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{{short description|Gujarati-language writer from India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| embed =
| honorific_prefix = [[Rao Bahadur]]
| name = Hargovinddas Kantawala
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Hargovinddas Kantawala.jpg
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| alt =
| caption = Hargovinddas Dwarkadas Kantawala
| native_name =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1844|7|16}}
| birth_place = [[Umreth]], [[Kheda district|Kaira district]], [[Gujarat]], British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1930|3|31|1844|7|16}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Writer, editor and researcher
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| nationality = [[British Raj|British Indian]]
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[[Rao Bahadur]] '''Hargovinddas Dwarkadas Kantawala''' (16 July 1844{{spnd}}31 March 1930) was an Indian [[Gujarati language]] writer, editor and researcher from [[British Raj|British India]]. He is known for his research and editing works on medieval [[Gujarati literature]]. He was the president of the sixth session of the [[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]].

==Biography==
Hargovinddas Kantawala was born on 16 July 1844 in [[Umreth]], a town in [[Kheda district|Kaira district]] (now Kheda) of [[Gujarat]], British India. He started his career as a teacher, and then became headmaster. He later became clerk in a collector's office. He was appointed assistant deputy educational inspector, and then principal of the Teacher's Training College, [[Rajkot]]. He worked as the [[dewan]] (minister) of the principality of [[Lunavada State]] in 1905. In 1912, he started a textile mill.<ref name="Datta1988">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1987 |title=Kantavala, Hargovindas Dvarkadas |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: K to Navalram |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |location=New Delhi |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.124515/page/n95/mode/2up |last=Vegad |first=Prakash |editor-last=Datta |editor-first=Amaresh |volume=VIII |page=1978 |isbn=978-0-8364-2423-2}}</ref><ref name="Desai2018">{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Desai|first=Luvkumar|title=Kāṇṭāvāḷā, Haragovinda Dvārakādāsa|script-title=gu:કાંટાવાળા, હરગોવિંદદાસ દ્વારકાદાસ|encyclopedia=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh]]|editor-last=Thaker|editor-first=Dhirubhai|editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|publisher=Gujarat Viswakosh Trust|date=October 2018|edition=Reprint of 2nd|orig-year=1992|isbn=978-93-83975-34-1|volume=IV|location=Ahmedabad|page=874–875|language=gu}}</ref>

Kantawala was awarded the title of [[Rao Bahadur]] by the government in 1903. He was awarded Sahityamartand by [[Sayajirao Gaekwad III]], [[Maharaja]] of [[Baroda State]].<ref name="Datta1988" /> He defeated [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in the 1919 [[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]] election for the position of president,<ref name="Suhrud2010">{{cite journal|title= Gandhi's Absence|last=Suhrud|first=Tridip|author-link=Tridip Suhrud|journal=India International Centre Quarterly|volume=37|issue=2|date=2010|page=23|jstor=23006433}}</ref> and presided the sixth session of the Parishad.<ref name="Datta1988"/>

He died on 31 March 1930. His son [[Matubhai Kantawala]] (1880–1933) was also a writer.<ref name="Desai2018"/>

==Works==
[[File:Bust of Hargovinddas Kantawala (cropped).jpg|thumb|Bust of Kantawala at Premanand Sahitya Sabha, [[Vadodara]]]]
Kantawala is known for his research and editing works on medieval Gujarati literature.<ref name="JhaveriAkademi1978">{{cite book|last=Jhaveri|first=Mansukhlal|author-link=Mansukhlal Jhaveri|title=History of Gujarati Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA0RAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|page=91|oclc=964322914}}</ref> Between 1849 and 1894, he, along with Nathashankar Shastri and Chhotalal Narbheram Bhatt, collected and edited poems of medieval Gujarati poets, and published them in 75 collections.<ref name="Datta1988"/>

He wrote two novels: ''Andheri Nagarino Gardhavasen'' (1881) and ''Be Baheno athava Ek Gharsansari Varta'' (Two Sisters or A Tale of a Family Life; 1898).<ref name="Datta1988"/>

He wrote a poem titled "Panipat" or "Kurukshetra" (1867), which gives an account of the six battles fought on the battlefield of [[Panipat]] and forecasts the seventh battle between Superstition and Reform that is to be fought there. Critic [[Mansukhlal Jhaveri]] noted that the poem's language is 'unpolished' and 'vulgar' at places, and the style is 'crude', yet 'forceful'.<ref name="Nayak1985">{{cite book|editor-last=Nayak|editor-first=H. M.|last=Jhaveri|first=Mansukhlal|author-link=Mansukhlal Jhaveri|title=Epic in Indian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qv1jAAAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Institute of Kannada Studies, University of Mysore|chapter=Gujarati|pages=144–145|oclc=246855137}}</ref> His other poetical work is ''Vishwa Ni Vichitrata'' (Strange Things of Universe; 1913).<ref name="Datta1988"/>

In addition, he extensively wrote about social problems, social reforms, moral issues, worldly duties, and promotion of indigenous crafts.<ref name="Datta1988"/>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Hargovind Kantavala}}
* [https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/ghp_booksection_detail/ODg3LTEyNzEtMTE Works by Hargovinddas Kantawala] at [[Gandhi Heritage Portal]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantawala, Hargovinddas}}
[[Category:1844 births]]
[[Category:1930 deaths]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:People from Kheda district]]
[[Category:Writers from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Novelists from Gujarat]]

Hargovinddas Kantawala - Revision history

>Citation bot at 03:28, 20 April 2021