Bigha

The bigha (Nepali: बीघा, Assamese: বিঘা, Bengali: বিঘা) is a unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in Nepal, Bangladesh and in a few states of India including Uttaranchal,Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc. The precise size of a bigha appears to vary considerably. Sources have given measurements that range from 1,500 to 6,771 square meters, but in several smaller pockets, it is as high as 12,400 square meters.

Uses in India

Bigha is a traditional unit of land in several parts of India, with land purchases still being undertaken in this unit. However, it varies in size from one part of India to another. It is less than an acre (0.4 hectare), however could extend upto 3 acres. Various states and often parts within states have different sizes attributed to 1 Bigha.

• In Assam, India, a Bigha is 50,400 square feet. It is subdivided into 5 Kotha. Each Kotha consists of 20 Lecha. Each Lecha is 144 square feet in area, and hence each Kotha is 2880 sq ft in area.

• In Bihar, different parts use different sizes for Bigha. Near the capital, Patna, 1 Bigha is equivalent to 20 Kattha each worth 1361 Sq. Feet. Furthermore, One Kattha are subdivided in 20 Dhur. Hence, each Dhur is approximnately 68.06 Sq. Feet.
  • Further, in some of the eastern parts of the state including Munger,Bhagalpur and Jamui, One Dhur is further subdivided into 1 square lagga(pole length). One lagga is equivalent to 5.5 hand length, with each hand length being 18 inch.

• In Himachal Pradesh, India, 5 Bigha are equal to 2 Acre.

• In central India, Bighas were standardized at 3025 square yards or 5/8 acre (0.2529 hectare).

• In Madhya Pradesh, India, 1 Kattha = 600 Sq Feet.

• In Uttar Pradesh 1 Bigha is divided in 20 Biswas. Each Biswas is 125 Sq.Mts or 154.32 Sq. Yds Hence, One Bigha is 0.25 Hectare (or 2500 Sq.Mts or 3087.41 Sq.Yds).While in Uttar Pradesh (West) the measurements are slightly differ 1 Bigha=20 Bishwa=60 Decimal=2428.80 Sq. Mtrs
• In Uttaranchal, 1 Bigha is subdivided into 19 Bissas or 12 Nali. In Imperial and SI Units, each Bigha is 968 sq. yard or 800 sq.mt.

• In West Bengal, the bigha was standardized under British colonial rule at 1600 square yards (0.1338 hectare or 0.3306 acre); this is often interpreted as being 1/3 acre (it is precisely ⁴⁰⁄₁₂₁ acre). In Metric Unites, a Bigha is hence 1333.33 m².

Use in Nepal

In Nepal, where a Bigha is about 6,772.63 square meters. Officially, most measurement of lands use units of either Bigha (in Terai region) or Ropani (Nepali: रोपनी) (in Hilly regions). Metric system is very seldom used officially in measuring area of Land.

Measurement of area in terms of bigha

1 Bigha (बिघा)= 20 Kattha (कठ्ठा) (about 6,772.63 m² or 72,900 sq.ft.)

1 Kattha (কাঠা, कठ्ठा) = 20 Dhur (धुर) (about 338.63 m² or 3,645 sq.ft.)

1 Dhur (धुर) = 16.93 m² or 182.25 sq.ft.

 

1 Bigha = 13.31 Ropani (रोपनी)

1 Ropani = 16 aana (आना) (about 508.72 m² or 5476 sq. ft.)

1 aana = 4 paisa (पैसा) (about 31.80 m² or 342.25 sq.ft.)

1 paisa = 4 daam (दाम) (7.95 m²)

1 Bigha =20 Biswa

For the different Ropani system from the one above

1 Bigha = .677263 hectare = 1.6735 acre = 13.31 Ropani

1.5 Bigha = 1 Hectare

1 Hectare = 19.965 Ropani

19.965 Ropani = 1 Hectare

1 Ropani = 508.83771 m²

Uses in Bangladesh

As is the case with West Bengal in India, the Bigha in Bangladesh follows the standard set during British colonial rule at 1600 square yards (0.1338 hectare or 0.3306 acre), often interpreted as a third of an acre (it is precisely ⁴⁰⁄₁₂₁ acre).

Use in Fiji

In Fiji Hindi 1 bigha is equal to 1 acre

Sources

• http://www.nepalhomepage.com/converter/
• http://www.sizes.com/units/bigha.htm
• http://www.royalreality.com/areaconversion.asp
• http://etawah.nic.in/bhulekh/land_glossary.htm