Biography
Shah was born in 1887 in Wadhwan, Saurastra, British India. After passing his matriculation exams in 1903, he worked as a school teacher before becoming a journalist in ''Sanj Vartaman''. He subsequently worked for ''Rajasthan'' and ''Jainoday'' as sub-editor and editor, respectively. In 1909, he joined ''Prajabandhu'' and continued working there till it became defunct in 1953. Through his articles in ''Prajabandhu'', he gave a new direction to Gujarati journalism by providing more serious and thought provoking editorials. Shah wrote book reviews under the pseudonym Sahityapriya in ''Prajabandhu''. He was awarded the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1937. He was appointed a chairman of the journalism section of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1941. Along with Gujarati he had command over Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Urdu, and English. He was deeply involved in Gandhi's political activities. He wrote for the Gujarati magazine ''Gujarati Panch'', started in 1901 by Mangaldas Shah. He was the vice president of Gujarat Sahitya Sabha from 1956 to 1964.Works
Though he is popular as a novelist, he started his literary career writing poems. His historical novels were inspired by Narayan Visanji Thakkur. ''Avantinath'' translated his poems into Sanskrit. ''Tapovan'' deals with the issue of the joint family system, ''Vishchakra'' exposes evils in the society. ''Kantakchhayo Panth'', his last major project, extended over three volumes. The novel traces political thinkers from 1857 to 1961, the entire freedom struggle, and depicts the difficulty through the word ''kantak'' (thorn). Some of the characters in these novels are historical, while some are fictitious. ''Jigar ane Ami'' is a romantic novel based on a true story. It was first serialised in ''Prajabandhu''. The Gujarati film ''Jigar ane Ami'' (1970) was based on this novel. The Hindi film actor Sanjeev Kumar and Kanan Kaushal played lead roles in the film. He wrote about books and authors in ''Grandh ane Grandhkar'' withSee also
* List of Gujarati-language writersReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Chunilal 1887 births 1966 deaths Gujarati-language writers Novelists from Gujarat Gandhians Indian male journalists Journalists from Gujarat Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak