What is Bigha?
Bigha is quite a recognized traditional unit of land measurement used to quantify huge parcels of land not only in India but also in its neighbouring countries Bangladesh, Nepal, and Fiji. It is popular in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and West Bengal, among others. But this unit is not used in any of the southern states of India. Bigha does not have any fixed size and thus, varies from one state to another. When converted to sq. ft, a universal land measurement unit, it ranges from 16,150 to 72,880 sq. ft and can go up to 133,000 sq. ft, as per different states.
Bigha in Bangladesh
The whole country of Bangladesh is familiar with the land measurement unit of bigha and the purchase of land takes place only when it is quantified by the aforementioned unit. It was standardized during British rule before the partition of Bengal. It can be calculated with the help of an online area converter tool, where 1 bigha equals 1,600 square yards. In other words, 3 bigha is equal to 360 sq. ft and 1 bigha equals 20 kattha.
Bigha in Nepal
Bigha is a customary land measurement unit in Nepal. It is widely used in the terai region. 1 bigha when converted stands up to 72,900 sq. ft. Subsequently, 1 bigha equals 20 kattha.
Subunits of Bigha
Bigha is divided into two subunits, Biswa and Kattha, which are discussed below in detail.
Biswa
Similar to Bigha, Biswa does not have any standard value in India. This unit is mostly used to quantify shorter areas of land and is popular in the northern states of India like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. 1 bigha approximately ranges from 5 to 200 Biswa, depending on the state.
Biswa in Square Feet
As Biswa has no fixed value, different states have different values when it is converted to sq. ft. So, the value of 1 Biswa in square feet in different states are:
| States | Conversion to sq. ft. |
| Andhra Pradesh | 1,361.25 sq. ft. |
| Assam | 720 sq. ft. |
| Haryana | 544.5 sq. ft. |
| Himachal Pradesh | 435.6 sq. ft. |
| Madhya Pradesh | 600 sq. ft. |
| Punjab | 544.5 sq. ft. |
Kattha
Kattha, a subunit of bigha is mostly used in the eastern states of India like Bihar, Assam, and West Bengal. It is also widely popular in Nepal and Bangladesh as well. This land measurement unit also does not have any standard size and varies from state to state.
Kattha in Square Feet
Kattha, when converted to square feet, has different sizes in different states, as given below:
| States | Conversion to sq. ft. |
| Assam | 2,880 sq. ft. |
| Bihar | 1,361 sq. ft. |
| West Bengal | 2,880 sq. ft. |
Different Sizes of Bigha
Since bigha does not have any standard size, different states while calculating the size of the land mostly to avail a property loan tend to portray different values for Bigha. Most land developers notify the area of the land to the measurement unit, square feet as it is universally used as per the real estate law of India.
Given below is a table showing the conversion of bigha to square feet in different states of India.
| States | Conversion to sq. ft. |
| Assam | 14,400 sq. ft. |
| Punjab | 9,070 sq. ft. |
| UP | 27,000 sq. ft. |
| Bihar | 27,220 sq. ft. |
| Haryana | 27,225 sq. ft. |
| Gujarat | 17,427 sq. ft. |
| Uttarakhand | 6,804 sq. ft. |
| Jharkhand | 27,211 sq. ft. |
| West Bengal | 14,348.29 sq. ft. |
| Madhya Pradesh | 12,000 sq. ft. |
| Himachal Pradesh | 8,712 sq. ft. |
| Rajasthan | 27,225 sq. ft . |
Other Popular Land Measurement Units
There are a lot of measurement units most of which are universally used while calculating the area of land when a loan against property is secured. Some popular land measurement units are:
- Square Feet: This unit is considered universal while calculating the area of a commercial or residential property. It was approved under the RERA Act. 1 bigha is 27,000 square feet.
- Hectare: Hectare was introduced to the metric system not before 1975 and is very popular even though it is not a SI unit in the metric system. 1 bigha equals 0.2508382079 hectares.
- Acre: Acre is used for measuring agricultural parcels of land and was extremely popular during ancient times. 1 bigha is equal to 0.6198347106 acres.
To sum it up, Bigha has been a very popular and traditional measurement unit not only in various parts of India but also in its neighbouring countries and has been in use for a long time.