Before 1947, many Indians fought for India's independence. They were also joined by some foreigners who later settled in the country. Such people from abroad also contributed to society and helped in several fields. One such person was Satyananda Stokes, an American who later converted to Hinduism. He was born Samuel Evans Stokes Jr. in a wealthy Quaker family in the US. His father was a successful businessman. However, Stokes was never interested in business. 

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In 1904, he decided to leave his comfortable life and moved to India at the age of 22. Here, he served leprosy patients in Shimla. Stokes is known for introducing apple cultivation to Himachal Pradesh. In 1912, Stokes married a local girl Benjamin Agnes. She was the daughter of a first-generation Rajput Christian. The duo purchased a chunk of farmland near the girl's village in Kotgarh and settled there.

In 1916, he came across a new type of apple developed in Louisiana, USA. Stokes imported them to India and started growing them. He also started encouraging local farmers to follow in his footsteps. After some time, he succeeded.

After spending many years in India, he moved closer to Hinduism. A few years later in 1932, he converted to Hinduism and took the name Satyananda while his wife Agnes changed her name to Priyadevi. Stokes also learned the Pahari dialect of Hindi to gain the confidence of the locals. He even gave up his western outfits and started wearing the local attire instead.

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Stokes later became active in India's freedom struggle. He was even jailed for sedition. Satyananda Stokes passed away on 14 May 1946 after a prolonged illness.