When he was 7 years old, Premchand began his education at a madrasa in Lalpur, located near

Lamahi.[5] He learnt Urdu and Persian from a maulvi in the madrasa. When he was 8, his mother died
after a long illness. His grandmother, who took the responsibility of raising him, died soon after.
[7]
Premchand felt isolated, as his elder sister had already been married, and his father was always
busy with work. His father, who was now posted at Gorkhapur, remarried, but Premchand received
little affection from his step-mother. The step-mother later became a recurring theme in Premchand's
works.[8]

Early life[edit]

Premchand was born on 31 July 1880 in Lamhi, a village located near Varanasi (Banaras). His
ancestors came from a largeKayastha family, which owned six bighas of land.[3] His grandfather Guru
Sahai Rai was a patwari (village land record-keeper), and his father Ajaib Rai was a post office clerk.
His mother was Anandi Devi of Karauni village, who could have been the inspiration for the character
Anandi in his Bade Ghar Ki Beti.[4] Premchand was the fourth child of Ajaib Lal and Anandi; the first
two were girls who died as infants, and the third one was a girl named Suggi. [5] His parents named
him Dhanpat Rai ("the master of wealth"), while his uncle, Mahabir, a rich landowner, nicknamed him
"Nawab" ("Prince"). "Nawab Rai" was the first pen name chosen by Premchand. [6]

Premchand (pronounced [mni prem tnd] ( listen)) (31 July 1880 8 October 1936), better

known as Munshi Premchand, Munshi being an honorary prefix, was an Indian writer famous for
his modern Hindi-Urduliterature. He is one of the most celebrated writers of the Indian subcontinent,
[1]
and is regarded as one of the foremost Hindustani writers of the early twentieth century.
[2]
Born Dhanpat Rai Srivastav, he began writing under the pen name "Nawab Rai", but
subsequently switched to "Premchand". A novel writer, story writer and dramatist, he has been
referred to as the "Upanyas Samrat" ("Emperor among Novelists") by writers. His works include
more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of
foreign literary works into Hindi.