bigha values, and some use a different number of biswa to a bigha. We list these only as examples: always confirm the figure for your own district.
Biswa, biswansi and dhur
These are subdivisions, and they differ too. In many northern states 20 biswa make one bigha and 20 biswansi make one biswa. In Bihar and Jharkhand you may meet katha and dhur, where 20 dhur make one katha. The ratios are stable in a region, but the base unit is not, so a biswa in one state is not the same area as in another.
How a mistake costs money
Suppose a seller offers “3 bigha” at ₹10 lakh per bigha, and you assume a bigha is about 27,000 sq ft. If it is really 14,400 sq ft, you are paying for far less land than you thought. The reverse can happen too. Because most price comparisons are made per square foot or per acre, a unit mix-up silently changes the real rate by a large percentage.
How to protect yourself
- Ask for the state and district of the land, and the exact local definition of the unit used.
- Read the record. The latest revenue record, survey sketch or sale deed usually shows the area in a standard unit such as hectares or square metres next to the local unit. Use that number.
- Convert once, in writing. Put the agreed area in square feet or square metres in the sale agreement, not only in bigha.
- Cross-check with a surveyor. For anything of real value, pay for a measurement. It costs little compared with the price of the land.
- Use a tool that asks for your state. A good converter, such as the one in Plotwise, lets you choose the regional definition instead of assuming one.
What if the record and the seller disagree?
Go with the record, but ask why they differ. Sometimes the seller is using a smaller informal bigha. Sometimes part of the land has been sold or acquired. Sometimes the record is old and the boundary has changed. Do not close the deal until the difference is explained and the area is fixed in writing.
Remember the limits of any calculator
No calculator can know the exact local custom of every village. Treat results as a good first estimate, then confirm with the revenue office or the sub-registrar. Our own tools carry the same warning, and so should anything you rely on.