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Raja Mahendra Pal was born as the Tikka (heir apparent) to the Shri Rani Saheb Shrimati Rattan Dei ji Saheba and Shri Raja Saheb Shri Brijmohan Pal ji Saheb Bahadur on the 4th of July 1934, at Hari Kothi, Dharamshala and was educated first within the Palace by private tutors and then at the Chief’s College, Lahore, after the partition of India and Pakistan he continued his study at Dharamshala and did a course in forestry from Pinjore.
He succeeded to the throne at the age of 4 and on reaching the age of 18, was given the administration of Kutlehar as well as the Kutlehar Forests.
The Raja was the spokesperson of the Punjab Hill Rulers and when the government of India passed a resolution to acquire private lands of the rulers, he met Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India to put forward his and his brother rulers cases.
In 1964, he married Rajkumari Kamal Dei of Chamba.
After the acquisition of the Kutlehar forests in 1996 by the Government of India, the Raja is actively involved in the up-liftment of the people of Kutlehar and heads various organizations connected with the same.
The Raja is the last ruler who is recognized as such by the Government of India, the reason being the Kutlehar forests, as the forests were under the care of the Raja, and the agreement was established between the Indian government and “the Raja of Kutlehar”, the Kutlehar titles were not abolished when the rest of the Indian rulers lost their titles, the Raja also is the last land holder with the largest area of land under his authority, with the Kutlehar forests totaling over 50,000 acres of land.
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