Biography of Munshi Premchand

(Born: 31 July 1880 - Died: 8 October 1936)

Munshi Premchand was the famous Hindi story-writer and novelist. He was the pioneer of modern Hindi and Urdu social fiction. It was he who made Hindi the language of the masses. He is rightly called the Father of Hindi fiction. He was born in 1880 in Varanasi. Dhanpat Rai was his real name but fear of the British made him change his name to Nawab Rai and he wrote stories in Urdu. His stories portray a real picture of the social condition of contemporary times. He fearlessly wrote about the various social taboos and religious obligations. Later on he wrote mostly in Hindi.

In 1901, his first story was published by the name of Sansar ka Sabse Anmol Ratna' in Jamana. In 1901, 'Soz-i-Waten', a collection of short stories, was published. But the British government banned it. He wrote nearly 300 stories and most of the stories are collected under the title Mansarovar'. His famous works include "Godan', 'Gaban', 'Rangbhumi', 'Prem Pachisi', 'Seva Sadan', 'Nirmala'. In 1936, Munshi Premchand, the Upanyas Samrat, left the world.