Korey Koot


Korey Kot is a village of Pakistan in district Sargodha near Tehsil Kot Momin. Its population is about ten thousand. Korey and Kot were two ancient tribes who lived in this village centuries ago. Legend has it that the village was inundated by river Chenab as it used to flow by the village then.
Ranjha رانجھا Dahar ڈار, Haral, and Gondal are the main tribes but Ranjha is the dominant and most numerous landowning tribe in the village. Village has a number of educated people who are serving the nation as Army Officers, Teachers, Lawyers, Bureaucrats and progressive farmers etc. Korey Kot has fertile land and is well known for its Kinno production. Majority of the population belongs to Sunni Muslim sect. Though this village has a large number of educated people yet they are still engaged in medieval-era-like turf wars. Demographically, the village comprises three major social classes, i.e. landowning class, landless peasants and Kamis ---- those who do minor jobs. In fact, this village is a microcosm of the wider class based Pakistani culture. Moreover, shrine of Baba Shah Manzoor, a famous mystic who is said to have gone under the earth alive along with a female follower, is also located in this village. Shah Muhammad Muslim Sheikh, a famous folk singer, was also born in this village. And Ahmed Wadhan, a local poet, wrote an epic poetry--Punjabi Waar --over a long series of fights between two families, i.e. Allahyarka and Nambardar families. Main characters of waar are Ahmed Bukhsh Ranjha and Muhammad Yar Ranjha.Saleoke and Shahuke are the two respected families and as well more land owing ones.Saleoke family consists of 4 brothers and 1 sister.Of these only Muhammad Bakhsh and Rajan bibi are alive. Until recently this Punjabi waar used to be sung in local gatherings but due to busy pace of life nobody finds time to organise such events any longer. Though the families have reconciled their differences to a great extent yet the memory of their decades long animosity is still fresh in people's minds through Ahmed Wadhan's poetry. In fact, this waar is a great source of Korey Kot's cultural and political history. Apart from this, the village is just five Kilometers away from Takht Hazara, a village, where "Dheedhu Ranjha" the most famous character of "Heer Ranjha" story was born. Likewise, Bhehra, the first line of defence of Mughal and Sultanate dynasties of India against foreign invaders such as Greek and Persians, is also a few kilometres away from the village. So, "Alexander the Great" and Nadir Shah of Iran must have passed by the village when they invaded India but no claim to the resistance of locals to foreign invaders can be made due to unavailability of historical record.