Nautamlal B Mehta was the first to call Mahatma Gandhi "Mahatma," not Tagore or anyone else.

Sure, my grandfather and uncles tried from 1952 onward to fix wrong historical info, but they were helpless due to communication availability in those years — no phone, no internet, or email like the present time. Their only weapon in those years was writing a postcard.

One of my greatest strengths was the compelling evidence documents I had access to. These documents were backed by the expertise of scholars from the Rajghat Gandhi Museum in New Delhi, including Dr. Y. Anand, Dr. Varsha Das, and six others on their team. They acknowledged the information provided by my family after thorough vetting, which gave me a significant boost in obtaining the documents.

Mahatma wrote in "Collected letters of Mahatma Gandhi," volume #14, page 347, that he was in Jetpur on 01/21/1915 and on the very same day Nautamlal Bhagwanji Mehta gave the "Manpatra" addressing Gandhiji as "Mahatma Gandhi." The same document is on display at the Rajghat Gandhi Museum in a 6'x3' foot display in New Delhi — the world's foremost authority on Gandhian matters.

A similar "Manpatra" was given to the wife of Mahatma Gandhi, Shrimati Kasturba Gandhi, on the same day by the women of Jetpur. Kasturba was also honored with a special "Manpatra" on the same day, January 21, 1915, by the women of Jetpur with their signatures, including a signature of Jaykuvar, the daughter of Nautamlal Bhagawanji Mehta.

A few other claims popped out like bubbles. From my grandfather's close associates — one family with a last name starting "Par…" and another starting "Des…" — we gave them copies of the Manpatra as a gesture, since their grandfather's signature was among the 42 signatures. On receiving it, the "Par…" family rushed to Sabarmati Ashram and local newspapers in Ahmedabad and started claiming their grandfather was first to coin the word "Mahatma." They had no original documents, only our copy, and could not provide more, so the claim cooled down.

We learned from that experience. Now all our documents are annotated (names withheld to respect privacy), and I have emails asking for copies of the Manpatra from various Gandhian grandchildren. All documents are now under the control of New Dynamic Inc. trust in California; we have refused further copies to avoid future claims from nowhere.

My uncle Moolshankar told me many times that we had about sixty Mahatma Gandhi letters on family and other private matters, very private. When my grandfather's Pedhi underwent a financial crisis in the Second World War, our mill was also looted while sheltering thousands of Hindus and Muslims. We gave up our position with the central bank and moved to Ahmedabad, to a small home in Khadia. To keep the letters safe, we gave some 30 letters to Sumatiben Morarjee and around 30 letters to Kaka Saheb Kalekar. After contacting both families, I am still waiting to hear a response.

Separately, one person used to hold a mobile gallery of Gandhian documents, and about 200 postcards (1950–1970) between Rajagopalachari "Rajaji" and Moolshankar were stolen from Moolshankar's home in Wankaner, along with his coin collection. His helper was named Go… Zala or Jhala. I later read an article on him in Gujarat Samachar and contacted his grandson to buy back the documents, but have not heard back.The postcards carried the address of Moolshankar Mehta, Wankaner or Ahmedabad.

Read more on the Wikipedia page. Tagore's name was a big hyperbole started by Louis Fischer, an American author, without any factual or physical proof. Nautamlal Bhagawanji Mehta was Nagarsheth of Jetpur (equivalent to the head of the town, like a modern-day mayor and banker). Louis Fischer had no documents, no location, and no date — and yet made something out of nothing. All our Gandhian scholars blindly accepted what Fischer said without due diligence. My grandfather, father, and uncle objected to this hearsay, but were helpless.