CADASTRALSURVEY LAND AND ITS DEFINITION Land is a word whose meaning has remained elusive to this day and varies according to each individual, according to his way of life. While it is lifeblood and sacred for some, it is an economic opportunity for development for others, but the emotional attachment one has to the land is the one which remains in life and even after that. Lands, territories and resources have particular cultural and spiritual significance and value for indigenous people who live there, they are the very basis for the continued existence of their societies in every part of the world. The United Nations Ad Hoc group of Experts on Cadastral Surveying and Land Information states that “Land is defined as an area of the surface of the earth together with the water, soil, rocks, minerals and hydrocarbons beneath or upon it and the air above it. It embraces all things which are related to a fixed area or point of the surface of the each, including the areas covered by water, including the sea”. • At the dawn of civilization in the history of mankind, people started to realize the value of agriculture and livestock rearing, people needed land and water for irrigation land as a resource therefore a boundary to establish ownership and safeguard land against occupation from others was inevitable and an absolute necessity. 1 • This gave birth to early surveys for establishing boundaries, classification of land for farming, grazing, habitat, recreation, economic pursuit, and social activity. This was a reason for advance of societies which later grew into kingdoms and monarchies which had always had land as the crux to expand their boundaries across the world. • The large tracts of land utilized by the societies needed efficient administration and departments to specially oversee distribution of land and upkeep of records to guarantee ownership and enjoyment of land parcels to the rightful owners, thereby a system to generate revenue from the land in the way of taxes originated and this in a way was an early cadastral system of which underwent innumerable changes which has stood the test of time. The sense of ownership of even a small piece of land is so immense that people would go any length to protect it with all their might. A china resident refusing to vacate his house which is located middle of the highways. CADASTRAL SURVEY (MEANING) The word ‘cadastral’ is the adjective of the word ‘Cadastral’ which means a public records of the extent, value and ownership of land for purposes of taxation. This type of survey involves the preparation of Village maps showing the boundaries of groups of holdings, large scale plans of survey filed showing the boundaries of each 2 holding, topographical details and all measurement and reputed ownership of each holding. This survey is repeated from time to time when changes occur in occupation and in the boundaries of fields particularly when such changes area too numerous to be dealt with the ordinary revenue staff. SURVEY–DIVISION OF POWERS BETWEEN STATE AND CENTRE Survey of India, the geological, potential, zoological and Anthropological survey of India now fall within entry 68 of the union list in the seventh schedule the to the constitution. These surveys have nothing to be with the State Government. The maintenance of land record, survey for revenue purposes and records – of – rights fall within the Scope of entry 45 of the State list in the seventh schedule to the constitution. The State government is therefore not concerned with any survey other than the survey for revenue purposes, and to maintain land recordsin which the ownership of the land and the extent thereof are mentioned. CADASTRAL SURVEY - HISTORY • It is believed that the river Nile in Ancient Egypt was the cradle of modern civilization. It is where agriculture and farming thrived and a system for measuring, classification and taxing the land evolved. • The need for surveying was a consequence of the civilized society in Ancient Egypt of particular interest are the cardinally orientated buildings, namely the temples and the pyramids (tombs), that required a great deal of careful measurement to obtain the orientation required. 3 • The river Nile of used to flood the lands nearby every year which resulted in large scale changes to the coastal lines and contours of the land. So after every season of flooding a land survey was carried out to re-establish boundaries and to determine. Surveyors also provided information for construction work. The main aspects of surveying that were carried out were strikingly similar to that is carried out today. The duties of the surveyor in Ancient Egypt covered a number of aspects, including boundary definition and in building construction. Early map of land holding in Mesopotamia 4 HISTORY OF CADASTRAL SURVEY IN INDIA Land and the Vedas: In early literature, there are descriptions of land in Stala Puranas. These puranas describe natural sacred places consisting of geographical features that are revered and are almost always associated with oral narratives about the location. The shared meanings and communicated oral histories of these natural-scapes draw attention to the deep connection of nature with the concept of earth or land (also called bhumi). • In the Vedic literature of over 5000 years ago, the knowledge of land was presented in a graphical form which described the extent and shape of territories. • The Brahmand Purana of 500 B.C. to 700 A.D. gives evidence of the art of modern map-making. • Individual holdings were called Shetras with clear boundaries. The revenue collected was one sixth of total produce. Documents related to ownership and tax were Farming and cattle rearing were the main occupation of people in the vedic times. Rules on land and scales to be used are detailed in the vedas. A manual on classification of land and taxation is highlighted. The art of surveying and techniques of mensuration of areas are described in Sulva Sutra (science of mensuration) 5 THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION • The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization located in what is Pakistan and northwest India today, on the fertile flood plain of the Indus River and its vicinity. Cities and town were well planned after carrying out very detailed survey of land. Land administration and taxing system prevalent was as good as modern days.Farming settlements began around 4000 BCE and around 3000 BCE there appeared the first signs of urbanization. By 2600 BCE, dozens of towns and cities had been established, and between 2500 and 2000 BCE the Indus Valley Civilization was at its peak. 6 • Indus valley boasted of well-planned township underground drainage system and a robust land administration lead by survey techniques to demarcate boundaries and ownership of land holdings. • The Indian subcontinent has since had many kingdoms which rose, merged and disintegrated from time to time. The chief of these were the Mauryan dynasty which was established by Chandragupta in 320 B.C • ArthShastra of Chanakya written in the 3rd century B.C clearly explains the rules of Land administration. A clear procedure to measure land, determine taxes and ownership of land parcels laid down in the literature sheds light on survey practices prevalent then. • Only surveying could have ensured a better design infrastructure the Taxishila University of Mauryan Empire where surveying was one of the subjects that were taught. 7 CADASTRAL SURVEY IN SOUTHERN INDIA • Tamil nadu has witnessed accurate and systematic surveys of land holdings of the kingdoms from very ancient times. • There is authentic epi-graphical evidence which reveals that “land as small in extent as 1/ 52428800000 of a veli was measured and assessed to revenue “ in ancient Tamil Nadu . • There is also evidence about a very systematic survey of the vast chola country in 1002A.D., Under the imperial orders of RajaRaja the great ,the founder of the chola Empire was carried out . • The earliest available record of a cadastral survey in the whole of India ,is that of this celebrated survey .As in many other fields ,Tamil Nadu appears to have led the way in the field of surveys ,too .It may also be mentioned here that it must not be taken that the celebrated survey in 1002 A.D., was the earliest survey in the Tamil country . 8 Systematic survey of a vast area was undertaken by King Rajaraja ,that a very great accuracy was achieved in the survey operations and that there were in popular use standardized technical terms relating to the survey operations ,lead to the obvious inference that land surveys should have been conducted in the Tamil country from times much earlier to his period (985-1014 A.D). • King Karikalacholan overseeing the construction of kalannai architectural and engineering marvel shedding light that a very sophisticated survey team should have worked on location, soil test and planning irrigation resources, • Many temples in Tamil Nadu are also repositories of information on an interesting subject — the measuring rods that were used for calculating the area of agricultural land, the length of roads or irrigation canals; the measures used in trade and the weights that were in vogue at that time. 9 • Two short, little noticed inscriptions, one with a short straight line and another with a long line incised next to them, at Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kanchipuram, provide information on the measuring system that prevailed several centuries ago in the Tamil country • Since the temple’s economy depended on its land holdings, an accurate land survey was periodically made for taxation and the length of the standard measuring pole was inscribed on the temple wall. 10 This measuring rod, about 18 or 20 ft in length, was used throughout the kingdom.