The Assam government recently launched an eviction drive to clear 11,000 bighas of encroached forest land in Uriamghat area of Golaghat district.
About Bigha:
Bigha is a traditional unit of land measurement commonly used in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Popular in states where farming is common, it helps measure large agricultural land tracts as well as residential land.
The states which use Bigha for land measurement are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
Historical Context:
The origins of Bigha trace back to ancient South Asian practices.
Before the introduction of modern units like the acre or hectare, landowners and farmers relied on Bigha to calculate land for cultivation, taxation, and trade.
Over time, it became deeply rooted in the cultural and economic fabric of these regions.
The exact measurement of bigha differs from state to state. For instance, in West Bengal and Assam, one bigha equals about 14,400 sq.ft., while in Punjab, it measures approximately 9,070 sq.ft.
There is no national standard for the size of a bigha, and it is typically smaller than an acre, which is 43,560 sq.ft. or 4,047 sq.m.
Bigha is common among farmers when measuring plots and negotiating land prices.
A bigha is often divided into smaller subunits, such as ‘biswa’ , ‘katha’ and Nalli.
Bigha in Bangladesh and Nepal:
Bangladesh: Standardized under British rule at 14,400 square feet (1,340 square meters).
Nepal: A bigha equals about 6,772.63 square meters, with local variations.
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