A pioneer of modern Hindi and Urdu social fiction, Munshi Premchands real

name was Dhanpat Rai. He wrote nearly 300 stories and novels. Among his
best known novels are: Sevasadan, Rangmanch, Gaban, Nirmala and Godan.
Much of Premchands best work is to be found among his 250 or so short
stories, collected in Hindi under the title Manasarovar.Three of his novels
have been made into films.Premchands literary career started as a freelancer
in Urdu.

He was born at Lamahi near Banaras (now Varanasi) on 31st July,1880. His
father Munshi Ajaib Lal was a clerk in the postal department. Premchands
early education was in a madarsa under a maulvi, where he learnt Urdu.
Premchand was only eight years old when his mother died. His grandmother
took the responsibility of raising him but she too died soon. He was married
when he was 15 and in the 9th grade . His father also died and after passing
the intermediate he had to stop his study. He got a job as a teacher in the
primary school. In 1919, he passed his B.A., with English, Persian and History.
After a series of promotions he became Deputy Inspectors of Schools. In
response to Mahatma Gandhis call of non-cooperation with the British he quit
his job. After that he devoted his full attention to writing. His first story
appeared in the magazine Zamana published from Kanpur.In his early short
stories he depicted the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the land in the
first decade of the past century. Soz-e-Watan, a collection of patriotic stories
published by Premchand in 1907, attracted the attention of the British
Government In 1914, when Premchand switched over to Hindi, he had
already established his reputation as a fiction writer in Urdu. While writing
Urdu novels and short stories he emphasised in presenting the realities of life
and he made the Indian villages his theme of writing. His novels describe the
problems of the urban middle-class and the countrys villages and their
problems. He also emphasised on the Hindu-Muslim unity. His famous works
include Godan, Maidan-e-Amal, Bay-wah, Chaugaan etc.It would not be wrong
to say that Premchand was the Father of Urdu short- stories. Short stories or
afsanas were started by Premchand. As with his novels, his afsanas also
mirror the society that he lived in. With a simple and flowing writing some of
his works depict excellent use of satire and humour. His later works used very
simple words and he started including Hindi words too to honestly potray his
characters. His famous afsanas are Qaatil Ki Maan, Zewar Ka Dibba, Gilli
Danda, Eidgaah, Namak Ka Daroga and Kafan. His collected stories have
been published as Prem Pachisi, Prem Battisi, Wardaat and Zaad-e-Raah.

Premchand was the first Hindi author to introduce realism in his writings.
He pioneered the new form - fiction with a social purpose.He supplemented

Gandhijis work in the political and social fields by adopting his revolutionary
ideas as themes for his literary writings.

Besides being a great novelist,Premchand was also a social reformer and

thinker.His greatness lies in the fact that his writings embody social purpose
and social criticism rather than mere entertainment. Literature according to
him is a powerful means of educating public opinion.He believed in social
evolution and his ideal was equal opportunities for all.Premchand died in
1936 and has since been studied both in India and abroad as one of the
greatest writers of the century.