Losing your papers is not losing your land.
Fire, flood, a family split, a house move — the papers go. People assume the property went with them. It didn't. The state keeps its own copy, permanently. Registration exists precisely so that a fire in your house cannot erase your title. Deeds from the 1920s are retrieved routinely.
Two systems. Most people only chase one.
This is the single most useful thing to understand about Indian land records, and almost nobody explains it. Two separate departments hold two different truths about your property, and you usually need both.
The deed — who transferred it
Held by the sub-registrar / registration department. Records the transaction: sale, gift, partition, mortgage. This is where a certified copy of your deed and an Encumbrance Certificate come from.
Use it to ask: what deals have ever been registered on this property?
The record of rights — who holds it now
Held by the revenue department — tehsildar, patwari, anchal. Records who the state currently recognises as holder, and who pays the land revenue. This is the 7/12, RTC, patta, khatauni, khatiyan or jamabandi, depending on your state.
Use it to ask: whose name is on it today?
The same document, twelve names
Land is a State subject, so each state named its records differently. Asking for the wrong word gets you a blank stare. Use your state's word.
| State | Record of rights | Portal |
|---|---|---|
| Bihar | खतियान (Khatiyan), जमाबंदी (Jamabandi) | biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in |
| Uttar Pradesh | खतौनी (Khatauni) | upbhulekh.gov.in |
| Maharashtra | 7/12 (Satbara), 8A | bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in |
| Karnataka | RTC (Pahani) | landrecords.karnataka.gov.in |
| Tamil Nadu | Patta, Chitta, Adangal | eservices.tn.gov.in |
| Rajasthan | जमाबंदी (Jamabandi) | apnakhata.rajasthan.gov.in |
| Madhya Pradesh | खसरा / खतौनी | mpbhulekh.gov.in |
| West Bengal | Khatian, Porcha | banglarbhumi.gov.in |
| Andhra Pradesh | Adangal, 1-B | meebhoomi.ap.gov.in |
| Odisha | RoR | bhulekh.ori.nic.in |
| Punjab | Jamabandi | jamabandi.punjab.gov.in |
| Haryana | Jamabandi | jamabandi.nic.in |
| Jharkhand | Khatiyan | jharbhoomi.nic.in |
| Chhattisgarh | B-1 / P-II | bhuiyan.cg.nic.in |
| Gujarat | 7/12, 8A | anyror.gujarat.gov.in |
Not every state is listed, and
portals move — we verify these periodically but they break without notice. If a
link is dead, search for your state's name plus "bhulekh" or "land records" and prefer the
.gov.in or .nic.in result.
Start from what happened to you
"It's still in my grandfather's name"
You need the mutation done, and to prove the chain from the person named on the record down to you. In Bihar, a state-wide survey is running right now and there is a specific form for exactly this — with a deadline.
"Everything burned / flooded"
File a police report, then apply to the sub-registrar for a certified copy. For deeds predating computerisation — roughly pre-1990, and certainly your grandfather's era — expect a physical search of the registry's ledgers, usually via a search advocate.
"How do I know the seller owns it?"
Get an Encumbrance Certificate covering as many years back as they'll give, and check the revenue record separately. The two must agree. If they don't, walk away or get a lawyer — that gap is where fraud lives.
"I applied and nothing happened"
An RTI asking who is holding your file, since when, and for the file notings tends to move things that polite follow-ups cannot. ₹10, 30-day statutory deadline.
"Someone else is on our land"
This is not a paperwork problem. Adverse possession and limitation periods may have run. Recovering the record and recovering the land are different fights, and the second has a clock. Talk to a lawyer before filing anything.
"The bank is selling it cheap"
Read the risks first. Auction property is sold with no guarantee of possession, title or clear dues.
What we don't do, and why
We also don't mirror the portals. A copy of a live legal record goes stale, and someone would act on ours. Every link here goes to the state's own system, which is free, authoritative, and current.