If you’ve pulled a patta, chitta, A-Register or TSLR extract and aren’t sure which one actually answers your question, this is for you. Tamil Nadu land records overlap by design — each one was built for a different office and a different purpose, not as duplicates of each other. By the end, you’ll know what each document covers, where adangal and FMB fit in, and what to do when two records don’t agree.
What does a patta record show?
A patta record shows who currently holds a piece of land and which survey number and subdivision make up that holding, issued through the village and taluk administration under the current patta-chitta system. It’s the ownership-facing document you’d show a buyer, a bank, or a court to establish that a name is linked to a parcel in the village land records. In Tamil Nadu, you look this up through the Tamil Nadu e-Services portal (eservices.tn.gov.in) by district, taluk, village and survey number, or by patta number directly. On its own, a patta doesn’t give you soil classification, assessment, or transaction history — those live in the records below.
Why did chitta disappear?
Chitta disappeared because patta and chitta were merged into a single patta-chitta record around 2015, so a standalone chitta no longer issues in Tamil Nadu. Before the merger, chitta was the companion extract recording cultivation details and the holder’s name alongside the patta — you often needed both documents to get the full picture of a rural holding. If someone tells you to fetch chitta separately, or you come across an old chitta number that looks distinct from a patta number, this is why. Treat today’s merged patta-chitta as the current reference; there’s no separate chitta to request alongside it anymore.
What is the A-Register for?
The A-Register (also called the A-register extract) is the village’s permanent land account — the underlying ledger row recording each survey number’s classification, soil type, extent and land revenue assessment. Where a patta tells you who holds a parcel today, the A-Register tells you what the land itself is officially recorded as: nanjai (நஞ்சை, wetland) or punjai (புஞ்சை, dryland), for instance, along with government or private classification. It’s maintained at the village level and is base data that other records draw on. Order it from the e-Services portal alongside patta and chitta whenever you need classification detail a patta doesn’t carry.
How is TSLR different from patta?
TSLR (Town Survey Land Register) is the urban counterpart to patta and A-Register, used wherever land falls inside a town survey area rather than the rural revenue survey. Rural extents are usually recorded in hectares and ares under patta and A-Register; town-survey areas use TSLR records instead, with their own ward and town-survey numbering rather than village survey numbers. If you’re checking land inside a municipality or a town panchayat’s surveyed limits, look for a TSLR extract and TSLR sketch on the e-Services portal rather than searching for a rural patta — the rural record typically won’t exist for that plot at all.
Where do adangal and FMB fit?
Adangal and FMB fit in as the season-level and boundary-level detail that patta and A-Register don’t carry. Adangal is the season-wise crop and cultivation record for a survey number — what’s grown, by whom, and under what tenancy — updated more often than patta or A-Register. FMB, the Field Measurement Book sketch, is the surveyed boundary drawing for a survey number or subdivision, showing shape, dimensions and adjoining parcels. Neither tells you who holds title, but both matter at specific moments: adangal for cultivation and tenancy questions, FMB when you need to confirm a parcel’s actual boundary against what a patta or sale deed describes.
Which document answers which question?
Match the question you’re actually asking to the record that answers it, rather than requesting every document out of habit. A patta answers who holds the land right now. The A-Register or TSLR extract answers what the land is officially classified and assessed as. Adangal answers what’s being cultivated this season. FMB answers where the physical boundary runs. An encumbrance certificate, looked up separately on TNREGINET, answers what’s been registered against the property over a chosen period — a different question again, on a different portal.
- Who holds this land now — patta (or TSLR extract in town-survey areas)
- What is it classified and assessed as — A-Register (rural) or TSLR extract (urban)
- What’s growing this season — adangal
- Where does the boundary run — FMB sketch
- What’s been registered against it — encumbrance certificate (TNREGINET)
What if two records disagree?
When a patta, A-Register and FMB don’t agree — say, the extent on the patta doesn’t match the FMB sketch, or the A-Register classification looks outdated — treat the mismatch as something to resolve before relying on any one document. Government records are updated at different times by different offices, so discrepancies happen without either record being fraudulent. For extent and boundary conflicts, a fresh survey settles the physical facts; for ownership or classification conflicts with money at stake, take qualified legal advice rather than picking whichever record is more convenient. Don’t sign or pay based on one document when others contradict it.
