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2019-09-28T00:38:06Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| honorific_prefix = [[Dewan Bahadur]]
| name = Narmadashankar Mehta
| image = Narmadashankar Mehta.jpg
| image_size = 190px
| image_upright =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Narmadashankar Devshankar Mehta
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1871|8|23}}
| birth_place = [[Ahmedabad]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1939|3|21|1871|8|23}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer, historian, and administrator
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| residence =
| nationality =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| home_town =
| period =
| notableworks =
| spouse =
| children = [[Yashodhar Mehta]]
| relatives =
| signature =
| years_active =
}}
'''[[Dewan Bahadur]]''' '''Narmadashankar Devshankar Mehta''' (23 August 1871 – 21 March 1939) was a [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] writer, historian of philosophy, and administrator from [[British Raj|British India]]. He was a student of [[Anandshankar Dhruv]], and a nephew of [[Balashankar Kantharia]].

==Biography==
Mehta was born in Sathodara [[Nagar Brahmin]] family on 23 August 1871 in [[Ahmedabad]], to his parents Devshankar, a revenue officer, and Rukshmani (Rukmini).<ref name=":GVK">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતી વિશ્વકોશ|last=Shukla|first=Jayeshkumar R.|publisher=Gujarat Vishvakosh Trust|year=|isbn=|editor-last=Thaker|editor-first=Dhirubhai|editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|edition=1st|volume=XV|location=[[Ahmedabad]]|publication-date=January 2002|pages=510–511|language=gu|trans-title=Gujarati Encyclopedia|oclc=248968453}}</ref>

After passing his matriculation exam in 1888, he graduated from [[Bombay University]] in 1894 with English and Sanskrit literature. He was appointed as fellow at [[Gujarat College]], Ahmedabad, where he became student of Anandshankar Dhruv, which led him to study Sanskrit culture and Indian philosophy.<ref name=":GVK"/><ref name="Datta1989">{{cite book|editor-last=Datta|editor-first=Amaresh|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: k to navalram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ur27mKvc_kC|year=1989|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-1804-8|page=2657}}</ref> In 1896, he joined revenue department at Ahmedabad as clerk, and later appointed as a deputy commissioner of municipality. At later point of his life, he served as a [[dewan]] of [[Cambay State|Khambhat state]].<ref name=":GVK"/>

In 1934, he suffered a [[paralytic stroke]] which caused his death five years later, on 21 March 1939.<ref name=":GVK"/><ref name="Datta1989"/> His son [[Yashodhar Mehta]] was also a Gujarati writer and novelist.<ref name="Shastri1977">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતના સારસ્વતો|last=Shastri|first=Keshavram Kashiram|publisher=[[Gujarat Sahitya Sabha]]|year=1977|edition=1st|location=Ahmedabad|pages=|language=gu|script-title=gu:Gujaratna Saraswato|trans-title=Who's Who in Gujarati Literature|oclc=900401455|author-link=Keshavram Kashiram Shastri|page=101}}</ref> Mehta was a nephew of Gujarati writer [[Balashankar Kantharia]].<ref name=":GVK"/>

==Works==
Mehta wrote his works in Gujarati, English and [[Sanskrit]]. He published around a hundred scholarly articles in various magazines about Hindu religion and Indian philosophy.<ref name="Datta1989"/> His writings are marked by clarity of thought, strictly scientific and objective approach and lucid style.<ref name="Jhaveri1978">{{cite book|last=Jhaveri|first=Mansukhlal Maganlal|authorlink=Mansukhlal Jhaveri|title=History of Gujarati Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA0RAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|page=142|oclc=462837743}}</ref>

He started his literary career by writing a play ''Sati Natak'' in 1885. In 1892, he translated into Gujarati [[Totakacharya]]'s ''Śrutisārasamuddharaņa'' and [[Appayya Dikshita]]'s ''Vairagyashataka''. His ''Hind Tattvajnan No Itihas'' (History of Indian Philosophy), published in two parts in 1924 and 1925 respectively, is a historical narrative of Hindu philosophy. It was the first of its kind in the history of Gujarati literature. According to some scholars, it maintains the historical sequence of the ''Darshanas'' of Indian philosophy more correctly than [[Surendranath Dasgupta]] and [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], and notes some historical facts that other scholars have failed to do. In 1932, he published ''Upanishadavicharana'' and ''Shakta Sampradaya'' (History of [[Shaktism]]). ''Suprajan Shastr'' and ''Sandhyakarma Vivaran'' are his other works.<ref name=":GVK"/><ref name="Jhaveri1978"/>

''Dharmatatva-Vichar'', edited by [[Anantrai Raval]], was published posthumously in four volumes (1972, 1977, 1978 & 1980), which contains his writings on literature, religion and philosophy.<ref name=":GVK"/>

==See also==
* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Jośī|editor1-first=Umāśaṅkara|editor1-link=Umashankar Joshi|editor2-last=Raval|editor2-first=Anantrai Manishankar|editor2-link=Anantrai Raval|editor3-last=Mahetā|editor3-first=Yaśodhara|title=દી. બ. નર્મદાશંકર મહેતા સ્મારક ગ્રંથ|trans-title=Dewan Bahadur Narmadashankar Mehta Commemoration Volume|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.305136|year=1968|publisher=Gurjara Grantharatna Kāryālaya|oclc=22407448}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Narmadashankar Mehta|sopt=t}}
* {{Gbooks-author|Narmadashankar Devshankar Mehta}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Narmadashankar}}
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Deaths from cerebral infarction]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]

Narmadashankar Mehta - Revision history

imported>Rich Farmbrough: /* Biography */Cite clean up.