Colonel Khan Muhammad Khan (Urdu: کرنل خان محمد خان) was a prominent Sudhan soldier and politician in Poonch, serving in the Legislative Assembly (Praja Sabha) of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir until 1947. Later he served as the Chairman of the War Council during the 1947 Poonch Rebellion (regarded as the "War of Independence" by the Poonchis). Early life and career Khan Muhammad Khan was born in 1882, in a village called Chhachhan (now Khan Abad) in the Sudhanoti tehsil of the Poonch jagir to an elite Sudhan family. After learning Quran at home, he went to school in Kahuta (Rawalpindi district) at age 10. After the completion of primary school, he joined the British Indian Army in 1902. Khan participated in World War I, receiving the Indian Distinguished Service Medal (IDSM). He retired from the Army with the rank of Subedar-major. After retirement from the army, Khan was employed as the police inspector of Poonch by the Raja Baldev Singh. Khan served in this post until 1924, after which he engaged in social welfare activities. Activism In the beginning of the 20th century, certain social and educational organization emerged in different regions of Jammu & Kashmir. Their basic objective was to remove the injurious and un-Islamic customs and traditions from the society through the mode of peaceful conversion and educating the young generation. On the same pattern, a socio-educational movement was initiated in Poonch jagir region by Khan Muhammad Khan in the early 1930s; however, he considered education as the most significant instrument for the improvement of the society. It was the need of hour as the ratio of education amongst the Muslims in Poonch jagir was just around 2% as compared to 5% in the rest of Jammu & Kashmir while the condition in the villages was at its level worst Regarding the promotion of education, he started an educational campaign in 1934. He organized a meeting of the women of the region at Dhar Drach, a village near Pallandri. In that particular meeting, he focused his talk around the education of girls and asked them to support his educational project through a first of flour surplus on daily basics After the verbal commitment of those women, Khan launched "Muthi Bhar Atta Funding Scheme" (shortly Muthi Bhar Atta Scheme) on the pattern of Anjuman-e-Humayat-e-Islam. Under this funding scheme, a handful of each family's flour was collected