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Who wrote the popular Hindi fantasy novel 'Chandrakanta'?
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Answer: Option B — Devaki Nandan Khatri
Detailed Solution
"Chandrakanta" is a Hindi fantasy and adventure novel by Devaki Nandan Khatri, published in 1888.
About Chandrakanta:
- It tells the love story of Prince Virendra Singh of Naugarh and Princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh, two rival kingdoms near Varanasi.
- The story is full of "tilism" (magical, mysterious structures with traps and secret passages) and "aiyars" (clever spies and tricksters who use disguises and potions).
- The evil minister Kroor Singh and the aiyars of both sides create many twists in the plot.
- It was followed by a long sequel series, "Chandrakanta Santati" (24 parts), and later "Bhootnath".
- The novel was so popular that many people are said to have learned to read Hindi (Devanagari) just to read it.
- It is regarded as one of the first modern Hindi novels and the beginning of the "tilismi-aiyari" (fantasy-spy) genre in Hindi.
- It was adapted into a very popular Doordarshan television serial, "Chandrakanta" (1994), directed by Nirja Guleri.
About Devaki Nandan Khatri (1861-1913):
- He was born in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and lived in Varanasi.
- He worked as a forest contractor in the Chakia and Naugarh forests near Varanasi, where the ruins and jungles inspired the settings of his novels.
- He founded the Lahari Press in Varanasi to publish his works.
Other early Hindi writers:
- Bharatendu Harishchandra: "Father of modern Hindi literature"; plays such as "Andher Nagari" and "Bharat Durdasha".
- Lala Srinivas Das: "Pariksha Guru" (1882), often called the first Hindi novel.
- Premchand: "Godaan", "Sevasadan".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Bharatendu Harishchandra wrote "Andher Nagari".
- ✗Premchand wrote "Godaan".
- ✗Lala Srinivas Das wrote "Pariksha Guru".
Quick tip
Remember: "Chandrakanta" (1888, tilism and aiyars; TV serial 1994) = Devaki Nandan Khatri; "Pariksha Guru" = Lala Srinivas Das (often called the first Hindi novel); "Andher Nagari" = Bharatendu.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.