Balmukund Gupta: Makers of Indian Literature (An Old and Rare Book)

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BALMUKUND GUPTA (1865-1907) is considered the Father of Modern Hindi Journalism. He was one of the few who first used a standardised form of Hindi in his writings and was the first to bring out a detailed History of Urdu and Hindi journalism.

Adept in Urdu and Persian also, Balmukund Gupta started his career as a Urdu journalist. Interestingly, it was during his tenure as the editor of Kohinoor, the most prestigious Urdu daily of his time, that he started his efforts for popularising Hindi.

Gupta was keen on using newspapers for the upliftment of the Indian people. A special aspect of his writings was that he could clothe his thoughts and feelings in a language full of mirth and humour so skilfully that one always had to read between the lines. Biting satire and lampooning the actions of the then viceroys were typical. His ten letters to Lord Curzon-better known as Shivshambhu ke Chitthe- have become almost proverbial and are considered to be a model for the burlesque.

MADAN GOPAL (b. 1919), the author of this monograph, has carved a niche for himself in the world of literary biographies. Author of more than 23 books, Madan Gopal has assiduously pleaded for Hindi and Urdu through English. In this monograph, he evaluates the contribution of Balmukund Gupta to Hindi, mainly for the non-Hindi readers.