Mahatma Gandhi Manuscript Sets Record, Sells for Rs 16.20 Crore at Saffronart

A collection of 688 handwritten reflections by Mahatma Gandhi has set a world auction record for an Indian historical document, selling for Rs 16.20 crore at Saffronart’s “Gandhi: From the Collection of Anand T Hingorani” sale in Mumbai.

The winning lot, later compiled as A Thought for the Day, contains daily messages Gandhi wrote for close associate and freedom fighter Anand T Hingorani over about two years following the death of Hingorani’s wife, Vidya. The reflections cover truth, ahimsa, brahmacharya, non-possession, prayer, religious equality, service, labour, Swaraj, conscience and self-realisation.

Its exceptional value lies in its combination of scale, rarity, provenance and intimacy. Rather than being a single political letter, the manuscript provides a sustained, handwritten record of Gandhi applying his principles to personal grief, moral discipline and everyday life. Preserved by the Hingorani family across generations, it offers historians an unusually close view of Gandhi as mentor, counsellor and guide.

The wider auction comprised 86 lots spanning letters, manuscripts, photographs and personal objects, documenting a relationship spanning more than two decades.

“ Message on God ”, comprising three related manuscripts and correspondence concerning Gandhi’s reflections on God and the Bhagavad Gita, sold for Rs 1.68 crore. His ‘peti charkha’, or box spinning wheel, accompanied by two letters on the spiritual discipline of spinning, fetched Rs 1.02 crore, above its Rs 50-70 lakh estimate.

A signed presentation photograph of Gandhi writing sold for Rs 78 lakh, while a group of Gandhi’s letters, telegrams and postcards concerning economic independence fetched Rs 57.60 lakh.

The Rs 16.20-crore result stands apart from earlier Gandhi memorabilia sales because it values an extensive primary historical source, not merely a possession. Earlier auctions of Gandhi letters, spectacles and other objects attracted strong interest, but this manuscript’s combination of hundreds of autograph pages and direct provenance marks a category.

The sale demonstrates that Gandhi-related material can carry both scholarly significance and exceptional collector value, particularly when an object illuminates how the freedom leader lived the ideals he publicly advocated.