Khadir and Bangar


Khādir or Khadar and Bāngur are terms used in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi in the Indo-Gangetic plains of North India and Pakistan to differentiate between two types of river plains and alluvial soils. Bangur and Kadir areas are commonly found in the doab regions. Some villages may have both Khadar and Bangar areas within their revenue boundaries. Bhangar soils are less fertile as they are above flood level whereas Khadar soils are more fertile as they are below flood level. Bhanger is full of kankers and khadar soil is composed of fine silt & clay.

Khadar and Bangar

Khadir or Nali areas

Khadir or Khadar, also called Nali or Naili, are low-lying areas that are floodplains of a river which is usually relatively narrower compared to unflooded bangar area. Khadar areas are prone to flooding and sometimes include portions of former river-beds that became available for agriculture when a river changes course. It is moisture retentive and sticky when wet. Khadir soil consists of new alluvial soil relatively higher in new silt content from the river, gets replenished with each flooding cycle,and is often very fertile.
The Khadir is also called Nali in the northern Haryana which is the fertile prairie tract between the Ghaggar river and the southern limits of the Saraswati channel depression that gets flooded during the rains.
Sri Sri Ravi's Art of Living Foundation World Culture Festival, 2016 was held on Yamuna's Khadir floodplains and National Green Tribunal recommended a fine of INR 50 million, on Art of Living Foundation for damaging ecology on Yamuna's Khadar flood plains.

Bangar areas and subtypes

Bangar/Bangad/Bhangar areas are beyond floodplains, that lie more upland, and compared to Khadar it consists of older alluvial soil which is higher in sandy loam content. Bangar area are less prone to flooding but are usually more sandy and less fertile as well.
A Bangar area, can be further subdivided into the following based on the type of irrigation:
is the Indian legal term for the owner of land. Both Bangar and Kadhir land can also be classified based on the type of land use:
Abadi is a Urdu word which means a population,usually a large one, hence the name of the type of land.
Other useful terms in the measurement of land in Haryana and Punjab are Bigha, Khasra, Patwari, Shajra, Zaildar, Manish faujdar, etc.

Doab

Since North India are coursed by a multiplicity of Himalayan rivers that divide the plains into doabs, the Indo-Gangetic plains consist of alternating regions of river, khadir and bangar. The centers of the doabs consist of bangar and the peripheries, which line the rivers, consist of khadir. Historically, villages in the doabs have been officially classified as khadir, khadir-bangar or bangar for many centuries and different agricultural tax rates applied based on a tiered land-productivity scale.
In some areas, these terms have become incorporated in several village names themselves, such as Murshidpur Bangar and Ranchi Bangar-Khadir in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh. Other places include Chilla Saroda Bangar, Gharonda Neemka Bangar, Pehlad Pur Bangar, Rampur Bangar and Salarpur Khadar.