Author : Deepika Thakur
Mr. Samuel Evan Stokes who later came to be known as Satyanand Stokes was a social worker who at the age of twenty one came to India on 9th Jan. 1904 from Philadelphia (U.S.A.). A talk to the church congregation in Philadelphia by Dr. Carleton on the plight of poor Indians moved and motivated young and Samuel Evan Stokes to visit the leprosy home at Sabathu, which was being run by Dr.Carleton and his wife. The hard work by Mr. Stokes and the summer heat of Sabthu proved tiresome for the young American. Dr.Carleton arranged a holiday for Mr. Stokes at Kotgarh so that he could get respite from the scorching heat Kotgarh called the ‘Mistress of the Northern Hills” by Rudyard Kipling was not accessible by motor able road which forced the young American to walk 82 Km. to reach Kotgarh.
Mr. Stokes who was the guest of the missionaries at Kotgarh was not impressed by their lifestyle because they lived in big bungalows and had a fleet of servants. At that time lot of poorly clad Sadhu’s use to go on pilgrimage to Kinner Kalash and pass through Kotgarh . Mr. Stokes compared the lifestyle of Christian missionaries and Hindu Sadhu’s and come to the conclusion that if one has to preach amongst the common masses he should stay and eat like them. Although the local church was not pleased by the revolutionary thinking of Mr. Stokes but it surely showed that young Mr. Stokes was a thinker, bent upon reforming the society.
Mr. Samuel Evan Stokes as a Social reformer :
‘Begar’ (forcible labour) was prevalent in Shimla hills at that time. Under the ‘begar’ system the local Rajas and the Britishers forced the poor and ignorant hill men to do free labour. They were required to carry the luggage and material from one village to another without much monetary gain. The farmers were forced to neglect their standing crops and work for the Raja’s and the Britishers for a small sum of 25 paisa per day. The exploitation was such that the farmers had to put in three days of labour but they were paid for only one day, which meant that one was paid 25 paisa for three days labour. Mr. Stokes was shocked by this sought of exploitation, On 26th August 1920 Mr. Stokes sent a representation signed by over 200 farmers to the Financial Commissioner Shimla but this appeal fell on deaf ears. Mr. Stokes wrote numerous letters to the British government and wrote articles on the ‘begar’ system. The tireless efforts friend Mr. C.F. Andrew bore fruit and the evil of ‘begar’ system was abolished from the hill states of Shimla Hills.
Mr. Samuel Evan Stokes as an educationalist:
Mr. Stokes was not only a social worker but also a great educationalist. He was of the firm opinion that without education a nation cannot progress. He opened a school in 1923 in his estate and encouraged the unlettered farmers of Kotgarh to send their children to this school. He laid great emphasis on the education of girls. Mr. Stokes who had planted the first Red Delicious apples in 1916 encouraged the students of his school to learn the cultivation of apples. Every senior student was required to take part in practical horticulture demonstrations, which were conduced the first generation of apple grower of Kotgarh to become able and true horticulturists.
Mr. Samuel Evan Stokes as a Freedom Fighter :
It is said that the role of this great man in the freedom struggle of India has not been brought to light very few people know that Mr. Stokes was the only American to participate in out freedom struggle. He was a contemporary of Lala Lajpatrai. He was a member of the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee and along with Lala Lajpatrai represented Punjab in the all India Congress Committee. Mr. Stokes was arrested on 3 December 1921 at Wagah railway station while going to Lahore to attend the meeting of the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee. Next day Mr. Stokes was produced before major M.L.Ferrar who was the district magistrate of Lahore. Mr. Stokes was charged of sedition and promoting hatred against the British government. The magistrate sent Mr. Stokes to six months of imprisonment, which he gracefully accepted Mahatma Gandhi was touched and moved by Mr. Stokes imprisonment. In one his articles Mahatma Gandhi praised the efforts of Mr. Stokes and said that Mr. Stokes was the first American to go to jail for India’s freedom struggle.
Born on 16th Aug., 1822 in German town, Philadelphia and died on 14th May, 1946 at Shimla is the long and cherished history of a great man who left behind the riches of Philadelphia and adopted Kotgarh as his home and transformed the entire economy of the hill states of India, Bhutan and Nepal.
