KHATIYAN
Khatiyan (Record of Rights), Sottolipi, or Porcha is a document for identifying land.
This documentation was introduced in 1885 under the Bengal Tenancy Act (Act No.
VIII of 1885). Before the introduction of khatiyan, it was really difficult to assert
anyone’s right over a piece of land. That is to say, there was no definitive way or legal
records to identify who owns what and how. To tackle this confusion, in 1885, the
Bengal Tenancy Act defined the rights and obligations of all the land by conducting a
land survey so as to prepare a series of permanent land records called Record of
Rights or Khatiyan for the holders of land as well as for the Government.
The main objective of the survey was to prepare a plot-to-plot survey and settlement
on direct identification of the holder of the plot. But how does this work? – Every
sub-district of a district is divided into small plots otherwise known as Mouza. And
when there is a need to divide that Mouza into further plots, a Khatiyan is prepared.
Every Khatiyan has a number. All the Khatiyans of a Mouza are kept according to the
serial number in a bound volume.
CONTENTS OF KHATIAN
Khatiyan determines a number of important things. It doesn’t ascertain the entitlement
of the possession of the land but works as a piece of supporting evidence of the Title
Deed (another important document for validating the ownership). To that end, a
Khatiyan or Record of Rights contains the following information:
Khatian number;
Mouza,Upazilla, District and J.L.No;
Name, father’s name and address of the owner or owners;
Plot (dhag) number;
Portion of the owner or owners;
Class and nature of the land;
Amount of land development tax payable;
Total amount of land (dhag wise) etc.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF KHATIYAN:
Four different types of Khatiyan have been prepared under different surveys up until
now. Every one of them has its own purpose and functionality. Here is a brief
description of each type.
CS KHATIYAN
Cadastral survey or CS Khatiyan was initiated in Ramu Thana of Cox’s Bazar in
1888-89 and completed in Dinajpur. The survey was conducted entirely by the Survey
Department under the Bengal Tenancy Act, 1885 and completed in 1940.
RS KHATIYAN
After the CS Khatiyan, a lot of complaints had been filed against the inaccuracy of CS
Khatiyan. It started in 1940 and ended in 1952. RS Khatiyan or Rivisional survey was
conducted to revise the C.S. record. It was started in the Chittagong district and the
purpose of this survey is to update the amount of land, owner’s name, and possessor’s
name. Which in turn made it more authentic than the CS khatiyan.
SA KHATIYAN
This Khatiyan was done under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, that is
why it is called State Acquisition Survey. It is also known as Pakistan Survey (P.S.)
because it was conducted in the Pakistan Period. However, neither this is a practical
survey nor based on a field survey. This khatiyan was made on the information given
by the Zamindar or Landlord. The survey was concluded within a remarkably short
time from 1956 to 1964 through province-wise state acquisition settlements. This
khatiyan is not considered to be accurate.
BS KHATIYAN
Bangladesh Survey (B.S.) Khatian was prepared after the independence of
Bangladesh but started before the independence. The survey operation conducted
during 1970-1990 under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 and B.S. Sheet
was prepared during 1970-1985. The survey is still underway. That is why this is the
more accurate khatiyan of all. This survey is known as Bangladesh Survey and the
khatiyan made from BS survey is known as BS Khatiyan or Bangladesh Survey
Khatiyan.
Namjari
There is another special kind of Khatiyan also known as “Namjari”. This is really
important for two different reasons. Number one, Khatiyan is always prepared
through a survey but as it turns out, it doesn’t always happen. And if the property is
transferred or inherited in-between two surveys then it is mandatory that you mutate
and replace the current owner’s name with the old owner in the Khatiyan. Number
two, it is necessary for a holding to be created to pay the land tax (Khajna).
All in all, khatian is a very important piece of documentation that is absolutely
necessary when validating the authenticity of a property’s ownership. But one thing to
remember is that this document alone by any means doesn’t determine the ownership
of any property. It may be a good document for possession but doesn’t create
ownership or title.
