Premchand's literary career started as a freelancer in Urdu. His first story appeared in the magazine Zamana published from Kanpur.
In his early short stories he depicted the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the land in the first decade of the past century. ‘Soz-e-Watan', a collection of patriotic stories by Premchand was published in 1907. It attracted the attention of the British government.
His famous works include Godan, Maidan-e-Amal, Bay-wah, Chaugaan etc.
Short stories or afsanas were started by Premchand. His famous afsanas are Qaatil Ki Maan, Zewar Ka Dibba, Gilli Danda, Eidgaah, Namak Ka Daroga and Kafan. His collected stories have been published as Prem Pachisi, Prem Battisi, Wardaat and Zaad-e-Raah.
