The Raja of Hirsil- The legend of Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson by Robert Hutchison

 

The Raja of Hirsil- The legend of Frederick ‘Pahari’ Wilson by Robert Hutchison

Frederick Wilson, the last of the White Moghuls (actually a White Raja, as he lived and thrived in the midst of an almost exclusively Hindu society) is an interesting character- a rebel against the White mainstream, and yet, a player in the Great Game into which he was pitched by forces beyond his control. The book however loses much of its value as the author presents a ‘romanticized account of Wilson’s life’ (author’s words). The reader is left to wonder how much of this account is fiction, and how much History? As a work of fiction, it falls far short of standards set by the masters of fiction. As popular History, it falls short of standards set by contemporaries such as Dalrymple, Hopkirk and others. There are no citations or even a bibliography of the primary sources of information included in the narration. This creates serious doubts in the minds of the readers as to the veracity of its contents. I cite one instance as an illustration.

The book brings Pahari Wilson together with the other tragic player of the great game- George Hayward. Their meeting takes place at Harsil sometime in late 1866 or 1867. Wilson puts the young Hayward through his paces in the exploration of the Himalayas. They trundle through many of the high passes leading from Tehri Garhwal to Tibet over a period of six months. If this narration is true, then it would form the most important phase of Hayward’s career which led him from 1868 onwards to his seminal contributions in mapping the higher regions of the Himalayas, and the sources of Karakash, and Yarkand rivers, not to speak of the Gilgit-Baltistan region, and the Yasin valley where he met his tragic end. However the most authoritative biography of Hayward (Tim Hannigan, Murder in the Hindu Kush) makes no mention whatsoever of Wilson. Indeed, according to Hannigan, the period (1865-67) intervening his resignation from the British Indian Army and his arrival back in India with an assignment of the Royal Geographical Society, is a blank. Hannigan makes a cursory mention of Hayward’s exploration of the ‘Western Himalayas’ in this period. If only the Raja of Hirsil was a book of History, this blank in the biography of Hayward could have been filled with satisfaction. But the reader has no confidence to do so.

This brings us to many more troubling questions: Did Baron Orenberg actually travel to Tibet? Did Rani Jindan really meet him and secure Russian support for the Sikh Kingdom against the machinations of the East India Company? Was Wilson actually the agent who corrupted the Sikh General who threw the battle against Hardinge’s forces? If what the author asserts are facts, then undoubtedly Wilson has played an overwhelmingly important role in furthering the British Empire in India. If much of this is fiction, not only the book, but the life of Wilson is a waste. Wilson’s only claim to fame then, is the largescale denudation of the forests of Tehri Garhwal, fraudulent accounting, illegal transfer of profits from his business activities in India to shell companies registered in Gibraltar, and partnership in questionable banks etc. He can legitimately claim to be the father of corporate mis-governance seen in contemporary India.