EduardoVasey1 at 12:47, 2 February 2026

2026-02-02T12:47:46Z

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{{short description|Gujarati writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ranjitram Mehta
| image = Ranjitram Mehta.jpg
| caption = Portrait of Ranjitram Mehta
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|10|25|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Surat]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]]<br />{{small|(present-day [[Gujarat]], [[India]])}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1917|6|4|1881|10|25|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], British India
| occupation = Researcher, writer
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| education = [[Bachelor of Arts]]
| alma_mater = [[Gujarat College]]
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = ''Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2'' (1982)
| signature =
| website =
| children = [[Asoka Mehta]]
}}

'''Ranjitram Vavabhai Mehta''' (25 October 1881 – 4 June 1917) was a Gujarati language writer from British India.

== Biography ==
Mehta was born on 25 October 1881 in [[Surat]] to Vavabhai. He completed his schooling in [[Ahmedabad]] where his father was the Chief Engineer of the [[Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation|Ahmedabad Municipal Committee]].<ref name="Grover1994">{{cite book|author=Verinder Grover|title=Asoka Mehta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXCyoborhEMC&pg=PR11|year=1994|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7100-567-3|pages=11–}}</ref> He completed [[Bachelor of Arts]] from [[Gujarat College]] in 1903 and served as a fellow for eight months. From 1906 to 1917, he served as a personal assistant of Prof. Gajjar and [[Prabhashankar Pattani]], [[Dewan]] of [[Bhavnagar State]]. He had served as principal of high school at [[Umreth]] in 1905.<ref name="mr">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Gujarati Sahitya Kosh (Encyclopedia of Gujarati Literature)|editor-last=Topiwala|editor-first=Chandrakant|editor-link=Chandrakant Topiwala|year=1999|publisher=[[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]|location=Ahmedabad|page=463|title=Ranjitram Mehta|language=gu}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/photo-gallery/sahitya-sarjako/Ranjitram-V-Mehta.html|title=રણજિતરામ વા. મહેતા|website=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|language=gu|trans-title=Ranjitram V Mehta|access-date=2017-06-20}}</ref>

He founded [[Gujarat Sahitya Sabha]] in 1904 and [[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]] in 1905.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqYgBQAAQBAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT115|title=From England with Love: An Indian Student Writes from Cambridge (1926–27)|last=Desai|first=Padma|date=2014-11-01|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9789351189022|pages=115|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSZHBAAAQBAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT220|title=The Oppressive Present: Literature and Social Consciousness in Colonial India|last=Chandra|first=Sudhir|date=2014-08-13|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317559931|pages=220|language=en}}</ref> He died on 4 June 1917 by [[drowning]] in sea at [[Juhu beach]]. The highest award of [[Gujarati literature]] and culture, [[Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak]], is named after him.<ref name=":0" /><ref name= "rm">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Parekh |first=Madhusudan |title= Mehta Ranjitram Vavabhai |encyclopedia=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh]] |editor-last=Thakar |editor-first=Dhirubhai |editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker |publisher=Gujarati Vishwakosh Trust |volume=15 |pages= 524–525}}</ref>

His son [[Asoka Mehta]] (1911-1984) was an Indian independence activist and socialist politician.<ref name="Grover1994"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7MxAQAAIAAJ&q=ranjitram+mehta+gujarati+writers+son+asoka|title=Himmat|date=May 1976|volume=2 Part 2|pages=496|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Mainstream|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWbhAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=N. Chakravartty|page=36}}</ref>

== Works ==
Mehta worked in different genres of literature such as essay, novel, drama and short story. ''Ranjitkruti Sangrah'', a collection of his writings, was published posthumously in 1921 by [[K. M. Munshi]]. ''Ranjitramna Nibandho'', a collection of his essays, was also published posthumously in 1923. Gujarat Sahitya Parishad published his complete work as ''Ranjitram Gadyasanchay 1-2'' in 1982 on his birth centenary. Gujarati Sahitya Akademi has published ''Ranjitram Vavavbhai ane Temnu Sahitya''.<ref name= "rm" /> His ''Ahmad Rupande'' (1908) was a love story between Hindu girl and Muslim boy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C|title=History of Indian Literature|last=Das|first=Sisir Kumar|date=2000|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172010065|pages=309|language=en}}</ref> In 1905, he had coined the Gujarati words ''Lokgeet'' and ''Lokkatha'' for folklore in a paper presented at Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Idr3fbf2oc0C&q=ranjitram+mehta&pg=PT538|title=Different Types of History: Project of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Volume XIV Part 4|last1=Chattopadhyaya|first1=D. P.|last2=Ray|first2=Bharati|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131786666|pages=538|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author|search=("Mehta Ranjitram Vavabhai" OR "Ranjitram Vavabhai")}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Ranjitram}}
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Gujarat]]
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:People from Surat]]
[[Category:Indian folklorists]]
[[Category:Deaths by drowning in India]]
[[Category:Writers from British India]]

Ranjitram Mehta - Revision history

EduardoVasey1 at 12:47, 2 February 2026