Mahatma Gandhi manuscript sells for record Rs 16.2 crore at Saffronart auction

New Delhi: A collection of 688 autographed reflections by Mahatma Gandhi on truth, ahimsa, and service among other subjects to his close associate and freedom fighter Anand T Hingorani was sold for Rs 16.20 crore at a Saffronart auction, setting the world record for an Indian historical document sold at an auction.

Written over a span of two years after the death of Hingorani's wife Vidya, the daily handwritten messages of guidance, reflection, and encouragement were later compiled into a book titled "A Thought for the Day" and stand among the most intimate surviving records of correspondence between the two.

The auction, "Gandhi: From the Collection of Anand T Hingorani", featured 86 lots of letters, manuscripts, photographs and personal objects associated with Gandhi.


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According to the auction house, the manuscript addresses truth, ahimsa, brahmacharya, non‒possession, fearlessness, religious equality, the removal of untouchability, prayer, Ramanama, service, labour, hunger, duty, Swaraj, moral responsibility, silence, conscience, non‒attachment, self‒realisation and the search for God.

Beyond documenting major political events, the collection also reveals the deeply personal dimensions of Gandhi's life, capturing both the public leader of India's freedom movement and the private individual "who offered counsel, consolation, discipline, and affection to those closest to him".

"It has been a privilege to bring the Anand T Hingorani Collection to auction and share a remarkable record of Gandhi's life and thought. What makes this collection particularly compelling is the opportunity to see one of the most significant figures in India's history through the lens of a close, personal relationship.

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"The exceptional response to Lot 80 - a series of reflections written by Gandhi for Hingorani-reinforces its rarity and historical significance. Together, these reflections offer a rare insight into how Gandhi lived the principles he advocated publicly, making this an especially valuable record of his thought and practice," Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder, Saffronart, said in a statement.

"Message on God", a set of three related manuscript and correspondence items concerning Gandhi's reflections on God and the Bhagavad Gita, sold for Rs 1.68 crore.

Among the personal objects included in the auction was Gandhi's 'peti charkha' (box spinning wheel) along with two letters on the spiritual discipline of spinning, estimated at Rs 50-70 lakh. It sold for Rs 1.02 crore.

A signed presentation photograph of Gandhi writing sold for Rs 78 lakh and a set of Gandhi's letters, telegrams, and postcards on economic independence sold for Rs 57.60 lakh.

The collection, preserved by the Hingorani family across generations, offered an intimate perspective on Gandhi through his longstanding relationship with Hingorani.

Spanning more than two decades, the archive brought together personal correspondence, handwritten reflections, photographs and objects that document not only defining moments in India's freedom struggle, but also the friendship, mentorship and deeply personal exchanges between Gandhi and Hingorani.