Premchand || Dhanpat Rai Srivastava || پریم چند || دھنپت رائے سری واستوو

 Premchand || Dhanpat Rai Srivastava || پریم چند || دھنپت رائے سری واستوو

Premchand's (پریم چند) real name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (دھنپت رائے). His uncle named him “Nawab Rai” (نواب رائے) which he liked. Premchand used to use “Nawab Rai” as a pen name but after seizure of the fiction collection “Soz-e-Watan” (سوز وطن), on the advice of his close friend "Zamana" (زمانہ) editor “Diya Narain Nigam” (دیانرائن نگم), he started writing under the name “Premchand”.

 

Premchand was born on 31st July 1880 in a town Lamhi in Banaras. Premchand's father's name was “Munshi Ajaib Lal” (منشی عجائب لال), who was a clerk in a local post office. Premchand passed the BA examination from Allahabad University. Premchand died in 1936 in Banaras.

 

FICTION BY PREMCHAND

 

Before Premchand, there were translations of a few legends and a few original legends in Urdu, but if judged on the criteria of art, it is difficult to call them fiction.

 

Premchand is the first writer of Urdu literature who turned seriously towards this genre. Prof. Qamar Rais (قمر رئیس) says that the tradition of Premchand was the main tradition in Urdu literature. Premchand's fictions have been shining like lamps in every destination of the journey of Urdu fiction.

 

Premchand began writing fiction from 1907 AD under the assumed name of Nawab Roy, but Premchand started his literary career in 1901 by writing a novella "Ek Mamun Ka Romaan"(ایک ماموں کا رومان).

 

In 1908, his first collection of stories was published under the name "Soz-e-Watan". His first published fiction is "Ishq Duniya Aur Hub-e-Watan" (عشق دنیا اور حب وطن) which was published in the magazine "Zamana" Kanpur in April 1908. It is included in Soz-e-Watan. This collection marks the beginning of the first regular period of Urdu fiction and awakens the spirit of patriotism in the heart of the reader. But the government did not like its publication, it was confiscated and Nawab Roy (Author) was instructed not to publish any fiction or article without the pre-approval of the government. This incident dates back to 1910, so after the official ban, three of his stories "Gana Ka Agankund" (گنا کا اگن کنڈ), "Ser-e-Dervish" (سیر درویش) and "Rani Saranda" (رانی سارندہ) were published without the author's name.

 

 

Before Premchand, there was no significant tradition of fiction writing in Urdu. There were few short stories and those were only counted which are not counted today. Therefore, it can be said that Premchand laid the foundation of Urdu fiction and he is also credited with building a magnificent palace on this basis. The depiction of villages is Premchand's most important feature, before him, there was no mention of the village culture in Urdu literature and only urban life was presented. He grew up in the village so the Indian village was ingrained in him.

 

 

There is another side to Premchand's fiction. He is a reformist and wants to remove the evils from society. The oppression of the poor, the abuses of the capitalists and religious freelancers, the contempt of the upper castes and other such evils torment them. Therefore, the desire to remove them arises in their hearts so he write reform fiction and present exemplary characters. In most stories they show the victory of good and the defeat of evil.

 

Realism is another important feature of Premchand's fiction. He described life as it was. In an article, Premchand writes that fiction considers the natural depiction of facts as its goal, it has less imagination and more experiences, and in a letter he also clarifies that my stories are often based on some kind of observation and experience. There are.

 

Premchand believes that man is good by nature. In an article, he writes,

"A bad person is not bad at all, there must be an angel hidden somewhere in him. To bring out this hidden or dream angel and bring it to the fore is the way of a successful fiction writer".

 

Lovers of social justice were very persuasive. Premchand attached great importance to communal harmony. His attitude towards religion was very healthy. He considered religion as a private matter of man. According to them, language and culture are a separate thing and religion is a separate thing. Philanthropy is actually the passion that is the basis of their thoughts and ideas.

 

 He considers unity of expression to be the most important thing for fiction and emphasizes that there should not be a single word or phrase in fiction that does not clarify its main idea. Premchand has shown great artistry in characterization. According to a critic, it gave him more charm than princes and more than the fairies of fairyland. Premchand's characterization of psychoanalysis is the biggest trick.

 

Premchand wrote in an essay,

"Literature will meet our criteria which has concern, spirit of freedom, essence of beauty, spirit of construction, which creates movement, commotion and light in us".

 

FICTION COLLECTIONS OF PREMCHAND

 

“Soze-e-Watan” (سوز وطن):- Published in 1908, this is a collection of five stories.

"Prem Pachapesi" (پریم پچپیسی) Part I: - Published in 1914, it is a collection of twelve fables.

"Prem Pachapesi (پریم پچپیسی) Part II”:- Published in 1918 which is a collection of thirteen fables.

"Prem Batisi Part I":- Published in 1920 it has sixteen stories.

"Prem Batisi Part II”:- Published in 1920 AD which has sixteen stories.

"Khak Parwana"  (خاک پروانہ):- Published in 1928 AD. It is also a collection of sixteen stories.

“Khawab wa Khayal”:- Published in 1928 which has fourteen short stories.

"Firdous-e-Khayal” (فردوس خیال):- Published in 1929. It is a collection of twelve fables.

"Prem Chalisi” (پریم چالیسی) Part I and II:- Both these collections were published in 1920 AD. There are ten stories in each section.

“Aakhri Tohfa” (The Last Gift, آخری تحفہ):- Published in 1934 AD which contains thirteen stories.

"Zad-e-Rah” (زاد راہ):- Published in 1936 AD in which the author selected fifteen short stories.

“Doodh ki Qimat” (Price of Milk, دودھ کی قیمت):- Published in 1937 AD. It is a collection of nine stories.

“Wardat” (Plot, واردات):- Published in 1938 which has thirteen short stories.

 

 

Apart from these fictional collections, Premchand has also written some novels which are as follows.

 

“Asrar Muahida” (اسرار معاہدہ):- Premchand's first novel which was published incompletely in 1905 AD.

“Hum Khurma Wahm-e-Sawaab” (ہم خرما وہم ثواب):- Published in 1905 AD.

“Kishna - Ruthi Rani”, (کشنا – روٹھی رانی)

“Jalwa-e-Isar” (جلوہ ایثار):- Published in 1912 AD. It is a biographical novel in which Premchand has tried to adapt the life and personality of Swami Devika Nanda in the form of a novel.

“Bazar-e-Husan” (بازار حسن):- This Urdu novel was published in two parts. The first part was published in 1921 AD while the second part was published in 1922 AD.

"Gosha-e-Afiaat” (گوشہ عافیت):- Gusha Aafiat was published in Urdu in 1928. Gusha Aafiat is not only Premchand novel but the first novel in Indian literature that deals with the life of the working class of India and its basic problems ۔

“Chogan Hasti” (چوگان ہستی):- This novel was published in Urdu in 1927. Its main character is Surdas. It can also be called Rudad of Pandepur.

“Parda-e-Majaz” (پردہ مجاز)

“Nirmala” (نرملا):- This novel was published in 1929.

 

Apart from these novels, the author has also written the biographical collection "Bakmalon Ke Darshan" (باکمالوں کے درشن), and various plays Sangram (سنگرام), Karbala (کربلا) and Prem Ki Devi (پریم کی دیوی).

 

 Read Books of Premchand