Bigha

The bigha (Nepali: बीघा, Assamese: বিঘা, Bengali: বিঘা) is a unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in Nepal, Bangladesh and in a few states of India including Uttaranchal, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc. The precise size of a bigha appears to vary considerably. Sources have given measurements that range from 1,500 to 6,771 square meters, but in several smaller pockets, it is as high as 12,400 square meters.

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Uses in India

Bigha is a traditional unit of land in several parts of India, with land purchases still being undertaken in this unit. However, it varies in size from one part of India to another. It is less than an acre (0.4 hectare), however could extend upto 3 acres. Various states and often parts within states have different sizes attributed to 1 Bigha.

Use in Nepal

In Nepal, where a Bigha is about 6,772.63 square meters. Officially, most measurement of lands use units of either Bigha (in Terai region) or Ropani (Nepali: रोपनी) (in Hilly regions). Metric system is very seldom used officially in measuring area of Land.

Measurement of area in terms of bigha

1 Bigha (बिघा)= 20 Kattha (कठ्ठा) (about 6,772.63 m² or 72,900 sq.ft.)
1 Kattha (কাঠা, कठ्ठा) = 20 Dhur (धुर) (about 338.63 m² or 3,645 sq.ft.)
1 Dhur (धुर) = 16.93 m² or 182.25 sq.ft.
 
1 Bigha = 13.31 Ropani (रोपनी)
1 Ropani = 16 aana (आना) (about 508.72 m² or 5476 sq. ft.)
1 aana = 4 paisa (पैसा) (about 31.80 m² or 342.25 sq.ft.)
1 paisa = 4 daam (दाम) (7.95 m²)
1 Bigha =20 Biswa

For the different Ropani system from the one above

1 Bigha = .677263 hectare = 1.6735 acre = 13.31 Ropani
1.5 Bigha = 1 Hectare
1 Hectare = 19.965 Ropani
19.965 Ropani = 1 Hectare
1 Ropani = 508.83771 m²

Uses in Bangladesh

We have the following measure of land in Bangladesh:

A Katha (also spelled Cottah) is an obsolete unit of area approximately equal to 1/20th of a Bigha (720 ft² or 66.89 m²). After metrication in the mid-20th century, the unit became obsolete.

A Katha is approximately 720 square foot or 1/20 of a Bigha. It is still in use in much of Bangladesh and India.

1 Kattah (or Cottah) = 720 Sq Feet
20 Kattah (or Cottah) = 1 Bigha
3 Bighas = 1 Acre approx. (1600 square yards)

And related with Gonda measure of land in Noakhali, Bangladesh:

4 Kora = 1 Gonda
20 Gonda = 1 Kani
80 Kora = 1 Kani
120 Decimal = 1 Kani

Use in Fiji

In Fiji Hindi 1 bigha is equal to 1 acre

Sources