Nautamlal Mehta

 In the study of history, primary sources form the backbone of truth. Yet, over time, myths often eclipse facts—especially when stories are retold without documentation. One such case is the popular question: Who first called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi “Mahatma”? While many names have been floated around in this debate, new light has been shed on a historically documented truth—one that begins not in Delhi or Ahmedabad, but in Jetpur, a princely town in Gujarat. The Popular Belief vs. The Documented Evidence Mainstream narratives often suggest that Rabindranath Tagore first addressed Gandhi as "Mahatma." While Tagore certainly did admire Gandhi, there is no verifiable document that confirms he coined the title. In fact, many historians acknowledge that Tagore often referred to Gandhi as “Mahatma,” but he was not necessarily the originator of the term in association with him. That distinction, according to compelling primary source evidence , belongs to Nautamlal Mehta —a l...