While use of globally accepted units of land measurement is quite common in India, the use of local units is equally common. Kanal could be counted as one such local unit of areas measurement in India. The unit is primarily used for land measurement in the northern parts of the country, including Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. Even though the use of this traditional unit is on the decline because of more commonly used measurement units such as acre and hectare, kanal is still used commonly in the rural areas of those states where it has been traditionally in use.
While measurements might vary from state to state, a kanal in India is the equivalent of the globally accepted 4,500 square. A kanal is also one one-eighth of an acre, a measurement unit common across the globe.
The use of kanal for land measurement is also popular across various northern regions of neighbouring Pakistan. In different cities of Pakistan, a kanal signifies varying land areas. While a kanal is generally considered equal to 5400 square foot in Pakistan, it is equal to 4,500 square foot in Lahore.
Along with marla, another local area measurement unit, kanal was standardized to make it equal to 605 square yards, 1⁄8 acre and about 505.857 square meters during the British rule in India.
1 kanal is equal to:
1⁄8 acre (510 m2)
20 marlas
605 square yards
5,400 square feet