Munshi Premchand (, ), 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. 