How big is one Bigha? Compare documented local scales

One Bigha to square feet: scale comparison

≈ marks a value rounded for display. The 56-inch scale gives exactly 78,400/9 square feet per Bigha. This table is not a list of every local Bigha.

Which scale should you choose?

1. Check the unit, Karam length and settlement scale on your registry or Jamabandi.
2. Match the record to the documented location and scale; do not select by unit name alone.
3. If the scale is unclear, confirm it with the local revenue office before selecting a calculator convention.

Himachal Pradesh: 54-inch Karam

The 1992 Land Records Manual appendix names Kinnaur, Bilaspur and parts of Shimla and Solan for this traditional settlement scale. District alone does not establish the scale of a particular record; metric settlement records may use hectares directly.

• HP Land Records Manual 1992, Appendix XIX, Parts A-D

  Appendix XIX, Part A, PDF p.1 / printed 759

Himachal Pradesh: 56-inch Karam

The same 1992 appendix names Mandi, Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul & Spiti for this scale. A different Karam length changes the area even though the unit is still called Bigha. Match the scale on your record, rather than assuming a current statewide definition.

• HP Land Records Manual 1992, Appendix XIX, Parts A-D

  Appendix XIX, Part B, PDF p.15 / printed 773

Assam: AIRBMP 2022 project

The November 2022 project resettlement framework uses five Kathas per Bigha and twenty Lechas per Katha. Its Phase I scope includes the Beki, Buridehing and Jiadhal subbasins. This does not establish the scale of every record there, throughout Assam or in the Barak Valley.

• Resettlement Policy Framework, November 2022

  PDF/printed p.28, section 7.2 Terms

West Bengal: WRI&DD 2018 scale

The department schedule uses twenty 720-square-foot Kathas per Bigha. Its total Bigha matches the Assam project figure here, but the Katha subdivisions differ. The schedule was checked through official indexed text; original archival is pending. Match the scale to your record.

• Schedule of Rates 2018: Conversion Table, AREA

  Conversion Table, AREA section; indexed official PDF

• Rajat Chowdhury v. Dhananjay Chowdhury, SLP(C) 13494/2024, order dated 7 May 2025

  PDF p.2, paragraph 2; context at p.1, paragraph 1

Lucknow: historical 1904 standard

The 1904 gazetteer records the standard Bigha as 3,025 square yards. Smaller local Bighas are excluded. This historical evidence does not establish present district-wide use or a universal Uttar Pradesh Bigha.

• Lucknow: A Gazetteer, Volume XXXVII

  PDF p.41 / printed p.37, Agriculture and Commerce, Weights and measures

Standard area definitions

Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C: General Tables of Units of Measurement — Appendix C, printed C-23 / PDF p.23.

Checking a documented definition does not legally certify the scale used on your particular record.