More Images

Viyogi Hari, Harijan Sevak, Ahmedabad: Harijan Sevak Sangh, Volumes V & VI, 1937–1946.

Archival group of Hindi-language Gandhian reformist periodicals associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign against untouchability and constructive social reform, preserved within original “Handa Brand” flat-file folders bearing manuscript ownership and indexing annotations of Anand T. Hingorani, titled in manuscript “Harijan Sevak Vols: V & VI". Newspaper format. 13.58 x 8.66 in (34.5 x 22 cm) each.

Comprising indexed issues including:
1937 - Nos. 17, 21; 1938 - Nos. 19, 38, 45; 1939 - Nos. 1, 4, 7, 11, 12, 14, 18, 21, 22, 26, 33, 34, 36, 38; 1940 - Nos. 7, 12, 13; 1942 - Nos. 8, 18, 26; 1946 - Nos. 1-12, including duplicate and triplicate copies as annotated in the manuscript.

Together with three associated loose documentary papers relating to Harijan Sevak Sangh financial correspondence and Harijan work, comprising the following:
1. Harijan Sevak Sangh, Kingsway, Delhi, typed letter signed and dated 6 November 1945, addressed to Shri Anand T. Hingorani, Upper Sind Colony, Karachi, concerning cheque no. E/O 041633 drawn in favour of Mahatma Gandhi on the Punjab National Bank Ltd., Karachi, forwarded by Kanu Gandhi “in lieu of cash received for Harijan work”; noting that the cheque had been returned by the bank owing to “alteration in the date and it requires full signature”; requesting a fresh cheque in favour of the Harijan Sevak Sangh for Rs. 77/-; signed on behalf of the Honorary Secretary; copy noted to Shri Kanu Gandhi, Poona.
2. Anand T. Hingorani, typed letter signed in Hindi, dated 14 November 1945, from 17 Luker Road, Allahabad, addressed to Shri K. S. Shriram, Harijan Sevak Sangh, Kingsway, Delhi, enclosing fresh cheque no. E/O 041638 for Rs 77/- in favour of the Harijan Sevak Sangh, Delhi, and requesting acknowledgement of receipt.
3. Punjab National Bank Ltd cheque return memorandum, with manuscript and printed banking annotations citing return reason no. 20: “Alteration in date requires the drawer's full signature.”

PRINTING SOCIAL REVOLUTION: Harijan Sevak and Gandhi's Campaign Against Untouchability

A rare and historically important working archive of Harijan Sevak, the Hindi-language Gandhian reformist periodical issued under the aegis of the Harijan Sevak Sangh as part of Mahatma Gandhi’s nationwide campaign against untouchability, caste discrimination, and social inequality in late colonial India.

Edited by the noted Gandhian writer and social reformer Viyogi Hari, Harijan Sevak formed part of the wider Harijan publishing network established after Gandhi’s anti-untouchability fast of 1932. Conceived not merely as a newspaper but as an instrument of ethical reconstruction, the publication disseminated Gandhian thought to a broad Hindi-reading audience across India, carrying discussions on village uplift, sanitation, the dignity of labour, communal harmony, khadi, education, constructive work, and the moral responsibilities underlying national freedom.

The present archive acquires exceptional significance through its direct association with Anand T Hingorani, one of Gandhi’s closest literary and publishing associates. Preserved in original “Handa Brand” flat-file folders bearing Hingorani’s handwritten ownership and indexing annotations, the group survives not as an institutional binding or retrospective accumulation but as an authentic working archive from within Gandhi’s immediate intellectual and editorial circle. The manuscript issue listings, duplicate and triplicate annotations, and utilitarian filing structure preserve evidence of how Gandhian print culture functioned in practice—circulated, indexed, distributed, reused, and administratively managed within activist networks rather than assembled for later collection.

Chronologically, the surviving issues span some of the most turbulent and transformative decades of India’s freedom struggle: the later years of Gandhian constructive reform following the Civil Disobedience Movement, the mounting tensions preceding the Quit India Movement, wartime conditions and censorship, and the final years leading to independence. Unlike overtly political nationalist newspapers concerned primarily with constitutional struggle or statecraft, Harijan Sevak addressed what Gandhi regarded as the deeper moral crisis within Indian society. For Gandhi, the abolition of untouchability was inseparable from India’s claim to moral legitimacy and self-rule. The journal therefore articulated a vision of freedom grounded not only in political sovereignty but also in ethical responsibility and social transformation.

Particularly important within the present lot is the survival of three associated documentary papers relating to the financial administration of “Harijan work” in November 1945. These letters and banking records reveal the practical mechanics underpinning Gandhian reform activity. A cheque for Rs. 77 drawn by Anand T Hingorani in favour of Mahatma Gandhi and transmitted through Kanu Gandhi was returned by the Punjab National Bank owing to an alteration in the date that required the drawer’s full signature. The correspondence that followed—from the Harijan Sevak Sangh in Delhi to Hingorani in Karachi, and Hingorani’s subsequent response from Allahabad enclosing a corrected cheque—documents the functioning of the Harijan Sevak Sangh not merely as an ideological institution but as an active organisational network sustained through donations, remittances, and administrative coordination across multiple cities in late colonial India.

These seemingly routine papers significantly deepen the archival character of the lot. Together with the periodicals, they connect Gandhi; Kanu Gandhi; Anand T Hingorani, the Harijan Sevak Sangh; Karachi; Allahabad; Delhi; and the Punjab National Bank within a single documentary chain. Read alongside the journals themselves, they transform the archive from a collection of reformist newspapers into a record of Gandhian social activism in practice, documenting not only what was printed and advocated for but also how the movement functioned on the ground.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.