Narayan Hemchandra was a Gujarati writer and translator whose output was so large that a contemporary poet called him a “book factory.” He died of plague in a Bombay hospital on 28 March 1904, after staying in the city to nurse his ill younger brother Vithal instead of leaving the plague-hit neighbourhood. His death ended one of the most prolific literary careers in late nineteenth-century Gujarati publishing.
Most of what is known about his life comes from a 2020 Scroll.in feature by Murali Ranganathan, which draws on Hemchandra’s own autobiography, passages from Gandhi’s writings, and contemporary press and official material. Where the figures and quotations below come from that feature, the article says so, and it flags the points that still need checking against original records.
Who was Narayan Hemchandra?
Hemchandra (sometimes written Narayan Hemchandra or Narayan Hemchandra Bhatt in older sources) was a self-taught reader and writer who began contributing to Gujarati periodicals in the 1870s. His work ranged across religion, biography, fiction, philosophy, history, travel and practical self-help. He also translated and adapted works from Bengali and other languages into Gujarati, a practice that made Bengali reform literature and novels available to readers in Bombay and Gujarat.
He was not a writer in a single school or movement. He moved between reform circles, public lectures and the publishing trade, and his books reached a broad readership rather than a narrow literary elite. That breadth is the reason his name is still cited in Gujarati literary history, even though he is far less widely known outside Gujarati-speaking communities.
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Why was he called a “book factory”?
The phrase comes from the Gujarati poet Narsinhrao Bholanath, as reported by Ranganathan’s feature. Bholanath described Hemchandra as the personification of a “book factory.” No primary text of the remark has been located, so it should be treated as a reported characterisation.
The output figures attached to the phrase are also the feature’s own counts and estimates:
| Measure | Figure | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Books published by 1889 | 53 | Reported by the 2020 Scroll.in feature; not checked against a bibliography |
| Pace by 1889 | About five books a year | Reported by the same feature as a steady rate |
| Books published in 1895 | 30 | The feature’s count and classification of works |
| Books published in 1896 | About a dozen | The feature’s count |
| Total output | About 200 books, plus numerous articles | An estimate in the feature, not a verified bibliography |
Until a complete bibliography is checked against library catalogues, the total should be presented as an estimate, and the “book factory” image should be read as an impression of volume rather than a precise count.
Early life and the search for work
According to the feature, Hemchandra was born on 10 June 1854 on Kika Street in Bhuleshwar, Bombay. Some search results give 1855 instead, and the available sources do not settle the question, so the 1854 date should be read as the feature’s date rather than a confirmed one.
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His father and grandfather died within a month of each other in 1866, and his mother died two years later. From about age fourteen he was effectively on his own, although he continued to live with extended family. He attended the Framjee Nusserwanjee Patell Anglo-Vernacular School, but he preferred watching craftspeople and trying practical trades. The feature lists short spells at the Great Indian Peninsular Railway workshop, the Gun Carriage Factory and a watch-repair shop, each lasting only a few months.
Reading came through an uncle’s collection of nearly 200 Gujarati books. Public lectures and religious and reform meetings, including those of the Prarthana Samaj, widened his circle. Through them he met Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Nabin Chunder Roy.
Travels and first publications
At twenty, by the feature’s reckoning, Hemchandra left Bombay with Nabin Chunder Roy. He spent time in Lahore, learned Bengali and Hindi/Urdu, travelled through North and Central India, and took part in Brahmo Samaj activities. The feature also describes an attempt to cross into Tibet that ended with his detention in Simla for lacking a passport.
The key dates of his early writing career are below, all as reported by the 2020 feature.
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| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1873 | Begins contributing religious articles to the Subodh Patrika |
| 1877 | Publishes Saddharma Sutra, a Gujarati translation based on a Bengali work and its Marathi translation; his first book |
| 1880s | Adapts and abridges works, keeps clippings for later use, and writes across genres |
| 1889 | Has published 53 books; travels to Europe |
| 1894 | Returns to Bombay with boxes of books and manuscripts, according to the feature |
London, the library and meeting Gandhi
Hemchandra went to Europe in 1889. The feature says he spent long hours in libraries and visited France, Germany and the United States, and that in London he met the young Mohandas Gandhi. Ranganathan reports that the two often met and shared vegetarian meals.
Gandhi later wrote about him in The Story of My Experiments with Truth. The feature quotes one sentence from the Gujarati autobiography: “Narayan Hemchandra’s simplicity was all his own, and his frankness was on a par with it.” This is Gandhi’s characterisation, and it should be attributed to him. The English wording is the feature’s translation, so check it against a reliable edition before quoting it at length.
The feature also reproduces a sentence from an unpublished Gandhi text, Guide to London, noting that Hemchandra had been living on one pound a week. The Gandhi Heritage Portal hosts the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, which were completed with the 100th volume in 1994, and that is the place to confirm the passage. The portal’s existence does not by itself verify this particular sentence.
Hun Pote and the 1900 autobiography
Hun Pote (“I, Me, Myself”) is Hemchandra’s autobiography, published in Gujarati in 1900. It mixes memoir and travelogue and covers his life up to the eve of his 1889 departure for London. Ranganathan describes it as the first Gujarati autobiography published for general circulation during its author’s lifetime. That is a strong literary-history claim, and it should be checked against specialist scholarship of Gujarati autobiography before it is repeated as settled.
The book matters for two reasons. It is Hemchandra’s own account of how a restless, self-educated young man became a writer, and it gives later readers a first-person record of the years that the feature otherwise reconstructs from second-hand sources.
The return to London and the final years
In August 1902 the journal The Academy and Literature carried a notice, itself quoting The Daily Mail, describing Hemchandra’s work in the British Museum Reading Room and an India encyclopedia project he was reported to be pursuing. The feature quotes this notice and says he appears to have returned to Bombay by 1903. Because the quotation is nested, the original journal should be consulted before the notice is quoted directly.
He then settled in Bombay to look after Vithal. Plague had reached the city in 1896 and returned in annual waves. In 1904 it appeared in their locality. Hemchandra was asked to leave, but he stayed with his brother. He caught the disease, was admitted to a plague hospital, and died on 28 March 1904. An obituary in the Gujarati periodical Buddhiprakash in May 1904, quoted by the feature, praised him as a famous Gujarati writer and a devotee of Gujarati literature. The periodical issue should be confirmed before any long extract is used.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The plague figures in context
The feature sets Hemchandra’s death against the scale of the epidemic. The figures below are reported by Ranganathan’s feature and have not been checked against the original government reports. Each figure carries the geographic and time scope the feature gives.
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| Period | Reported figure | Scope as stated in the feature |
|---|---|---|
| 1902 | More than 200,000 deaths | Bombay Presidency |
| 1903 | 300,000 deaths | Bombay Presidency |
| Week of Hemchandra’s death, 1904 | 43,000 deaths | Across India |
The feature also says that only one person in five who caught the disease could expect to survive. That, too, is a figure from the feature and should be checked against official records of the period before use.
The feature quotes Dr F. M. Gibson, identified as Superintendent of the Government Plague Research Laboratory, who gave advice on outdoor life, exercise, nourishment, rest and cleanliness. Ranganathan presents this as official advice that placed much of the responsibility on individuals. It is a historical medical statement from the 1900s, not current health guidance, and the original document should be checked before the full passage is reproduced.
What is established and what is not
- Well supported by the feature: Hemchandra’s Gujarati writing career, his travels, the 1900 autobiography, his meeting with Gandhi in London, and his death from plague in Bombay on 28 March 1904.
- Reported but not independently verified: the 53-books-by-1889 count, the 30 and roughly 12 book counts for 1895 and 1896, the total of about 200 books, and the plague death figures.
- Disputed or uncertain: the birth year, which is 1854 in the feature and 1855 in some search results.
- Needs checking before quotation: the Gandhi sentences, the Buddhiprakash obituary, the Academy notice, and the Gibson statement.
Finding Hun Pote today
Readers who want the book itself should check current library catalogues and bookseller listings before buying. The sources available for this article confirm the title, language and 1900 publication date of Hun Pote, but they do not establish a current edition, reprint or English translation. Where a listing is found, it is worth comparing the language of the edition, whether it is complete, who edited or translated it, and its publication details.
The 2020 Scroll.in feature remains the most detailed published account of Hemchandra’s life that has been identified for this article, and it is the best starting point for anyone who wants to follow up the original sources listed above.
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