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Kavijivan

Biography of Narmad written by Navalram Pandya

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ59313602
Source-derived summary

Kavijivan (pronounced [kʌvɪdʒiːvʌn]) (lit. "The Life of a Poet") is a biographical work published in 1887 about Gujarati poet and writer, Narmadashankar Dave, popularly writing under the pen name Narmad. It was written by fellow Gujarati writer and critic Navalram Pandya. Kavijivan is largely based on Narmad's own private autobiographical account, Mari Hakikat, which was published posthumously in 1933. It was the first biography of Narmad in Gujarati literature. It covers Narmad's social and literary career and provides details about his public life, but avoids discussion of his private life.

Background

Before Navalram wrote Kavijvan, he reviewed two biographies: Karsandas Mulji Charitra (1878) and Mehtaji Durgaram Manchharamnu Charitra (1879), both written by Mahipatram Nilkanth. He stressed the importance of writing the biographies of great persons and discussed the standard practices for a biography. He believed that the biographies of great people inspire the common man to aspire to high ideals and noble acts, yet insisted that the biography not define its subject who should be presented as a 'human being' only. A biographer should be natural and realistic.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Kavijivan” as biography of Narmad written by Navalram Pandya. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1887, 1933, 1878, 1879—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1887. The account is most persuasive where Kavijivan, Biography and Narmad can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as biography of Narmad written by Navalram Pandya. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q59313602. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1933, 1878 and 1879.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Kavijivan”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Kavijivan primary sources, Kavijivan archive and Kavijivan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kavijivan”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Kavijivan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.