Munshi Premchand (Hindi: प्रेमचंद, Urdu: پریمچںد), whose original name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava , was born on 31 July 1880, in village Lamahi near Varanasi, where his father was a clerk in the post office. Premchand's parents died young - his mother when he was seven and his father while he was fourteen and still a student. Premchand was left responsible for his stepmother and step-siblings.