The History of Satta Matka
From cotton rates to the modern numbers game.
Origins in the Cotton Trade
The origins of Satta Matka date back to the 1950s when people would place bets on the opening and closing rates of cotton transmitted from the New York Cotton Exchange to the Bombay Cotton Exchange. This practice, initially known as 'Ankada Jugar', was highly popular among workers in the cotton mills of Mumbai (then Bombay).
The Shift to Numbers (The 'Matka')
In 1961, the New York Cotton Exchange stopped the practice, which forced the punters/bookies to look for alternative ways to keep the business alive. This is when the transition to drawing numbers occurred.
Pieces of paper with numbers from 0-9 were placed into a large earthen pitcher, known in Hindi as a 'Matka'. A person would draw a chit and declare the winning numbers. Over time, this evolved into drawing playing cards, but the name "Matka" stuck permanently.
The Pioneers: Kalyanji Bhagat and Ratan Khatri
Kalyanji Bhagat
In 1962, a grocery store owner named Kalyanji Bhagat introduced the 'Worli Matka'. He democratized the system, allowing people to participate with amounts as small as one rupee. The Kalyan market ran every day of the week and forms the foundation of what is today known as the Kalyan Market.
Ratan Khatri
In 1964, Ratan Khatri introduced the 'New Worli Matka', with slight modifications to the rules. Khatri's matka only ran five days a week (Monday to Friday). Khatri became known as the "Matka King" due to the immense scale and reach of his operations throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
The Modern Era
Today, the physical 'Matka' is rarely used, having been replaced by drawn cards or digital random number generation. The core structural concepts—the Open Panel, Close Panel, and the Jodi—remain intact, creating massive historical databases (charts) that enthusiasts analyze today.