Census and land record glossary

Census tables and land records use a vocabulary that changes from state to state, and the same document can carry four different names across the country. These are the terms that come up most often on this site, explained in plain language.

Tehsil: The administrative unit between a district and a village.
Revenue village: The smallest unit with its own land records, which may contain several hamlets.
Sex ratio: The number of females for every 1000 males.
Child sex ratio: Females per 1000 males counting only children aged 0 to 6.
Literacy rate: The share of people aged 7 and over who can read and write with understanding.
Rural and urban: How the census decides whether a place counts as a town or a village.
Household: A group of people who normally live together and eat from a common kitchen.
Census house: A structure with a separate entrance, used for any purpose.
SECC: A separate 2011 survey used to decide eligibility for welfare schemes.
Gram Panchayat: The elected local government for one or more villages.
Khasra: The plot number in the land record, and the record of that plot.
Khatauni: The account of all land held by one owner in a village.
Jamabandi: The record of rights, revised periodically, used in north and west India.
Mutation: Transferring the name in the revenue record after a sale or inheritance.
Record of Rights: The document showing who holds a piece of land and on what terms.
Pincode: A six digit code identifying a postal delivery area, not a single village.
Patwari: The village level revenue official who maintains land records.
Decadal growth rate: The percentage change in population between two censuses ten years apart.

Page last reviewed: August 2026. See also about the data and Census 2027.