Uttarkashi: Rare documents of famous Pahadi Wilson family surface from old trunk

Rajesh Panwar was cleaning his house at Dharali in Uttarkashi recently and found an old box. He had never seen the rusty trunk and in sheer curiosity he opened it. Among many odd and general household items he found an old file with about 90 pages. On random scanning the pages Panwar found a 87 year old document mentioning the names of Frederick Wilson and his daughter-in-law Rudra. Though Rajesh had heard about their family links with British timber tycoon, Shikari and naturalist Wilson, but never saw any document related to it. The find filled his heart with joy. Panwar was conducting the cleanliness drive as his family was hosting a religious ceremony at Dharali. Among the 90 odd pages, a three page will of Rudra Wilson (year 1936) was discovered from the box. The newly found document brings to light many unknown facts about the family members of Frederick Wilson, who came and settled in Harsil in the 1840s. Little information is available in Harsil about Pahadi Wilson, as the famous businessman and ‘Shikari’ was called, and his family. This is a latest document related to Wilson that has surfaced recently. The secret box Rajesh located the trunk inside the Puja room. His parents had told him about the box but he never got a chance to open and explore it. Panwar states, “My parents used to tell me that a girl from our family had married the son of Frederick Wilson. But, I had little idea. The will of Rudra provides new information.” New facts The will of Pahadi Wilson’s daughter-in-law Rudra, who married Henry Wilson, narrates the hardship she had to undergo after the death of his husband in 1889 and son Parsi in 1906. Life took an ugly turn for Rudra and she had to live in misery in Dharali. Wilson’s eldest son Charles used to provide Rudra all the support, but he too died at an early age (in 1932) to make the situation grim for the widow. Rudra’s marriage part of folk lore In her yore Rudra was famous for her beauty and charm in the region. A folk song exists, which narrates the magical charms of Rudra and her sister Godavari, from Dharali. As Nathoo Wilson, smallest son of Frederick Wilson came to know about gorgeous Godavari, he fell in love with the hill lass. He decided to marry her and the folk song states that he took out his ‘Barat’ and reached Godavari’s home. Nathoo entered the house without removing his boots and made his way to the kitchen, where Godavari was doing some domestic work. He introduced himself as Wilson Sahib’s son and proposed to marry her. Nathoo tied nuptial ties with Godavari and his brother Henry married Rudra. Lack of clarity about Wilson Family Confusion prevails about the Wilson family in Harsil. Though Frederick Wilson was a famous businessman, with a team of over two thousand workers and big money, little information is available about his family. Even the family genealogy of the famous Shikari is not clear. Harsil resident Balam Dass says, “No documents are available in our area related to Frederick Wilson. Many documents and rare photographs, which were with the some families in Mukhwa, were taken away by some government official long back in the 70s, and they were never returned to the owners. In the past photographs of Frederick Wilson and his two wives were on display in forest guest houses at Dharashu, Bhatwari, Harsil, etc. But, even those photographs are now missing.” The documents tracked in Dharali will help researchers in obtaining additional and accurate information about the Wilson family. Wilson bungalow now a part of history The iconic bungalow, built by Wilson in 1864, was lost in a devastating fire in 1997. The mansion, with over 40 rooms, was one of the major attractions of Harsil. Built in traditional native style, the historic piece of architecture showcased the luxurious and lavish life Pahadi Wilson and his family lived. Local resident Madhvendra Rawat says, “I was a little boy at that time and we were watching Hindi movie Bobby on Doordarshan that day. I came out of my house, located next to Wilson Bungalow, during a tv commercial break and saw the building gutted in fire. I raised the alarm and villagers came to extinguish the fire, but we failed. The house turned into ashes” The fire destroyed everything, including the artifacts and photographs displayed in the bungalow. With the incident an iconic building and stored house of Pahadi Wilson stories was completely destroyed by fire. The forest department constructed a new bungalow at the same place in 2000.. The courtyard of the Wilson bungalow was used for hosting cultural programmes, like Ramleela, and other public functions. The grandeur of the Wilson house had featured in many books and reports. Renowned Uttarakhandi folk singer Narendra Negi says, “I was posted in Uttarkashi in the 90s and saw the Wilson bungalow once. I was amazed by the wood carving and architecture of the house.” The end Frederick Wilson played a key role in the economic development of Uttarkashi region. His business of hunting and timber provided a new source of livelihood to the local people. Wilson was in Harsil for about four-five decades and in these years became the richest and most influential person of the region. After his death in 1883, his sons failed to maintain his legacy and Wilson began fading away from the memory of the hill people. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .