HistoriCity: Uttarakhand's Harshil was once an English deserter's playground

Hindustan Times

19 hours ago

The Bhagirathi valley in Uttarakhand, where Dharali and Harshil, the two areas affected by last week's landslides, are located, was once the setting of a very unlikely story in which a deserter from the army of the British East India Company acquired wealth and power and is still remembered as the 'Raja' of Harshil.
Frederick Wilson or Whulsingh, was born in Yorkshire, in 1817. Like many Englishmen of his time, he joined the East India Company and found himself at Meerut. He is believed to have killed an officer during the 1st Anglo-Afghan War (1838-39), after which to escape the heat, both of the law and the Indian plains, he escaped to Mukhba, a remote mountainous village in Garhwal located at an altitude of nearly 3000 metres.
Wilson first reached Mussoorie in 1839-40, where he murdered Frederick O' Wells, the district superintendent, who had realised that Wilson was a deserter. Wilson took off from Mussoorie on his Afghan horse, Azdhar, and was lucky enough to be aided by a retired Colonel Frederick Young of the East India Company who had developed strong local networks and had the Sudarshan Shah, the king of Tehri in his debt.
Wilson's presence was resented by the Semwal priestly community of Garhwal. Armed with his 'Brown Bess' muzzle loading gun and other arms, the 'mlechha' intimidated them. Wilson was undeterred and starting winning the support of the Bajgi community, who were considered 'low caste'. He became particularly close to one of them, a tall and well-built Mungetu Chand whom Wilson addressed in a way more endearing than any of his fellow villagers had till then.
Robert Hutchison writes in 'The Raja of Harsil: The Legend of Frederick' Pahari Wilson': ''So you're Mungetu,' he said, heartily clapping the drummer on the back. 'I'm glad you can accompany me. You look game enough. I'm sure we're going to make a fine team.' The entire village was talking about this 'Angrez' who could kill a bird in flight by firing an ounce of ball from the barrel of a musket, and here he was proclaiming that they would make a fine team. For someone of Mungetu's condition this was like being assured that his life was about to take a turn for the better'.
Winning the Raja of Tehri's favour
Wilson or Whulson to locals, made a tiny fortune by selling musk pods he harvested from killing Musk Deer or Kasturi Mrig. The animal is now a rare species, but, in the 19th century it thrived in the Himalayas. He gained an audience with the 59-year-old Anglophilic Sudarashan Shah, the king, and offered him 400 silver coins and requested for rights to hunt musk deer in a much larger part of the kingdom. Hutchison writes, '...Sudarshan Shah descended from the royal dais and reached out to stroke the top of Wilson's balding head. 'The kasturi are mine, my golden bird,' he said. 'You must not touch them. But is there nothing else you desire?'
Wilson was aware of the impending large-scale public works that the British were planning for, such as the Ganga canal, which would carry water from Haridwar to Kanpur. Such construction works required timber and there was a lot of money to be made there. Wilson promptly replied that he would like the permission for timbering in the Taknore pargana and was given one for an annual fee of ₹150 in 1859, just two years after the great Indian rebellion had been finally snuffed out.
After this Wilson focussed his energies on clearing up old Deodar trees by thousands and in turn amassing phenomenal wealth. Much of this he put back into the land by building roads, hilly paths, guest houses and huts for his army of loggers. Wilson was liked by all locals except the Brahmins. They were vexed by both his mingling with 'lower castes', as well as what has been characterised as Wilson's professing of rationalism and materialism as opposed to their rituals. But as long as he was making money for himself, his workers and the king, there was little they could do. Hutchison writes, 'the expansion of the economy following the mutiny left Wilson little time for leisure. Money was pouring into Wilson & Sons like never before, and just as rapidly his profit-transfer system was conveying the excess to the Blue Mountain and Star Portland accounts at Baxters Bank in Newcastle'.
Besides Deodar and Sal timbering, Wilson introduced the farming of apricots, plums and apples in the sister villages Mukhba, Dharali, and Harshil. The climate for the latter was specifically suited and Harshil apples soon became renowned all over India for succulence. Wilson also entered the hotel business in Mussoorie. He owned the Charleville hotel, which is now a part of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration.
The End of Wilson the Pahadi Raja and his legacy
Wilson never returned to England. He married twice but had children only with one wife, Gulabi, who was the aunt of his other wife, Raimata, both from the area around Dharali. Out of his three sons -Charles, Nathaniel (Natthu) and Henry (Indri), - Charles married and tried to hold on to his father's fortune but eventually slipped into oblivion; Henry fell to his death during a hunting trip, and Nathu became infamous because of his short but terrifying life during which he killed, maimed and raped indiscriminately. Wilson died in
1883 and lies buried in the Camel's Back cemetery in Mussoorie.
The coins he had circulated for a brief time between 1860 and 1880 are extremely difficult to find. Except for the mansion in Mukhba, there's hardly a recognisable trace left of the 40-year life of the Pahadi Raja in Harshil valley and beyond.
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(HistoriCity is author Valay Singh's column narrating the story of a city in the news by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.)