Munshi Premchand
| Famous as | Novelist and Author |
| Born on | 31 July 1880 |
| Born in | Varanasi, India |
| Died on | 08 October 1936 |
| Nationality | India |
| Works & Achievements | Godaan, Idgah, Poos Ki Rat and SevaSadan |
Childhood & Early Life
Premchand was born on 31 July 1880 in a village near Varanasi in
India to Munshi Ajaib Lal, a clerk in the post office. His parents died
when he was still very young. His mother
died when he was no more than seven and his father passed away when
Premchand was fifteen or sixteen, and still a student. After loosing his
parents, Premchand became responsible for his step mother and his siblings born from her. Premchand was married to a girl in an arranged child marriage-as then was the custom- but the marriage proved to be painful for him and he left her in 1899. After that Premchand married a child widow Shivrani Devi in 1906.
After leaving his village in 1899, Premchand took up a job of a
schoolmaster at a mission school in Chunar, another remote area. The
salary was minimal and he was the only earning member in the family.
With that negligible amount he had to support his wife, step mother, his
siblings and himself. The condition became even worse when he was fired
from the job and had to return to his village. After some efforts, he
succeeded in getting a job of assistant master at a government school in
Varanasi. He was transferred to a town near Allahabad, where he became
the headmaster of a school in year 1902. After two years, he was sent to
Kanpur as the deputy sub-inspector of schools.
Early Career
It was in Allahabad, where he first started writing seriously.
Premchand started his literary career as a freelancer in Urdu and wrote
several short stories in the language. His first novella, Asrar e
Ma’abid was first published in Awaz-e-Khalq, an Urdu Weekly. Soon after,
he became associated with an Urdu magazine Zamana, where he wrote
columns on national and international events. He also wrote a collection
of short stories in Urdu which became known as Soz-e-Vatan. It was then
that his career as a writer began to take shape and he became a reputed
part of the literary world of Kanpur.
Success as a Writer
His literary work in Urdu gained him a reputation of a journalist
with social aim, rather than a mere entertainer. Premchand was born in
the British India and the Indian Independence movement was at its peak
when he started his writing career. His early writings were largely
influenced by the nationwide movement in which he often expressed his
support to the fight for freedom. In 1910, his collection of Soz-e-Watan
was labeled as rebellious on account of its message which provoked
Indians to fight for the nation. An agonized British government
confiscated the book and all copies of Soz-e-Watan were burnt or
destroyed. Premchand, who was writing under the name of Nawabrai at that
time, began to use Premchand as his pen name. The prolific writer wrote
more than 300 stories, novels and a number of plays.
The writer is credited with the introducing realism into the Hindi literature when it only consisted of the fantasy stories,
fairy tales and religious work. His creations are compiled and
published as Maansarovar. In 1921, Premchand resigned from his job as
his support to the Indian independence movement and Gandhi’s Swadeshi
movement. He took up a job in a printing press and became the proprietor
of the press. During that time he also worked as the editor of Hindi
and Urdu journals to support himself. It was miserable to see that
though he had established himself as a great writer and novelist, he
failed to earn money and led a life of struggle amid poverty and financial crisis.
Writing Style & Notable Work
Aside from a novelist and author, Premchand was also a social
reformer and a thinker. The remarkable characteristic of his writing was
the reality with which he depicted his characters in the novels. Unlike
other contemporary writers, he did not write fantasy fictions, or
stories based upon a hero. His novels mainly consisted messages on
social evils like, dowry, poverty, communalism, colonialism and
corruption and Zamindari. He was the first writer of the twentieth
century to bring reality in the literature.
Premchand authored over 300 short stories, novels and several
number of essays, letters and plays. Many of his works have been
translated into English and Russian and some have been adopted into
films as well. His first novel Godaan is ranked amongst the finest
novels of his era and remains so till this day. His other notable novels
are Gaban, Kafan Poos ki Rat, Idgah, and Bade Ghar ki Beti. Other
bestselling novels Shatranj Ke Khiladi and SevaSadan were adopted into
film by Satyajit Ray.
Later Life & Death
Premchand believed that literature is a powerful medium to educate
people and it showed in his writings. In his later life, he continued to
write fictions with social purpose and social criticism. Now a revered
author and thinker, he presided over conferences, literature seminars
and received huge applause. He chaired the first All-India conference of
the Indian Progressive Writer’s Association in year 1936. However, in
his personal life he was still struggling to make both ends meet. He
also suffered from health problem particularly ‘abdominal problems’.
Despite ever difficulty and challenges, Premchand did not abandon
writing and embarked on completing his last novel Mangalsootra. The
novel still remains incomplete as he died in the middle of it on 8 October 1936.
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Timeline: | ||||
1880- Premchand was born on 31 July.
1899-He left his village.
1902-He became the headmaster of a school.
1906- He married a child widow Shivrani Devi.
1910- His collection of Soz-e-Watan was confiscated by the British government.
1921- Premchand resigned from his job as his support to the Indian independence movement.
1936- He chaired the first All-India conference of the Indian Progressive Writer’s Association.
1936- Premchand died on 8 October.
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