What is "bigha"

Bigha \Big"ha\, n. A measure of land in India, varying from a third of an acre to an acre.

n. A measure of land in India, varying from a third of an acre to an acre.

The bigha (also formerly beegah; , , ) is a traditional unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in Nepal, Bangladesh and in a number of states of India, including Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat and Rajasthan but not in southern states of India. There is no "standard" size of bigha. The size of a bigha varies considerably from place to place. Sources have given measurements ranging from , but in several smaller pockets, it can be as high as . Its sub-unit is Biswa (or Bisa) or Katha (or Katta) in many regions. Again there is no "standard" size of biswa or katha. A bigha may have 5 to 200 biswa in different regions.

In India, bigha ceased to be an official unit of area in 1957 when square metre or hectare (10,000 square metre) became the official legal unit of area of land. The bigha in Ladol is 45 guthas, or 21,600 square feet.