The life of Nandshankar Mehta (1835-1905), who was born and grew up in Surat, can be thought of as a proxy for the impact of transition of Gujarat, during the times he lived in, from a conglomeration of princely states and British territories to the modern Gujarat State. Due to his remarkable personal qualities and unusual administrative skills, he was able to secure high assignments both in the Government of India and in the princely state of Kutch at a time when non-Europeans where rarely allotted positions of high responsibilities. During his tenure, almost as an aside, he wrote the first novel in Gujarati language, Karan Ghelo, for which he is remembered even today as a pioneer in Gujarati literature. Much more than a chronological account of his father's life, the present work based on Vinayakrao Mehta's biography (Nandshankar Jivan-Chitra) provides a fascinating survey of Gujarat, its culture, its lore, and its societal leaders during the nineteenth century.