Glossary
The words on your land records
Land records use revenue-department and survey terminology that can be hard to scan. Each term here is explained in plain language, with the records and portals it appears on.
Last updated
Records
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Patta பட்டா
A patta is the revenue record that names the pattadar (registered landholder) against a survey number in a village.
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Chitta சிட்டா
The chitta is the village revenue record classifying a survey number's land type and extent, now merged with patta into one document.
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Adangal அடங்கல்
The adangal is a village's season-wise cultivation register, recording crop, tenancy and irrigation details for each survey number.
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A-register
The A-register is a village's master land record, listing each survey number's classification, extent and assessment — what patta and chitta draw from.
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Encumbrance certificate (EC) வில்லங்கச் சான்று
An encumbrance certificate lists the transactions registered against a property — sales, mortgages, gifts, leases — over a chosen period.
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FMB sketch (Field Measurement Book)
The Survey Department's scaled sketch showing a survey number's exact boundaries, dimensions and sub-divisions.
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TSLR (Town Survey Land Register)
The town-survey counterpart to the rural A-register, covering areas surveyed under the town survey scheme rather than the ryotwari system.
Land types
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Nanjai (wet land) நஞ்சை
Nanjai marks land classified as wet — irrigated for paddy and similar crops — in Tamil Nadu's revenue records.
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Punjai (dry land) புஞ்சை
Punjai marks land classified as dry — without an assured irrigation source — in Tamil Nadu's revenue records.
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Natham (village house-site land) நத்தம்
Natham is the area of a village set aside for house sites, distinct from the surrounding agricultural land.
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Poramboke (government/common land) புறம்போக்கு
Poramboke is government or community land — roads, waterbodies, grazing land — not assessed for revenue or normally sold.
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Undivided share (UDS)
Undivided share (UDS) is the fractional, unpartitioned share of the underlying land that an apartment owner holds along with other unit owners.
Survey and measurement
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Cent
A cent is a unit of land area equal to one-hundredth of an acre, about 435.6 square feet.
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Ground
A ground is a Chennai-region land unit of about 2,400 square feet, commonly used for plots in and around the city.
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Hectares and ares
Hectares and ares are the metric units Tamil Nadu uses to record rural land extent on patta, chitta, and adangal documents.
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Survey number புல எண்
A unique number assigned to a parcel of land during government survey, identifying its exact location within a village.
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Subdivision உட்பிரிவு
A subdivision is the fractional suffix, like /1 or /2, added to a survey number when a parcel has been split among different owners or uses.
Buying and transfer
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Sale deed
A sale deed is the registered document that transfers ownership of a property from seller to buyer for a stated price.
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Patta transfer (mutation) பட்டா மாறுதல்
A patta transfer, or mutation, updates Tamil Nadu revenue records to show the new owner's name after a property changes hands.
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Legal heir certificate வாரிசு சான்றிதழ்
A revenue department certificate listing a deceased person's legal heirs, used to inherit or transfer their property records.
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Guideline value (guidance value) வழிகாட்டி மதிப்பு
The minimum value per unit area the Tamil Nadu government assigns to land, used as the floor for stamp duty and registration.
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Stamp duty முத்திரை தீர்வை
Stamp duty is a government tax on the value of a property transaction, paid before a sale deed can be registered.
Offices and portals
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Taluk வட்டம்
A taluk is an administrative subdivision of a district in Tamil Nadu, and the level at which many land-record offices are organised.
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Revenue village வருவாய் கிராமம்
A revenue village is the basic unit for land records in Tamil Nadu, smaller than a taluk, within which survey numbers run in one continuous sequence.
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Sub-registrar office (SRO) சார்பதிவாளர் அலுவலகம்
The local office where sale deeds and other property documents are registered, one of several under each district's registration department.
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Tamil Nadu e-Services portal
The Tamil Nadu government portal at eservices.tn.gov.in for viewing land records like patta and chitta, and for applying for a patta transfer.
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TNREGINET (tnreginet.gov.in)
Tnreginet.gov.in is the Tamil Nadu registration department's portal for applying for encumbrance certificates and checking guideline value.