How to read a land pattaa: a plain guide for first-time buyers

A pattaa is not a single form. Depending on how the land was settled you may be handed an annual pattaa, a periodic pattaa, or a settlement khatian — and only one of those gives you a heritable title.

Read it in this order

1. Dag number and patta number. These two together identify the plot. A sale deed that names only one is incomplete.
2. Area. Recorded in bigha–katha–lessa. Convert once and write the figure in square feet next to it.
3. Class of land. Agricultural land carries conversion rules that a buyer planning a house must clear first.
4. Names in the possession column. Every name here must sign the deed, including heirs.

The three checks

Ask the circle office for a certified copy rather than working from the seller’s photocopy. Pull the jamabandi for the last thirty years. And walk the plot with the chitha map in hand — boundary drift is the single most common surprise.

If any of the three throws up a mismatch, stop and get it corrected before an advance is paid. Corrections after registration take years.