From the Folklore of Uttarakhand
There was once a well-to-do man in a certain village. One night a stray hunting party of a king reached the village in a tired condition. They were well fed and taken care of by the man that night. Next morning they joined the king. On inquiring about the events of the past night they related the hospitality of the man to the king. The iniquitous ruler, instead of recognizing the goodness of the man, was led by their report to covet his wealth. He directed his servants to plunder him of his wealth. The party accordingly did so.
The inmates of the house, the old man and his wife, the four sons and their wives, left the house for good, with hardly anything in their possession to live on. But the wife of the youngest son had concealed sixteen gold mohars on her person. When they felt hungry, the woman gave her father-in-law one gold mohar to purchase food with. The old man went off with it and never returned. So she was obliged to give another mohar to her mother-in-law for the same purpose. She also acted in the same way. Then each of the four sons was charged with a mohar to buy food for the family. But they also eloped in a similar way.
The four young women, thus left alone, set to work with the money they had got in their possession. First of all they purchased male apparel for themselves and wore it with great turbans on their heads to hide their braided hair. They turn accepted service in the court of the same king, and appeared as tidy and energetic young men, worthy of service in every way. They served the king for a considerable time without the least suspicion on the part of the other six.
One night on the death of the only son of the king they were ordered to take the dead body to the funeral ghat (a spot where dead bodies used to be burnt) to be burnt. They took the body instantly to the place in spite of the widespread fear of a certain ghost said to appear at night and to frighten to death those who by ill chance went there. No sooner did they arrive there than a ghost with horrible features appeared before them. One of them clung to him undauntedly taking hold firmly of his matted hair. After an obstinate fight the evil spirit at last yielded to them. They would not set him free unless he would give them a promise to effect whatever they wanted from him. Being so constrained, he pledged his word to accomplish whatever they required from him. On these conditions he was let loose.
First of all they ordered him to make the dead body of the prince alive. He did this, and the son of the king was restored to life. The next thing they wanted of him was to revive all the dead bodies burnt there during the last hundred years. He effected this also. Then he was ordered to build buildings and furnish them for the accommodation of those thus revived. This was instantly done.
As the four disguised women did not go back the same night, the king sent his servants next morning to look after them. They saw the prince alive and the other wonderful things effected. They at once went to the sovereign with the glad tidings. But the ruler, not believing at all what they had said, came himself there out of curiosity and found his only son alive, to his unbounded joy. In return for which he gladly shared half of his kingdom with the four pretended men.
Source:
Himalayan Folklore: Kumaon and West Nepal, E.S. Oakley and Tara Dutt Gairola, 1935
Kotharian Lightning 