Considering all this, it was inevitable that an incident involving an upper caste Brahmin willingly giving up his religion would cause enormous outrage and alarm. It was as if the centuries-old social structure had received a direct blow.
Interestingly, many of these Brahmins had migrated to Kumaon from other parts of the country. Some of their family histories claim that an ancestor came on pilgrimage either to Badrinath or Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash and was invited by a local ruler to settle down in his kingdom and add lustre to his court with his wisdom and extensive knowledge of the scriptures and religious rituals.
The Pants of Kumaon are said to be descendants of a certain Jaidev Pant, who pilgrimaged from the Konkan coast with his family in the eleventh century CE and was granted a gift of land by the ruler of Mankot, a small region in Kumaon.2 His sons were not only accomplished scholars but also possessed knowledge of the healing arts. For this reason, they readily found positions as priests and vaidyas with the rulers in the region. Another of Jaidev’s descendants, Purushottam or Purkhu Pant, left his mark on the history of Kumaon as a victorious general of the army under Maharaja Rudrachand of the Chand dynasty. Though he was a Brahmin, he possessed outstanding military skills. He received a copper plate or tamrapatra with an inscription commending his exploits.
During the reign of Prithvi Narayan Shah in Nepal, the Gurkhas invaded Kumaon and displaced the Chand rulers in 1791, later extending their hegemony west, into Garhwal and up to the Kangra valley in Himachal. The Gurkhas’ oppressive rule over the hill regions ended in 1816 when they were defeated in the Anglo-Gurkha War. However, there continued to be considerable movement between Nepal and India. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Pandit Hari Ram Pant, Taradutt’s father, an accomplished vaidya, decided to visit Nepal. Taradutt was born there in 1842, in a place called Jait. The news of Hari Ram’s expertise in medicine soon spread, and, some years later, he was invited by the Maharaja of Nepal to occupy the position of chief physician in his court. He moved to Kathmandu with his family in 1859–60.3 In the course of time, Hari Ram passed on his vast knowledge of Ayurveda to his son, Taradutt. The young man had watched his father collect herbs and prepare medicines from childhood, so it was just a matter of mastering the intricacies. Within a short period, he had established his reputation in the field too.
When he reached marriageable age, his father started looking for a suitable Kumaoni girl in his native land. And in 1859, Taradutt was wedded to Durga Joshi, who belonged to a prestigious family of Almora, that of the diwan or prime minister of Kumaon. The couple were blessed with three daughters, Harpriya (born in 1864), Debi (born in 1865) and Bhawani (born in 1868).
Apart from his medical knowledge, Taradutt was an astute and highly learned scholar. The ancient practice of shastrartha or religious discourse had long been encouraged by the rajas of Kumaon, and the tradition had been maintained, even after they lost power. Taradutt regularly took part in debates on points of religion and the correct performance of rituals. From ancient times, Benares had held pride of place as the centre for such high-powered discussions. Hari Ram was aware of his son’s growing mastery of such matters and decided to take him there to hone his skills further by pitting him against a larger group of scholars. His father’s instincts were proved right, because Taradutt did him proud in this testing arena. He out-argued his opponents with ease, impressing many with his depth of knowledge and quickness of mind.
Little did anyone suspect, however, that this journey would have the most unexpected consequences! Because it was at Benaras that Taradutt encountered another erudite scholar, and this meeting turned his life upside down.
This man was called Nilakantha Shastri Goreh. He was born in 1825 in a wealthy Chitpavan Brahmin family from Ratnagiri that had settled down in Benaras.4 A brilliant student, who had earned the title of shastri while still a teenager, he was always eager to take on challenges to showcase his skills in debates and discussions on the finer points of religion with other pandits.
At that time, the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) were extremely active in Benaras, preaching the gospel in the streets. For this, they often encountered active hostility from the public, the pandits in particular. Young Nilakantha wanted to drive the foreigners away too, and decided to engage one of them, William Smith, in argument to prove that Hinduism was superior to Christianity. The wily William, however, avoided being drawn into any discussion and kept insisting that Nilakantha read the Bible. Nilakantha agreed. However, the three years of study and dialogue had an unforeseen effect on him, though not unforeseen to William Smith perhaps. Nilakantha abandoned his old beliefs and converted to Christianity in March 1848. He took the name Nehemiah. Being an intellectual with a restless and questing spirit, he did not stop there. He continued to explore the issues of the higher forms of faith and piety and threw himself into many different kinds of studies of religion. For a while, he tutored Duleep Singh, the young maharaja of Punjab, and accompanied him to England. However, the practice of Christianity in that country disappointed him with its superficiality
Deeply influenced by Nilakantha, Taradutt came into contact with the CMS missionaries and began to study the Bible as well. The result was that he too made the life-changing decision to convert and was baptized on 1 January 1871 by the same William Smith, adopting the name Josiah.5 Later, his wife and daughters were baptized too, on 25 April of the same year. Durga’s name was changed to Sarah, and the names of his daughters to Ruth, Lydia and Imogen. This delay in following her husband’s example, probably, indicates an understandable reluctance on Durga’s part. But at that time, it would have been extremely difficult for a woman with three young daughters to assert an independent stand. Sometimes, when a husband converted, women were forcibly separated from their husbands by their in-laws or natal families and condemned to live as widows. In distant Benaras, Durga probably got the opportunity to mull over her choices and negotiate with her husband.
A few months later, on 11 July, a son was born to the couple, and he was christened Daniel Devidutt. Then Taradutt decided to go to the Theological College in Lahore to continue his study of Christianity at his own expense. However, soon after, his daughter, Ruth, fell seriously ill, and he was advised to take her to the hills. Cutting short his studies, Taradutt undertook a long journey by boat, train and bullock cart to Nainital. But it turned out to be too late for Ruth. She passed away soon after they reached the hill station. Worse was to follow. The grieving family had barely buried their daughter when all hell broke loose around them.
The news of Taradutt’s conversion had spread like wildfire, and he found himself at the centre of a raging controversy. And soon, like his mentor, Nehemiah Goreh, as earlier mentioned, Taradutt was declared dead through the rite of ghatashraddha.
This ritual death also meant ‘civil death’, as it has been termed by some authorities—the end of all claims to a joint inheritance, and in some situations, as earlier mentioned, even separation from a spouse. Taradutt had to surrender his considerable family property, some of which lay in Hawal Bagh near the Kosi river. He decided to move to Almora, where he bought a house and a piece of land below the church. He received a great deal of support and encouragement from Rev. John Henry Budden, a missionary belonging to the London Missionary Society (LMS), which was active in those parts. This gentleman was a close friend of Sir Henry Ramsay, and all his family members were ardent evangelists.
Almora was the largest town in Kumaon. While human settlements had existed in the region from the time of the Mahabharata and the region finds mention in the Vishnu Purana, it was Raja Kalyan Chand of the Chand dynasty who decided to make it his capital in 1563.6 According to local folklore, the king had gone hunting in the area when a hare he was chasing turned into a tiger, and then vanished mysteriously. This convinced him that the place possessed extraordinary qualities, and he shifted his capital here from Champawat.
Alamnagar was the name chosen, but legends claim it was
converted to ‘Almora’ after the ‘kilmori’ bush (some say ‘jhilmori’—another kind of sour-leafed shrub whose leaves were used to scrub the utensils of the deity at the famous sun temple of Katarmal that lay close by). Till the Gurkhas wrenched the reins of power from the Chand rulers in 1791, the town continued to be their capital. It retained its position as the political and cultural centre of the region even after the Gurkhas were ousted from the town by the British in 1815.
When LMS decided to work actively in the region from 1851 onwards, it declared Kumaon the headquarters. In fact, John Henry was one of the founders of the ‘Kumaon Mission’.7 He had been engaged in missionary activity in Mirzapur and Benaras but the climate had taken its toll on his health. In 1850, when he visited Nainital for a rest cure, he happened to meet Sir Henry Ramsay, who was stationed in Almora as a civil officer. Earlier, his stint in the army had brought him here. A deeply religious man, he believed there was scope for missionary work in the region. He invited John Henry to move to the hills. Henry Ramsay had also set up an asylum for lepers in Almora in 1840. In 1851, John Henry took charge of it. After the mission was formally constituted, as part of their objectives, a boys’ school was opened, which later became Ramsay College after the commissioner. In 1852, his wife Sarah Odell Budden started a girls’ school as well, along with her daughter Mary, and another missionary lady named Mrs Mather.8
Thus, by the time Taradutt came to Almora, missionary activity was well entrenched. Henry Ramsay had been appointed commissioner of Kumaon in 1856, and as a dedicated patron of the missionaries, he made optimum use of his influential position.
Taradutt was a man in a state of extreme trauma. No doubt, when he had converted in Benaras, the implications of this revolutionary step must have been made clear to him by his mentor. All the same, in the distant lanes of the holy city, removed from his home influences, it was probably difficult for him to envisage the full consequences of the leap he had made. Realization hit him only when he returned to his native region and confronted his relatives.
Conversion, as mentioned earlier, even for a low caste individual, meant social ostracism. So great was the stigma attached to such acts that men were sometimes forced to leave their homes and villages. As the first Brahmin convert ‘Taradutt Pant faced more than simple social ostracism, if, indeed such ostracism can ever be simple. He was not told about the death of his mother, which occurred shortly after his conversion. His family had even told his friends that Taradutt had died, and they were obviously surprised to see him alive after his return to Almora.’9
Publicly disowned by his relatives, with the loss of his eldest daughter Ruth still gnawing at his heart, Taradutt had to summon all his strength to make a fresh start. In time, he was able to assimilate with the small Christian community in the town. All the same, there must have been a period of great trial. No doubt he was subjected to reprimands and jibes daily on the street. People, who had been close to him, stepped aside as he passed. It must have been galling to be treated like an untouchable. There was no question whatsoever of attending the common social events that enlivened the monotony of daily routine. For his wife Durga, now Sarah, to be shunned in her home town was a hard cross to bear. However, she dealt with the situation as best as she could. According to historian Sanjay Joshi, ‘There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that at least Taradutt’s wife retained some connections with her natal family, and that such connections were maintained even in the next generation.’ He cites interviews with local people, saying: ‘Miss Lakshmi Devi Pant recalled that her grandmother told her how she would sneak out to the now-ostracized Durga (now Sarah) Pant with special festive food (singal) and gifts (bhetarn) traditionally sent to brides from their natal homes on these occasions. My [Sanjay’s] mother, Prema Joshi, in a formal interview, also recalled that Taradutt Pant’s son, Daniel, who was their neighbour, would request to be allowed to watch the ceremonies in their home on the day of the Bagwali festival—one of the most important days in the ritual calendar among Kumaoni Brahmins.’ (Both interviews, 9 May 2004, Tilakpur, Almora.)10
The convert also learnt to make significant changes in his daily routine and lifestyle. Instead of his morning puja, the day would begin with the Lord’s Prayer and appeals for the almighty’s blessings. The brief ritual he used to follow before his meal was replaced by grace, thanking Christ for the food he was about to eat. Similarly, his evening worship was replaced with reading the Bible or some other prayers before retiring for the night. On Sunday, he would attend a service in church along with his family. He no longer observed the fasts, ceremonies and numerous small festivals that had been a regular part of his life. He no longer smeared his forehead with sandalwood and vermilion powder. He also discarded his sacred thread—the janeu—and his topknot or the shikha worn by upper caste Hindus. Also, the question of religious purity became alien to him. These were all major adjustments for both men and women.
Where clothing was concerned, most of the converts did not make extensive changes. Men either stuck to the traditional bandgala or high-necked coat made of pattu, the locally woven woollen fabric, similar to tweed, along with churidar pyjamas or, in some cases, adopted Western dress. Headgear was a must, whether the typical Kumaoni cap or turban or a Western-style hat. The women continued to dress in an ankle-length ghaghra-like skirt and a long-sleeved blouse, with a quilted jacket to keep out the cold, and in chilly weather a shawl would be draped around the head. Thus, their costume was not too different from their Hindu sisters, apart from the fact that bindis or tikas were renounced and their foreheads remained bare. Their heads were always covered modestly, and traditional jewellery like guloband or chokers—small squares of gold mounted on a black velvet band—remained popular. In some cases, the mangalsutra or chareu as it was known locally—a necklace of black beads interspersed with pendants of gold—was also worn.
To adjust to a new community of people with whom they had never even dreamt of interacting earlier, must have been a great challenge as well. The truth is, many Brahmin converts at that time could not forget their caste status and avoided mixing with lower caste converts.
Taradutt’s profession, no doubt, eased matters for him and the family. He continued his medical practice, and his knowledge was valued and brought in an income. While scholars have presented differing views on the subject of how much Taradutt involved himself in mission work, he did assist the missionaries. Citing the ‘Report for 1886’, Council for World Mission, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, Sanjay Joshi states: ‘Through their mission-work in Kumaon, Taradutt Pant and his family provided ample proof of their dedication to the objectives of the LMS. Taradutt himself worked in a variety of capacities for the mission, as did his wife.’11 In fact, this was how the Pants supported their family.12
Three more daughters and two sons were born to the couple in Almora. While their commitment to their new faith had extracted a great price, there were several benefits too. Modern educational opportunities opened up for the children. It was the girls who really benefited. The second daughter, Harpriya Lydia, affectionately known as Haruli, decided to follow the family profession after completing her schooling, though in the Western style of medicine. She was one of the first Indian women to go to medical college. After receiving a diploma from Agra Medical College, she worked there for some years. Then she was sent to Edinburgh for further studies and received the diplomas of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) and Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons (LRCS). She was also presented to Queen Victoria who was highly impressed that an Indian woman had taken up medicine and presented her with her own portrait. Despite an invitation to stay on in England, Harpriya Lydia decided to come back home. She returned to Almora and worked in mission hospitals in the area and later in a government hospital at Faizabad. Sadly, she died there later in a cholera epidemic.
Haruli never married, and this was a problem encountered by children of upper caste converts. It was often hard to find s
uitable alliances within the small Christian community. All the same, with all these extraordinary achievements to her credit, Haruli might well have served as a role model to other girls in her family. Ra’ana Liaquat Ali’s desire to excel during her student days and later in life, to contribute to the betterment of society, could well have been inspired by her aunt’s example.
The eldest son, Daniel Devidutt Pant was educated in Almora and Lucknow and later joined PWD. He married Annie Margaret Mohini Singh on 15 March 1901 at the Methodist Episcopal Hindustani Church in Lucknow.
By then, John Henry Budden had retired and passed away in 1890. The church that stood above the Pant residence was dedicated to him and renamed Budden Memorial Church in 1899.
The missionaries were setting up schools all over the country, and, realizing the advantages, there was a strong desire among the professional class to take advantage of the education being provided—a knowledge of English and exposure to the ways of a different civilization. Not only boys but girls too were gaining access to this kind of education. To give one example which is pertinent to the life of our heroine—in Lucknow, the capital of the erstwhile state of Awadh, American missionary Isabella Thoburn had set up a girls’ school, which would develop into the prestigious Isabella Thoburn College, an important centre for higher education for girls from progressive families.
The Begum Page 4