Martin Louis Alan Gompertz (1886–1951) was an Anglo-Indian soldier and writer, also known by the pseudonym of 'Ganpat', which was the nearest his Indian troops could get to pronouncing 'Gompertz'. Ganpat is another name for the elephant god Ganesh. He started his writing career with articles for 'Blackwood's Magazine' on his service in East Africa during World War 1. He wrote many adventure stories in the style of H. Rider Haggard, though most of Ganpat's stories are set in the Himalayas. He was an Anglo Indian soldier, and his stories reflect his military and frontier background. He retired in 1939 with the rank of Brigadier, ending his days in the town of Chagford, on the edge of Dartmoor, where he could pursue his passion for fishing.
His books include the following titles:
He also wrote two superb travel books on Ladakh, the Tibetan enclave in North-West Kashmir, "The Road to Lamaland" and "Magic Ladakh."
Further information can be found in an article in The Book and Magazine Collector, No. 210, September 2001.