Pratapgarh

My great-grandfather: the Dewan of Pratapgarh and Barrister-at-Law

Author: 
Tilak Mathur

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Tilak Mathur is a PhD in English Literature with specialisation in the British poet and playwright T. S. Eliot. Tilak is very actively engaged with social and charitable work in and around Jaipur. Basically a homemaker, she came into her own as a natural leader when she got an opportunity to lead. She lives in Jaipur with her husband Subhash. She often travels to Ahmedabad and USA where her two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren live.

When I was a child, my mother, Rummni Devi Bhatnagar, narrated many stories about her Nanaji (her mother's father), Shri Gauri Shankarji, a Barrister stationed at Ajmer. What fascinated me was not his profession. I was more awed by the description of one his havelis and tam tam (4-horse carriage). My interest in his background grew when my son Gaurav became a lawyer. I was happy to have a pedigreed advocate

Recently, at a family meeting in Ajmer, I became aware of a handwritten document that had been written about Gaurishankarji by his son, Shri D. G. Verma. (The document was with Shri Surendar Shankar Bhatnagar, son of Shri D. G. Verma. Shri Bhatnagar, now about 93 years old, lives in Ajmer, and is still quite active. He has provided all the materials and photos in this story.)

The document appears below. As you will see, several parts of the document are illegible, and there does not appear to be a proper conclusion. Still, it tells a fascinating tale that Is more than 125 years old.

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