A Khasra Girdawari ( Hindustani: ख़सरा or خسره گرداوری) is a legal Revenue Department document 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 ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

that specifies land and crop details. It is often used in conjunction with a ''

shajra A shujra or shujrah is a detailed village map that is used for legal (land ownership) and administrative purposes in India and Pakistan. A ''shujra'' maps out the village lands into land parcels and gives each parcel a unique number. The ''patwari ...

'' (or ''shajra kishtwar''), which is a family tree of owner ;used for reference map of the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

that administers the land described by the ''khasra girdawari''. ''Khasras'' traditionally detail "''all the fields and their areas, measurement, who owns and what cultivators he employs, what crops, what sort of soil, what trees are on the land''.". In Indian Land record system, "Khatauni" is an account book, "Khasra girdawari" is a survey book and "Sajra" is the village map. At village level, patwari is appointed to update and maintain these land records.

History

Systematic ''khasra'' documentation in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

has existed for several centuries, far predating the

British colonial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

period. Medieval ''khasra'' documents are a useful source for historians in reconstructing the economic history in specific areas of India and Pakistan.

References

Law of India Law of Pakistan Land law Land management in India {{india-law-stub

History

See also

References