Stars Of Shimla – Samuel Evans Aka Satyanand Stokes

At last I was at ‘Harmony Hall’ – the abode of the only ‘American’ freedom fighter of India. The huge, beautiful and traditional Pahari Kath Koni structure with Europe style chimneys was astride a table top hill in midst of apple trees in ‘Barobagh’ (Big Orchard), Thanedhar.

According to Prakash Thakur, a local hotelier, orchardist, politician and historian, originally, it was a tea estate belonging to one British lady who sold it off to Stokes when tea had failed in Panjab and Simla hill states after 1905 earthquake. Villagers used to call the place ‘Thandi Dhaar’ owing to the intense cold on the hill top. Over time the name got corrupted to ‘Thanedhar’. In medieval Europe, the house of the local lord used to comprise of a large hall which was used for meetings as well as sleeping by whole family. ‘That’s how you find lot of large country houses in Englnd still called ‘Halls’ – he had explained.

Snow clad Himalayas were visible in all majesty towards the North and down below one could see the mighty Satluj flowing down from Rampur and rushing towards the plains. Towards the south was Narkanda whereas Kumarsain was on the western side. A beautiful Pagoda like wooden mandir was there across the expansive lawn. I had read some very meaningful shlokas from Gita etched on the logs used in the walls. It was a perfect place to immerse oneself in meditation and contemplation.

Even though he passed away on the morning of 14th May, 1946, Satyanand Stokes AKA Samuel Evan Stokes’ spirit prevails in Thanedhar, Kotgarh, Shimla hills. The great man is credited with introducing commercial apple farming in Kotgarh to improve the lot of destitute Pahari farmers. Later it spread in neighbouring areas and brought tremendous prosperity. Name ‘Stokes’ evokes respect and awe all around.

I was with Vijay Stokes, the octogenarian grandson of the great man. I had found the tall, fair guy with light eyes, attired in trademark Pahari gentleman’s attire of a chequered long kurta thrown over grey pyajamas with a  weatheredhat to shield against the hill sun. In his right hand he held a pickaxe that he used as a walking stick – sometimes he used it as a mountaineers axe as we ventured into the apple orchard. ‘Here’s a very practical man’ I thought. ‘This is the most comfortable and sensible dress’ Vijay opened up. ‘ u see – the pyajama – with the string or nada you have no worries. You may expand your waist by 2 inches – no problem. Then you lose 4 inches – again no issues. The other day I went to reunion of my school ‘Bishop Cotton – Shimla’. People raised eyebrows. But I was unfazed. I gave them a lecture on how the local dress code is best’.

The ex IITian and a retired professor of Mechanical Engineering in IIT Kanpur , who later worked at a high level with GE in USA, owner of multiple patents, then took me on a visit of the modern 50 bigha farm that he has developed as a model apple orchard. Vijay after retiring, uprooted the old legacy Royal Delicious farm planted way back by his grandfather and scientifically raised a ‘High Density’ orchard as a pioneer. He singlehandedly traversed the notorious Indian red tape to import the plants, planted and nurtured them using latest technical knowhow, and produced a world class orchard that was ready to take on the twin challenges of Climate Change and imported apples.

‘You see, although my grandfather transformed the local economy with apple cultivation, we aren’t the best place to grow apples. We have hilly terrain, ageing orchards, outdated varieties, lack of irrigation, changing weather pattern and associated diseases, small land holdings, lack of investment and technology and last but not the least – Poor packaging, transport and storage facilities. Unless we switch over to latest technology in all above aspects, we are doomed. For 20 years I have worked in a scientific manner, invested heavily and done elaborate record keeping. You see – our trees are full of healthy leaves in November – we harvested a month back’. I had noticed complete premature leaf fall all over the district in 2025. It had led to poor crop and huge losses all over. Just across the fence – trees in his brothers portion were sans single leaf!

‘Due to prolonged rain, the fungi thrived and destroyed leaves – the factories of plant that produce food for it – the government spray schedule didn’t cater for the freak weather’ Vijay disclosed ‘We, at Harmony Hall, had a normal season though. Thanks to my advisors from Bayer’.

Apples from Harmony Hill orchard are picked by one of the biggest super market chain of India directly from Thanedhar and transported in refrigerated vans across country. The average price received by the orchard is thrice that of others.

‘If we have to survive, we have to ensure quality. There’s no two way about that’, said Vijay.

‘Young people like you here, aren’t serious. They will come donning these Raybans – He was looking at my shades – I bet you must be having that ‘Lewis’ patch on your rear – Now his gaze had shifted to my waist. New generation is spoilt. They can’t work hard. All they want to do is loiter drunk on the Mall, buy expensive cars, and talk politics. They don’t understand what their elders went through to get here! Sorry I am very blunt. The world is being ruled by idiots nowadays!

I was warned by my friends in advance. So I smiled and told him I don’t mind brusque elders.

‘But I was always like that! Its not that I turned sour after getting old’ He had shot back.

We came across a Nepali worker – ‘Shyam Singh. All well at home’?

‘Haan ji Babu Ji’

‘Shyam Singh is ‘Tabar’. He’s with me since past twenty years’ – quipped Vijay. Tabar means family or clan in local lingo. I could feel the spirit of old Satyanand in the heir.

‘All who work here are family. Look at these labour cottages I made – Each guy or couple gets a room attached to a kitchen and bathroom. All electric and water fittings as well as woodwork is high quality. Infact, the older labour cottage I am going to convert to a home stay – It will bring some much-needed funds’!

I really marvelled at the expenses made for the workers. The labour cottage needed just a new coat of paint and good furnishing to match any upscale hill homestay!

‘You need Controlled Atmosphere stores or Cold stores right next to the orchard to preserve freshness after harvest. It also helps to market the produce when prices are good’ Vijay continued.

Later as we sipped tea in the lawn of Harmony Hall, Vijay told me he was in the process to make a befitting memorial for Satyanand, his grandfather.

‘I was a child when my grandfather passed away in 1946. However, I came to know of details of his life by going through his correspondence. He was immensely attached to his mother, a woman with inexhaustible piety. He wrote weekly letters to his mother all life. That’s how we can know about his inner thoughts and philosophy. Cousin Asha wrote a comprehensive biography researching his correspondence with his mother, authorities and top congress leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and Patel’.

‘I now understand that his life can be divided into 4 phases ’, He went on.

1. Missionary – As a young boy of twenty one from a rich American family, who was committed to Christian ideals of service he came to India on a sabbatical in 1904  to serve the lepers who suffered horribly. He worked amongst those outcastes in Sabathu and then shifted to Kotgarh Garrison. He got sucked  into 1905 earthquake, distributing official aid to affected. He tried to spread the word of Christ, but didn’t meet with much success as locals were’nt interested.
2. Ascetic – Later, he moved on to spiritualism. He shifted to a cave and meditated. He hardly ate anything, let his hair grow and was like a white emaciated Sadhu. He read the Vedas and realized the beauty of Sanatan Dharma. By then, he had fallen in love with Himalayas and the people. He came to conclusion that he had to live amongst the local people and adopt their ways. He became a true Pahari. All the while he helped people with all his means, He received substantial funds from home but was always short of money as he spent it on needy before he even received it. He had adopted few orphans and looked after all their needs.
3. Family Man, Orchardist and Educationist – Stokes realized that to be truly accepted in local society, he needed to marry a local girl. That’s why he got Married to Agnes at a rather advanced age. Convinced of the wisdom of Sanatan, he converted to Hinduism (Arya Samaj) in 1932 and changed his name to Satyanand. He raised his children as paharis. As the children grew, he ran a school to teach them as well as local children. That’s when he experimented with apples sent from USA by his mother and laid an orchard. School kids learnt apple farming in spare time and received free saplings. Then he managed marketing the produce, finally bringing cash for the villagers.
4. Revolutionary – Stokes later realized the ills of British colonialism. He successfully fought the system of unpaid labour or ‘Begar’ prevalent in hills. He became involved in freedom struggle and discarded western clothing. He was a member of AICC and was considered as one of the greatest leaders by none other than Gandhi. He worked closely with Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and Lala Lajpat Rai and often brainstormed on political issues. He suffered greatly at the hands of the British for his activities and was under surveillance. Stokes was also jailed in 1921 for sedition by the colonial government. He may be the only white man jailed for Indian Independence movement. He stood by his ideals and never wavered inspite of all sorts of odds.

I recalled a secret service note on Stokes sent to higher authorities in which he was described as an American who had gone native and lived amongst the hill people like a local Raja in a medieval mansion on top of a hill.

Vijay has plans to develop a memorial in Thanedhar to depict all aspects of Stoke’s life. It would also showcase local art and craft, preserve the local dialect and customs and promote research on local culture.

‘I have shifted my land holding and assets to trust for this purpose. ‘Harmony Hall Orchard’ will be soon having a state of art nursery and laboratory for propagation of root stock. CA store will be there. The set up will be used for training of youth to rejuvenate the ageing orchards and upgrade quality to compete with the best in the world. The memorial will have a section to preserve local language, culture and heritage. My conservative estimate is that it would cost around 30 crores. I don’t have that kind of money as on date though. Lets see’.

I had no idea of the great work done by Vijay in footsteps of his great ancestor.

‘So the Stokes legacy is still exerting to uplift the people of Kotgarh Ilaqa. How lucky these people were’! I thought.

However, irony is that Kotgarh – (described as “Mistress of Hills’ by Kipling – as opposed to Simla – ‘The Queen of Hills’) that had enthralled Satyanand has not been able to hold the third and further generations of Stokes -and they all have settled in US. He would never have imagined it! However, they are still attached to their legacy. On celebration of centenary of Harmony Hall in 2012, a family reunion organized in Barobagh was attended by around 100 descendants arrived from all over the globe! Two days of  indulgence in local dance, music and food for the guests were organized. In the pahari tradition of honouring great sons of the soil, ‘Satyanand Stokes ki Nati’ is a popular biographical hill ballad describing the philanthropy of Stokes. Needless to say, the Nati was played ad nauseam on popular demand of dancing masses.

As I enjoy crispy high quality apples gifted to me by Vijay on my departure, I wish authorities made full use of his original research in apple cultivation to uplift the orhardists facing formidable challenges. I also fervently pray that funds for the ‘Stokes Memorial’ become available somehow so that the legacy of the great man can be nurtured for humanity and empathy to spread far and wide from his karmbhumi.

Vikas Thakur

Dr Vikas Thakur is a Veterinary Pathologist who has worked extensively all over India, especially in the Himalayan region. A keen observer and thinker, he is much interested in local history, societal issues , nature and anything that arouses curiosity. After spending 4 years in Kashmir, he came out with his experiences and understandings of this most interesting region in the form of a critically acclaimed book -‘Pax Kashmir’ this year. A native of Shimla, he is currently based in Chandigarh. Besides reading and writing, he likes to spend his time Riding and Golfing.

He is currently – Executive Committee Member, Equine Welfare and Medication Control, Equestrian Federation of India.