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Raja Madat Khan

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Raja Madat Khan, the son of Shaheed Raja Qadir Baksh Khan, was the tribal chief of Bratla and the founder of the village of Koi.

Contents

Border dispute

The name Koi is derived from the Pohari word for 'snatched' and refers to the circumstances under which the land now known as Koi was seized from a rival clan by the Mangral men of Bratla under the leadership of Raja Madat Khan. A dispute had arisen as to where the boundary of Bratla lay with reference to the river Mool. Raja Madat Khan claimed that the boundary lay to the opposite side of the Mool whereas the rival clan claimed that in fact their boundary lay on the Bratla side of the river. The importance lay in the fact that the location of the boundary decided who had control of the river, which was of course an important asset. The dispute resulted in hostilities and a battle in which the rival clan was driven from the land and the captured land now known as 'Koi' was controlled by Raja Madat Khan.

Leadership

Under the leadership of Raja Madat Khan, Bratla saw great prosperity. It is reported that during the time of Raja Madat Khan such was the abundance that the men of Bratla took to putting milk in their hookas (shisha pipes) rather than the customary water.

In one particular battle in Bratla, the Dogras brought one of their biggest and strongest men to fight Raja Madat Khan. However, during the fighting this man hid in a tall tree at the top of Bratla village. Raja Madat Khan shot him in the eye with an arrow. It was only when he fell out of the tree stone dead that the men of Bratla could appreciate the size of him. He was close to 7 ft tall and the largest man they had ever seen.

It is reported that Raja Madat Khan typically had a bodyguard of 50-70 men on horseback that accompanied him.

References

Raja Madat Khan Wikipedia