Patwari · Kanungo · Revenue GK

Punjab Land Records Glossary for Patwari Exams: Jamabandi, Girdawari, Intkal, Khasra, Khewat and More

The revenue section of the Patwari exam is full of words that are rarely used outside a tehsil office. Once you know what each record is for and who prepares it, most questions answer themselves. This glossary explains the terms in plain English, links them to the Patwari's real work and finishes with practice questions.

By PunjabExams Editorial Team · Updated 29 October 2026 · 7 min read · How we prepare guides

The Patwari's job in one paragraph

The Patwari is the village-level revenue official. He or she maintains the land records of a group of villages (a patwar circle), records who owns and who cultivates each field, inspects crops every season, prepares records of changes in ownership, and supplies certified copies and reports to the public and to higher revenue officers. The main law behind this system in Punjab is the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, supported by the Punjab Land Records Manual. Every term below is connected to one of these duties.

Core records

Jamabandi (ਜਮ੍ਹਾਂਬੰਦੀ) — the record of rights

The Jamabandi is the most important land record. It lists, for each khasra (field) in the village, the owners and their shares, the cultivators and their status, the area, the type of land, and details such as rent or mortgage. It is prepared periodically for each village and is updated between editions through sanctioned mutations. When a question asks for the "record of rights", the answer is the Jamabandi.

Intkal / Mutation (ਇੰਤਕਾਲ)

A mutation records a change of ownership or rights — by sale, gift, inheritance, partition, mortgage or court decree. The Patwari enters the mutation in the mutation register, and it is attested or sanctioned by a revenue officer (such as the Naib Tehsildar or Tehsildar acting as the circle revenue officer) after hearing the parties. A sanctioned mutation updates the Jamabandi. Remember: a mutation is a fiscal record of possession and rights; disputes about title are finally decided by civil courts.

Girdawari (ਗਿਰਦਾਵਰੀ) — crop inspection

Girdawari is the seasonal inspection of crops, done by the Patwari for each field, normally for the Rabi and Kharif harvests. It records which crop is grown, the area, the source of irrigation and who is cultivating. Girdawari entries are used for crop statistics, assessing damage after floods or hailstorms, and deciding compensation.

Khasra number

A khasra number is the number of a field or plot on the village map. All records refer to land by its khasra number, much as a house is referred to by its house number.

Khewat and Khatauni

• Khewat is the ownership holding — a number given to the land owned by a person or a group of co-owners.
• Khatauni is the cultivation holding — a number for the land cultivated by a person or group, which matters where tenants cultivate land they do not own.

A single khewat can contain several khatauni numbers if different tenants cultivate different parts of it.

Fard (ਫ਼ਰਦ)

A fard is a certified copy of an entry in a land record — most commonly a fard jamabandi. Banks ask for a fard before giving agricultural loans, and buyers use it to check ownership before a sale. In Punjab, many fards can now be obtained through Fard Kendras and the online jamabandi portal.

Shajra (ਸ਼ਜਰਾ) — the village map

The shajra (also called shajra kishtwar or aks shajra) is the map of the village fields showing khasra numbers and boundaries. The shajra nasab is something different: a family-tree record of owners, used for inheritance.

Other terms that appear in papers

Land measurement units in Punjab

Questions on land units are common and easy if you remember one chain.

Practise conversions: 3 acres 2 kanal = 26 kanal; 10 marla = half a kanal.

The revenue hierarchy

From the village upwards: Patwari → Field Kanungo (supervises a group of patwar circles) → Naib Tehsildar → Tehsildar → Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) → Deputy Commissioner (Collector) → Divisional Commissioner → Financial Commissioner (Revenue). Questions often ask who supervises the Patwari (the Field Kanungo) or who heads the district revenue administration (the Deputy Commissioner).

How these topics are tested

1. Definition questions: "Jamabandi is…", "Girdawari is done to…".
2. Matching questions: pair the record with its purpose.
3. Unit conversions: acres, kanal and marla.
4. Procedure questions: who sanctions a mutation, which record changes after a sale.
5. Scenario questions: "A farmer needs proof of land for a crop loan. Which document will the bank ask for?" (A fard.)

Read each term aloud with its purpose — "khasra: field number; khewat: owner holding; khatauni: cultivator holding" — until you can recite the chain without looking.

Practice questions

1. Q1. Which record is known as the "record of rights" in Punjab?

   • (a) Girdawari
   • (b) Jamabandi
   • (c) Roznamcha
   • (d) Shajra
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Jamabandi — The Jamabandi lists owners, cultivators, shares and area for each field and is the record of rights.

2. Q2. Girdawari is mainly concerned with:

   • (a) Registration of sale deeds
   • (b) Seasonal inspection of crops in each field
   • (c) Village family trees
   • (d) Collection of property tax
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Seasonal inspection of crops in each field — Girdawari is the crop inspection carried out by the Patwari each harvest season.

3. Q3. What does a khewat number represent?

   • (a) A field on the map
   • (b) An ownership holding
   • (c) A cultivation holding
   • (d) A village boundary stone
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) An ownership holding — Khewat refers to the ownership holding; khatauni refers to the cultivation holding.

4. Q4. How many kanals make one acre?

   • (a) 4
   • (b) 6
   • (c) 8
   • (d) 20
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) 8 — One acre equals 8 kanal, and one kanal equals 20 marla.

5. Q5. After a sale of land is completed, which entry is made to update the record of rights?

   • (a) Fard badar
   • (b) Intkal (mutation)
   • (c) Girdawari
   • (d) Lal Kitab
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Intkal (mutation) — The change of ownership is recorded as a mutation (intkal), which, once sanctioned, updates the Jamabandi.

6. Q6. Who directly supervises the work of Patwaris?

   • (a) Tehsildar
   • (b) Field Kanungo
   • (c) Deputy Commissioner
   • (d) Lambardar
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Field Kanungo — The Field Kanungo supervises the Patwaris of several patwar circles.

7. Q7. The village map showing khasra numbers and field boundaries is called:

   • (a) Shajra
   • (b) Khatauni
   • (c) Rehan
   • (d) Nakal
   Show answer

   Answer: (a) Shajra — The shajra (shajra kishtwar) is the field map of the village.

8. Q8. 2 acres and 4 kanal together equal how many kanal?

   • (a) 12
   • (b) 16
   • (c) 20
   • (d) 24
   Show answer

   Answer: (c) 20 — 2 acres = 16 kanal; 16 + 4 = 20 kanal.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Jamabandi proof of ownership?

The Jamabandi is the primary revenue record of rights and is widely relied on, but it is a fiscal record. Final disputes about title are decided by civil courts on the basis of title documents.

What is the difference between khasra and khewat?

Khasra is a field number on the map; khewat is the ownership holding, which can include several khasra numbers owned by the same person or group.

Where can I see Punjab land records online?

The Punjab Land Records Society's jamabandi portal provides online access to jamabandi and related records for many villages.

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