Shajra

Land and genealogical record-type of the Indian subcontinent

A shujra or shujrah is a detailed village map that is used for legal (land ownership) and administrative purposes in India and Pakistan. A shujra maps out the village lands into land parcels and gives each parcel a unique number.[1][2] The patwari (or village accountant) maintains a record for each one of these parcels in documents called khasras.[3][4]

Aks-Shajrah is the copy of the map.

## Genealogy

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Example of a genealogical pedigree (family-tree) of a landowning family of Chugawan village in Moga district (formerly part of Ferozepore district), Punjab, 1887–1888

Shajra also rendered as Shajra Nasab, shajarat, (Arabic/Urdu: شجرہ, Hindi: वंशावली), (synonyms: Ancestry, Pedigree, Genealogy, Lineage, Family Tree, Shajra, Family Chart) which means Tree of Ancestry. The term "Shajra" comes from the Arabic word شَجَر (Shajar), meaning "a tree" or "a plant." A conventional tree structure is similar to a genealogy/pedigree chart representing family relationships.

The term Shajjra Nasb (also known as Kursee Nama[note 1]) refers to records detailing land ownership pedigrees for families of the village.[5][6] Records of villages of Moga and Firozpur districts of Punjab India from 1887–1958 have been digitized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints via FamilySearch and are available for online viewing.[7] The genealogical importance of such records for the purpose of family history research was raised by Gurcharan Singh Gill of Moga.[8][9]

Basic Shajra Chart

A Shajra records the ancestors from whom you directly descend and presents family information in the form of an easily readable chart. Shajra is often presented with the oldest generations at the top of the tree and the younger generations at the bottom and the most basic Shajra is made up of family members such as father, mother, father of father, father of mother, mother of mother, father's siblings, mother's siblings, spouse(s), and children.[10]

## See also

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* Banjar, Jungle, Abadi, Shamlat, Gair Mumkin
* Barani, Nahri, Chahi, Taal
* Bigha
* Doab
* Khadir and Bangar
* Khasra
* Measurement of land in Punjab
* Patwari
* Zaildar

## References

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1. ^ Muhammad Iqbal Khan Mokal, West Pakistan (1973), The West Pakistan land revenue act, 1967, and West Pakistan land revenue rules, 1968: with provincial amendments, Law Publishing Co., 1973, "... In India shujra is usually with patwari on cloth or lattha ; shajra nasab is a family tree/lineage of land owner who owns that particular land in shujra; demarked by Kanoongo. The village map showing the position and boundaries of every field is known as Shujra Kishtwar ..."
2. ^ National Commission on Agriculture (1976), Report of the National Commission on Agriculture, 1976: Agrarian reforms, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Government of India, 1977, "... contents of record of rights in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Delhi are as below: (i) a preliminary proceeding; (ii) a field map (Shujra Kishtwar); (iii) an index of field numbers ..."
3. ^ Baden Henry Baden-Powell (1892), The Land Systems of British India: Being a Manual of the Land-tenures and of the Systems of Land-revenue Administration Prevalent in the Several Provinces, Clarendon Press, 1892, "...The Shujrah or village map ... The khasra, or index register to the map. It is a list showing, by numbers, all the fields and their areas, measurement, who owns and what cultivators he employs, what crops, what sort of soil, what trees are on the land ..."
4. ^ Bankey Bihari Misra (1959), The Central Administration of the East India Company 1773-1834, Manchester University Press, 1959, "... The preparation of a detailed field map called Shujra in which the fields were numbered. The patwari was then to register all the field numbers in a corresponding field book called khasra which also contained the name of the proprietor ..."
5. ^ "India, Punjab, Moga Land Ownership Pedigrees - FamilySearch Historical Records". FamilySearch. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
6. ^ "India Land and Property". FamilySearch. 18 November 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
7. ^ "India, Punjab, Moga Land Ownership Pedigrees, 1887-1958." Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 13 June 2024. District Offices, Moga.
8. ^ Ludlam, Lia (Winter 2019). "Tax Records and Temples". Y Magazine. Brigham Young University.
9. ^ "Questions of Life and Death". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 12 April 2025.
10. ^ "Shajra شجرہ (Free-Forever Pedigree Encyclopedia)". shajra.info. Retrieved 23 August 2023.

1. ^ Also spelt as 'Shajra Nasab'. Kursee Nama is also spelt as 'Kurseenama' or 'Kursinama'.

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