The bigha (also formerly beegah) is a traditional unit of measurement of
area
Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...
of a land, commonly used in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
(including
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
,
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
,
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
,
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
but not in southern states of India),
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. There is no "standard" size of bigha. The size of a ''bigha'' varies considerably from place to place. The size of Bigha is different in different areas.
[Haryana jamabandi Units of measurements]
, HALRIS
HALRIS (Haryana Land Record Information System) is a Visual Basic/Microsoft SQL Server based software system used by the Haryana government for the computerisation of land records in its tehsils. It was developed by National Informatics Centre - H ...
.
Sources have given measurements ranging from , but in several smaller pockets, it can be as high as . Its sub-unit is Biswa (or Bisa) or Katha (or Katta) in many regions. Again there is no "standard" size of biswa or katha. A bigha may have 5 to 200 biswa in different regions.
Uses in India
The bigha is a traditional unit of land in several parts of North India. Sale and purchase of land (particularly agricultural land) is still done unofficially in this unit. However, the area is recorded in
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
or
square metre
The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter (American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square w ...
s in official land records. Bigha varies in size from one part of India to another. Various states and often regions within the same state have different sizes attributed to the bigha. It is usually less than one standard
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
(43,560 square feet or 4,047 square metre) but can extend up to 3 acres (1.2 hectare).
* In
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, a bigha is , subdivided into 5
katha. Each katha consists of 20 Lessa with a Lessa covering in area. Hence each katha is in area, although this may vary within different regions of Assam. 4 bighas together are further termed as a Pura.
* In
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, different regions have different sizes of bigha. Near the capital,
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
, one bigha is equivalent to 20 katha. 1
Katha equating to . One katha is further subdivided in 20 dhur. Hence each dhur is approximately . One dhur is further subdivided in 20 dhurki, each dhurki being approximately .
** 1
decimal
The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...
in Bihar equals to 435.56 sq feet. 1 decimal is equal to 1/100 acre.
** In some of eastern parts of the Bihar including
Munger
Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...
,
Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk ...
and
Jamui
Jamui is a town and a municipality in Jamui district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the district headquarter of Jamui district. Jamui was formed as a district on 21 February 1991 as a result of its separation from Munger. It is part of Mun ...
, one dhur is further subdivided into one square lagga (pole length). One lagga is equivalent to 5.5 hand lengths, with each hand length being . Therefore, one lagga is 99 inches, or 251.46 cm.
* In
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...
, five bigha is equal to one acre (0.0809 hectare).
* In
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
and
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
, 2 bigha is equal to one acre, each bigha is 4 kanaals, each kanaal is 20 marlas, each marla is 9 square karam, each square karam is 30.25 sq ft (5.5 X 5.5 ft), each karam is 5.5 feet. See
measurement of land in Punjab
The following are the basic measurements of land used in the Punjab region, divided between Indian and Pakistani Punjab and many parts of North India and Pakistan in ascending order.
Current standard measurement of farm land
All Units
1 karam ...
.
* In central India, bighas were standardized at 3025 yd
2(2529.3 m
2) or 5/8 acre (0.2529 hectare).
* In
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
, one
Katha = .
* In
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, One Pucca Bigha = 27,225 sq ft (i.e., 165 × 165 ft) and one Kaccha Bigha is equal to .
* In
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, one bigha can mean different things to people in different districts of the state. In the western districts of the state one bigha is either equal to five biswa (one biswa is or 6.75 biswa. In the remainder of Uttar Pradesh, 1 bigha is divided into 20 biswas. Each biswa is 125 m
2 or 154.32 yd
2 (hence one Bigha is 0.25 Hectare (or 2500 m
2 or 3086.4 yd
2 or 26909 ft
2). 6 Biswa ≈1 Bigha (Kaccha)
* In Uttar Pradesh East one Bigha equals to 20 Biswa(Pakka) and 10 Biswa(kaccha). This is not use as official but on local scale in field calculation.
* In Uttar Pradesh (West) the measurements are slightly different: one Bigha=20 20 biswa=60 Decimal=2428.80 m
2
* In
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
, 1 Bigha is subdivided into 20 Bissas or 12 Nali. or 632.2981 m
2.
* In
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, the Bigha was standardized under British colonial rule at 1600 yd
2 (0.1338 hectare or 0.3306 acre); this is often interpreted as being 1/3 acre (it is precisely
40⁄
121 acre). In metric units, a bigha is hence 1333 m
2.
*However, in
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
and
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, Bigha is not in practical measurement unit.
Uses in Bangladesh
Bigha is a traditional unit of land in entire Bangladesh, with land purchases still being undertaken in this unit. One bigha is equal to 1,600 square yard as standardized in pre-partition
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
during the British rule. In other words, 3 bigha are just 0.5
katha/360 sq ft short of 1
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
.
Measurements of area in terms of bigha
:1 Katha (কাঠা) = 720 sq ft (80 sq yd or 66.89 sq m)
:1 Bigha (বিঘা) = 20 katha (কাঠা) (14,400 sq ft or 1,337.8 sq m)
:1 Acre (একর) = 3 bigha (বিঘা) 60.5 katha (কাঠা) (4,840 sq yd or 43,560 sq ft or 4,047 sq m)
Use in Nepal
A Bigha is a
customary unit of measurement in Nepal, equal to about 6,773 square meters. Officially, most measurement of lands use units of either Bigha (in Terai region) or Ropani (Nepali: रोपनी) (in Hilly regions). Metric system (
SI unit of square metre) is very seldom used officially in measuring area of land.
Measurement of area in terms of bigha
:1 Bigha (बिघा)= 20 Kattha (कठ्ठा) (about 6,772.63 m² or 72900 sq.ft.)
:1 Kattha (कठ्ठा) = 20 Dhur (धुर) (about 338.63 m² or 3,645 sq.ft.)
:1 Dhur (धुर) = 16.93 m² or 182.25 sq.ft.
:1 Kanwa (कनवा) = 1/16 Dhur (धुर)
:1 Kanaee (कनई) = 1/16 Kanwa (कनवा)
anwa is largely obsolete and is used only when tiny lands are very precious:
:1 Bigha = 13.31 Ropani (रोपनी)
:1 Ropani = 16 aana (आना) (about 508.72 m² or 5476 sq. ft.)
:1 aana = 4 paisa (पैसा) (about 31.80 m² or 342.25 sq.ft.)
:1 paisa = 4 daam (दाम) (7.95 m²)
;1 Bigha = 6,772.63 m
2
For the different Ropani system from the one above
:1 Bigha = .677263 hectare = 1.6735 acre = 13.31 Ropani
:1 Hectare = 19.6565 Ropani
:19.6565 Ropani = 1 Hectare
:1 Ropani = 508.83771 m²
Use in Fiji
In
Fiji Hindi
Fiji Hindi (Devanagari: ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Indo-Fijians. It is an Eastern Hindi language, considered to be a dialect of Awadhi that has also been subject to considerable influence by Bhojpuri, other Bihari dialects, and H ...
1 bigha is equal to 1
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
In popular culture
The classic Hindi movie
Do Bigha Zamin
''Do Bigha Zamin'' () is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem " Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, it is c ...
by
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as ''Do Bigha Zamin'', ''Parineeta (1953 film), Parineeta'', ''Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas (1955 film), D ...
in year 1953 portrayed the struggle of a poor peasant with very little landholding.
See also
*
Doab
''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...
*
Jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
*
Khadir and Bangar
Khādir or Khadar and Bangar, Bāngur or Bhangar (Hindi language: खादर और बांगर, Urdu languageکهادر اور بانگر) are terms used in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi in the Indo-Gangetic plains of North India an ...
*
Barani, Nahri, Chahi, Taal
*
Banjar, Jungle, Abadi, Shamlat, Gair Mumkin
*
Measurement of land in Punjab
The following are the basic measurements of land used in the Punjab region, divided between Indian and Pakistani Punjab and many parts of North India and Pakistan in ascending order.
Current standard measurement of farm land
All Units
1 karam ...
*
Patwari
A Village accountant or Patwari (Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal), Talati (Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra) or Lekhpal (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), is an administrative government position in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent ...
*
Zaildar
Zaildar was the title of the grand jagirdars (landlords) of the area, who were in charge of a Zail which was an administrative unit of group of villages during the British Indian Empire. The Settlement Officer, with the advice of the Deputy Co ...
*
Zamindar
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
References
{{Reflist
Sources
Area conversion royalreality.com (archived 27 April 2006)
Bhulekh – etawah.nic.in (archived 29 June 2011)
Land measurement in India landzone.in
Bhulekh uk.gov.in
External links
at Sizes.com
Units of area
Customary units in India