How Agricultural Land Is Measured in India: Bigha, Biswa, Guntha, Kanal and More

India officially uses the metric system, and land records in many states are now kept in hectares or acres. But on the ground – in conversations, in older records and in land deals – traditional units are everywhere. The catch is that many of them, especially the bigha, are not the same size from one state to the next.

This guide explains the main units, roughly where they're used, and how they convert.

The fixed units

These are defined exactly and are the same everywhere:

Guntha is widely used in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Telangana. Cent is common in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Kanal and marla are standard in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir (the kanal and marla above are the standard values for Punjab and Haryana; they can differ elsewhere).

The bigha: one name, many sizes

The bigha is used across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Assam and elsewhere. Its size was fixed by local revenue settlements over centuries, so it varies a lot. Commonly used values are:

Even within a state, local practice can differ between districts and villages. Treat these figures as a guide and confirm with your patwari or land records before any transaction.

Our Bigha to Acre converter uses these state values, so pick your state before converting.

Sub-units of the bigha

• Biswa: in Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Himachal and Haryana, 1 bigha = 20 biswa. Some areas further divide a biswa into 20 biswansi. Use the Biswa to Bigha converter.

• Katha: in West Bengal, 1 bigha = 20 katha (1 katha = 720 sq ft). In Assam, 1 bigha = 5 katha and 4 bigha = 1 pura. In Bihar and Jharkhand the katha is also used, with local sizes.

• Dhur / dhurki: smaller units in Bihar and parts of UP, 20 dhur to a katha.

Why the confusion matters

Imagine two farmers each say they own "10 bigha". One is in Rajasthan (6.25 acres), the other in Himachal (2 acres). A fertilizer or seed calculation based on the wrong size would be off by a factor of three. For land deals, loans and legal matters, the stakes are even higher.

That's why every calculator on this site works in fixed units – acres, hectares, square metres, guntha, cent, kanal – and the bigha converters ask for your state.

Measuring your own field

If you're not sure of a field's size, measure it. With a tape and a helper you can measure all the sides (and one diagonal for a four-sided field) and use the Land Area Calculator to get the area in acres, hectares, guntha and square feet. Phone GPS apps are handy too, though they can be several metres out at each corner on small fields.

The official record comes first

Most states now provide land records online – jamabandi, khatauni, 7/12 extract, RoR and so on – usually with area in hectares or acres. For anything legal or financial, the recorded area is what counts. Use converters to understand a figure, not to override the record.