KITAB HUT

World classics in Punjabi: Mera Dagistan, Dostoevsky, Gorky, Camus

2026-09-29 · 5 min read · Kitab Hut, Moosa

The world classics most read in Punjabi are Rasul Gamzatov's Mera Dagistan, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (Jurm Te Saza), Gorky's Mother (Maa), Camus's The Plague and Alex Haley's Roots. All are in print in Gurmukhi and in stock at Kitab Hut.

Punjabi has been translating Russian books for longer than most readers realise, and a few of those translations have become Punjabi books in their own right. Mera Dagistan is the clearest case: a book by a poet from the Caucasus that Punjabi readers treat as one of their own.

Mera Dagistan

Rasul Gamzatov wrote about his homeland, his mother tongue and what a writer owes to both. Punjabi readers hear their own situation in it, which is why it is pressed on people as a gift. It is sold in two parts.

The Russians

  • Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky: ਜੁਰਮ ਤੇ ਸਜ਼ਾ (Jurm Te Saza).
  • White Nights, Fyodor Dostoevsky: ਚਾਨਣੀਆਂ ਰਾਤਾਂ (Chananian Raatan).
  • Mother, Maxim Gorky: ਮਾਂ (Maa).
  • The stories of Leo Tolstoy, in a selected volume.

From elsewhere

  • The Plague, Albert Camus: ਪਲੇਗ.
  • Roots, Alex Haley: ਰੂਟਸ.
  • The Forty Rules of Love, Elif Shafak: Muhabbat De Chaali Nem.
  • Saadat Hasan Manto, whose Urdu stories are read in Gurmukhi across Punjab.

Where to start

Mera Dagistan, because it is made of short pieces and can be read a few pages at a time. Then Maa. Keep Jurm Te Saza for when you are reading Punjabi without effort, because it is long and the sentences are dense.

Bestsellers in translation — Translated books and English editions.

Questions readers ask

Is Mera Dagistan available in Punjabi?

Yes. Rasul Gamzatov's Mera Dagistan is in print in Punjabi, in Gurmukhi script, sold in two parts.

What is Crime and Punishment called in Punjabi?

ਜੁਰਮ ਤੇ ਸਜ਼ਾ, read as Jurm Te Saza.

Who wrote Mera Dagistan?

Rasul Gamzatov, a poet from Dagestan in the Caucasus who wrote in the Avar language.

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