FIRST NEWSPAPER IN INDIA

GAN GADHAR / GANGA KISHORE BHATTACHARYA'S BENGAL GAZETTE — SOURCE-SENSITIVE

FIRST BENGALI MONTHLY PERIODICAL

FIRST BENGALI NEWSPAPER — STANDARD EXAM ANSWER

FIRST BENGALI DAILY

FIRST URDU NEWSPAPER

FIRST GUJARATI NEWSPAPER

FIRST HINDI NEWSPAPER

FIRST HINDI DAILY — EXAM CONVENTION

FIRST MARATHI NEWSPAPER

Raja Rammohan Roy — Pioneer of Reformist Journalism & Press Freedom

James Silk Buckingham — Early Champion of Press Freedom

Annie Besant — Press Background

Printing Press at Goa

• The modern European printing press was introduced in India by the Portuguese at Goa.

• Newspapers and periodicals appeared much later.

Hicky's Bengal Gazette

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Founder/Editor: James Augustus Hicky

• First issue: 29 January 1780.

• Also called Bengal Gazette / Calcutta General Advertiser.

• Generally regarded as the first newspaper published in India.

The India Gazette / Calcutta Public Advertiser

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Started in November 1780.

• Early rival to Hicky's Bengal Gazette and generally more sympathetic to the colonial establishment.

Calcutta Gazette / Oriental Advertiser

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• First issue: 4 March 1784.

• Founder: Francis Gladwin.

• Government-sanctioned weekly and an important medium for official/public information.

Bengal Journal

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• One of the important early Calcutta newspapers of the 1780s.

Madras Courier

• Place: Madras

• Language: English

• Founder: Richard Johnston

• Launched: 12 October 1785.

• First newspaper of the Madras Presidency.

Bombay Herald

• Place: Bombay

• Language: English

• Established in 1789.

• Commonly treated as the first newspaper of Bombay / Bombay Presidency.

Bombay Courier

• Place: Bombay

• Language: English

• Started in 1790.

• One of the earliest newspapers of Bombay; carried commercial news and even Gujarati advertisements.

Bombay Gazette

• Place: Bombay

• Language: English

• Appeared in 1791 in the early Bombay press lineage.

• Closely connected with / developed from the Bombay Herald tradition.

Bengal Hurkaru / Bengal Harkaru

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Started as a weekly in 1795; became a daily in 1819.

• An important liberal Anglo-Indian newspaper and later associated with James Sutherland.

Calcutta Morning Post

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Started in 1798.

• One of the notable late-eighteenth-century Calcutta newspapers before Wellesley's 1799 censorship regime.

Wellesley's Press Regulations

• Governor-General Lord Wellesley introduced pre-publication censorship.

• Printer, editor and proprietor details had to be disclosed; government scrutiny was strengthened.

Early Indian Bengal Gazette / Bangal Gazeti

• Place: Calcutta

• Associated with Gangadhar / Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya.

• Most secure exam fact: an early Indian-controlled / Indian-owned newspaper tradition.

• Some journalism histories describe it as an English weekly and the first English newspaper published by an Indian.

• Bengali press histories describe Bangal Gazeti as an early Bengali weekly and, in some accounts, the first Bengali weekly.

Lord Hastings and Press Liberalisation

• Lord Hastings abolished the system of pre-publication censorship.

• Government guidelines and restrictions, however, did not disappear.

Digdarshan / Dig-Darshan

• Place: Serampore

• Association: Serampore Baptist Mission; J.C. Marshman.

• First appeared in April 1818.

• A monthly Bengali periodical devoted to educational, literary, scientific and historical material.

• It was a separate publication from Samachar Darpan.

Samachar Darpan

• Place: Serampore

• Language: Bengali

• First issue: 23 May 1818

• Published by the Serampore Mission; J.C. Marshman was the formal editor, with Bengali/Sanskrit scholars performing much editorial work.

• Standard competitive-exam convention: first Bengali newspaper.

• It became bilingual (English-Bengali) in 1829; briefly bi-weekly in 1832, then returned to weekly publication.

Calcutta Journal — James Silk Buckingham

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Editor: James Silk Buckingham

• First appeared on 2 October 1818.

• One of India's important early English-language political newspapers; it became a daily during Buckingham's editorship.

• Buckingham criticised Company officials and defended wider freedom of public discussion.

• After repeated conflict with the government, Buckingham was expelled/deported from India in 1823.

Friend of India

• Place: Serampore

• Associated with the Baptist missionary circle / William Carey tradition.

• Founded in 1818.

• Later became part of the institutional lineage that fed into The Statesman under Robert Knight.

Brahmunical Magazine / Brahman Sebadhi

• Place: Calcutta

• Associated with Raja Rammohan Roy (writing under the name Shibprasad Sarma in the controversy).

• Exact title: The Brahmunical Magazine; or, The Missionary and the Brahmun.

• First appeared in 1821; the short-lived series continued into 1823.

• Used to answer missionary attacks and defend a rational-monotheistic interpretation of Hindu religion.

Sambad Kaumudi

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Bengali

• First issue: 4 December 1821.

• Bhabanicharan Bandyopadhyay and Tarachand Datta had early publication/editorial roles.

• Raja Rammohan Roy was its promoter, proprietor/intellectual force and closely directed its reformist line.

• It campaigned on social reform, especially against sati, and for public discussion.

John Bull in the East

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Founded in 1821 as a conservative daily.

• Created in explicit opposition to James Silk Buckingham's Calcutta Journal.

• The two papers represented rival conservative and liberal currents in the early Anglo-Indian press.

Samachar Chandrika

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Bengali

• Founder/Editor: Bhabanicharan Bandyopadhyay

• First issue: 5 March 1822.

• Conservative/orthodox Hindu weekly established after Bhabanicharan's break with the Sambad Kaumudi circle.

• It opposed Rammohan Roy's reformist campaign, including the anti-sati movement.

Jam-i-Jahan-Numa

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Urdu

• First issue: 28 March 1822.

• Editor: Harihar Dutta in contemporary press histories.

• Generally regarded as the first Urdu weekly / first Urdu newspaper.

Mirat-ul-Akhbar

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Persian

• Founder/Editor: Raja Rammohan Roy

• Important political and reform journal dealing with society, government, international affairs and freedom of expression.

• Rammohan Roy discontinued it in 1823 as a protest against John Adam's licensing restrictions.

Bombay Samachar

• Place: Bombay

• Language: Gujarati

• Founder/Editor: Fardunji Marzban

• First issue: 1 July 1822.

• First Gujarati newspaper.

• One of India's oldest continuously published newspaper traditions.

John Adam's Licensing Regulations

• Acting Governor-General John Adam introduced restrictive licensing regulations.

• Rammohan Roy's closure of Mirat-ul-Akhbar became a famous protest against these restrictions.

Udant Martand

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Hindi

• Starter/Editor: Jugal Kishore Shukla

• First issue: 30 May 1826

• Standard exam answer: first Hindi newspaper.

Bengal Herald / Banga Duta

• Place: Calcutta

• Bengal Herald was an English weekly associated with R.M. Martin.

• Raja Rammohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and other reformist associates were among its proprietors/financial supporters.

• Its vernacular companion Banga Duta / Banga-Doot appeared in Bengali, Persian and Nagri/Hindi forms.

• The venture represented Rammohan's continuing use of journalism after Mirat-ul-Akhbar.

Sambad Prabhakar

• Started on 28 January 1831 by Ishwar Chandra Gupta with Jogendra Mohan Tagore.

• It became a daily on 4 June 1839.

• Standard historical convention: first Bengali daily newspaper.

• Important platform for nineteenth-century Bengali literary and public life.

Darpan / Bombay Darpan

• Place: Bombay

• Founder/Editor: Balshastri Jambhekar

• First issue: 6 January 1832.

• Anglo-Marathi bilingual newspaper.

• Standard answer: first Marathi newspaper.

• Initially fortnightly; became weekly from May 1832.

Metcalfe and Press Liberalisation

• Sir Charles Metcalfe relaxed the restrictive licensing system.

• He became famous as the "Liberator of the Indian Press".

The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce → The Times of India

• Place: Bombay

• First issue: 3 November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.

• It began as a bi-weekly and became a daily in 1850.

• In 1861 the masthead was renamed The Times of India.

• Do not assign the 1838 founding simplistically to Robert Knight; his major editorial role belongs to the later consolidation phase.

Tattvabodhini Patrika

• Place: Calcutta

• Association: Tattvabodhini Sabha / Debendranath Tagore

• Editor: Akshay Kumar Datta

• Promoted Brahmo reform, rational thought, education and intellectual debate.

Calcutta Review

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Founded in 1844.

• Important quarterly review dealing with Indian administration, society, education, history and public affairs.

Banaras Akhbar

• Place: Varanasi

• Raja Shiv Prasad "Sitara-i-Hind"

• Early editor: Govind Raghunath Thatte

• UPPSC convention: first Hindi newspaper of Uttar Pradesh.

Sudhakar

• Place: Varanasi

• Association: Tara Mohan Mitra

• Early Hindi weekly.

Rast Goftar

• Language: Gujarati

• Founder: Dadabhai Naoroji

• Important reformist publication of western India, especially the Parsi reform milieu.

Hindu Patriot

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Launched from Madhusudan Roy's press

• First editor: Girish Chandra Ghosh

• Major later editor: Harish Chandra Mukherjee

• Mukherjee became famous for supporting Indigo cultivators and exposing planter abuses.

Samachar Sudha Varshan

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Hindi-Bengali bilingual

• Associated editor: Shyam Sundar Sen

• Competitive-exam convention: first Hindi daily newspaper.

Canning's Gagging Act

• Governor-General Lord Canning imposed new restrictions during the Revolt of 1857.

• Act XV of 1857 restored licensing controls.

Som Prakash

• Language: Bengali

• Founder/Editor: Dwarkanath Vidyabhushan

• Closely connected with Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's reform-intellectual milieu.

• Among the papers proceeded against under the Vernacular Press Act, 1878.

Avadh Akhbar

• Place: Lucknow

• Association: Munshi Naval Kishore

• Important Urdu publication of North India.

Indian Mirror

• Place: Calcutta

• Manmohan Ghose → early starter/editorial role

• Debendranath Tagore → major financial/institutional association.

The Bengalee

• Founded / early association: Girish Chandra Ghosh

• In 1879 Surendranath Banerjea became proprietor and editor.

• Under Banerjea it became an important moderate-nationalist newspaper.

Indu Prakash

• Place: Bombay

• First appeared on 2 January 1862.

• Anglo-Marathi / bilingual periodical.

• Vishnu Parshuram Shastri Pandit had an important founding/editorial association.

• M.G. Ranade was a major contributor, especially associated with its English section.

• Closely linked with social-reform debates, including widow remarriage.

Bamabodhini Patrika

• Important association: Umesh Chandra Datta

• Important forum for women's education, women's social position and social reform.

Native Opinion

• Place: Bombay

• Launched on 4 January 1864.

• V.N. Mandlik was the driving force / brain behind the publication.

• It began in English; an English-Marathi bilingual phase followed from 1866.

• Important public-opinion journal of western India.

Pioneer

• Started by George Allen

• Initially associated with Allahabad; later shifted to Lucknow.

• Important English-language newspaper in the United Provinces.

Aligarh Institute Gazette

• Connection: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Scientific Society

• Languages: Urdu and English

• Medium for modern knowledge, scientific and educational ideas and the intellectual programme of the Aligarh Movement.

Press and Registration of Books Act

• Created a regular system of declaration, registration and identification of printers and publishers.

• Primarily regulatory rather than a vernacular-only gagging measure.

Kavivachan Sudha

• Place: Varanasi

• Founder/Editor: Bharatendu Harishchandra

• Important Hindi literary-public journal that also carried social, economic and political discussion.

Amrita Bazar Patrika

• Founders: Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh

• Began as a Bengali publication, later became bilingual.

• In 1878 it rapidly converted into an English paper to escape the special restrictions of the Vernacular Press Act.

Madras Mail

• Place: Madras

• Language: English

• Founded in 1868.

• Important Anglo-Indian newspaper of the Madras Presidency.

• Often remembered as an early/leading evening newspaper; its long rivalry with The Hindu became significant in the Madras press world.

Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq

• Founder/Association: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

• Promoted educational, ethical, social and religious reform among Indian Muslims.

Bangadarshan

• Founder/Editor: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

• Language: Bengali

• Important literary and intellectual monthly.

• Government commemorative accounts connect the first publication of Vande Mataram with Bangadarshan in 1875.

• Vande Mataram was later incorporated into Anandamath; the book edition of Anandamath appeared in 1882.

Harishchandra Magazine → Harishchandra Chandrika

• Place: Varanasi

• Founder/Editor association: Bharatendu Harishchandra.

• Started as Harishchandra Magazine and later appeared under the title Harishchandra Chandrika.

• Important in the development of modern Hindi prose and public discussion.

Bala Bodhini / Balabodhini

• Founder/Editor: Bharatendu Harishchandra

• Place: Varanasi

• Hindi monthly for women.

• Focused especially on women's education and women's questions.

National Reformer — Annie Besant's Pre-India Press Background

• Place: Britain — NOT an Indian newspaper.

• A secularist/radical weekly associated chiefly with Charles Bradlaugh.

• Annie Besant began contributing in 1874, later became sub-editor and for a period co-editor.

• This belongs to Besant's pre-India political-journalistic background and should not be confused with her Indian papers.

The Indian Statesman / The Statesman

• Place: Calcutta

• Robert Knight established The Indian Statesman in January 1875.

• He then acquired the older Friend of India and shifted its publication from Serampore to Calcutta.

• This combination formed the institutional lineage of The Statesman.

Civil and Military Gazette

• Place: Lahore

• Language: English

• Important Anglo-Indian newspaper; standard NCERT chronology places the Lahore paper in 1876.

• Rudyard Kipling later worked on it as assistant editor from 1882.

Dinbandhu / Deenbandhu

• Founder: Krishnarao Bhalekar

• Later important editor: Narayan Meghaji Lokhande

• Connection: Satyashodhak Samaj

• Gave voice to peasants, workers and socially disadvantaged groups.

Bharat Mitra

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Hindi

• First editor: Harmukund Shastri

• Later important editor: Balmukund Gupta

• Important nationalist and political Hindi journalism; also useful for language-matching questions.

Avadh Punch

• Place: Lucknow

• Founder/Editor association: Sajjad Husain

• Important Urdu satirical publication.

Hindi Pradeep

• Place: Allahabad

• Founder/Editor: Balkrishna Bhatt

• Important Hindi monthly.

The Hindu

• Place: Madras

• Language: English

• Started by the group later known as the Triplicane Six.

• Important early personalities: G. Subramania Aiyer and M. Veeraraghavachariar.

• G. Subramania Aiyer became its major early editor.

Vernacular Press Act

• Viceroy: Lord Lytton

• Targeted the Indian-language press; English-language newspapers were treated differently.

• Som Prakash was among the papers proceeded against.

• Repealed by Lord Ripon in 1882.

The Theosophist

• Place: Bombay

• Founder/Editor: H.P. Blavatsky

• First issue: 1 October 1879.

• Official journal of the Theosophical movement; later linked with the Adyar phase of the Theosophical Society.

Indian Spectator

• Major editor from around 1880: Behramji Malabari

• Associated especially with reform campaigns involving women's issues, infant marriage, widowhood and age-of-consent debates.

The Tribune

• Place: Lahore

• Language: English

• Founder: Dyal Singh Majithia

• Important public-opinion and political newspaper of Punjab.

Kesari

• Language: Marathi

• Closely associated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.

• Major instrument of political awakening in Maharashtra.

The Mahratta / Maratha

• Language: English

• Closely associated with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.

Tilak and Agarkar — Journalism and Imprisonment

• 17 July 1882: Tilak and Agarkar were sentenced to four months' imprisonment in a Kolhapur-related defamation case connected with their journalism.

Swadesamitran

• Place: Madras

• Language: Tamil

• Founder: G. Subramania Iyer

• Developed into an important Tamil nationalist newspaper.

Repeal of the Vernacular Press Act

• Lord Ripon repealed the Vernacular Press Act.

Voice of India

• Founder/Established by: Dadabhai Naoroji

• Important nationalist-public affairs publication.

Brahman

• Place: Kanpur

• Founder/Editor: Pratap Narayan Mishra

• Associated with the slogan/current "Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan" in UP press history.

Hindosthan

• Place: Kalakankar (Pratapgarh)

• Raja Rampal Singh

• 1883 → English phase

• 1885 → Hindi daily phase

• Important early editor: Madan Mohan Malaviya

• UPPSC/project convention: first Hindi daily of Uttar Pradesh.

Sanjibani / Sanjivani

• Language: Bengali

• Editor / major association: Krishna Kumar Mitra.

• Important nationalist weekly.

• Later became strongly associated with Swadeshi and boycott propaganda.

Bangabasi

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: Bengali

• An institutional chronology records it as starting in 1884 under the editorship of Jananendralal Roy.

• Jogendra Nath Bose later became its owner and a major association.

• Important low-priced Bengali political/public-affairs paper.

Bharat Jiwan

• Place: Varanasi

• Association: Ramkrishna Varma

• Hindi weekly.

Sudharak

• Founder/Starter: Gopal Ganesh Agarkar

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale had a genuine association with its English editorial section.

Indian Social Reformer

• Place: Bombay

• Editor/Publisher: K. Natarajan

• Important journal of social-reform discussion.

Brahmavadin

• Place: Madras

• Founder/editorial initiative: Alasinga Perumal

• Inspired by Swami Vivekananda

• Focused on Vedanta, religion, philosophy and cultural-intellectual awakening.

Prabuddha Bharata

• Language: English

• Connection: Swami Vivekananda / Ramakrishna movement

• Early editor: B.R. Rajam Iyer

• Important Vedanta and intellectual monthly.

Kal / Kaal

• Language: Marathi

• Person: Shivram Mahadev Paranjape

• Important militant-nationalist publication.

Udbodhan

• Language: Bengali

• First editor: Swami Trigunatitananda

• Connection: Ramakrishna Mission / Vivekananda

• Important Bengali vehicle of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement.

Saraswati

• Place: Allahabad

• Publisher: Indian Press / Chintamani Ghosh

• Major editor: Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi (1903–20)

• One of the most influential Hindi literary magazines of the period.

Indian Review

• Place: Madras

• Founder/Editor/Publisher: G.A. Natesan

• Started in 1900.

• Important monthly intellectual journal carrying political, social, economic and literary discussion.

Prabasi

• Founder/Editor: Ramananda Chatterjee

• Language: Bengali

• Began at Allahabad and later shifted to Calcutta.

• Important literary and cultural-nationalist monthly.

New India — Bipin Chandra Pal

• Place: Calcutta

• Associated with Bipin Chandra Pal.

Indian Opinion

• Place: South Africa

• First issue: 4 June 1903.

• First editor: Mansukhlal Hiralal Nazar.

• Languages included English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil.

• Gandhi was central to its direction and later made it an important instrument of political education and satyagraha.

Zamindar

• Started by Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad in 1903.

• Later Zafar Ali Khan took charge and transformed it into a highly influential Urdu political newspaper.

Sandhya

• Person: Brahmabandhab Upadhyay

• Important militant-nationalist publication in Bengal.

The Panjabee

• Closely associated with Lala Lajpat Rai.

• Important part of Lajpat Rai's press network.

Swadeshabhimani

• Region: Travancore / Kerala

• Founder/Publisher: Vakkom Abdul Khader Moulavi

• First editor: C.P. Govinda Pillai

• From January 1906 K. Ramakrishna Pillai became editor.

• 1910: press confiscated and Ramakrishna Pillai exiled from Travancore.

The Indian Sociologist

• Founder/Editor: Shyamji Krishna Varma

• Initial place: London

• Language: English

• Connections: Indian Home Rule Society and India House

• Later appeared from Paris and Geneva; major ideological journal of overseas revolutionary nationalism.

Yugantar

• Important associations: Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Bhupendranath Dutta and other revolutionaries.

• Closely associated with Bengal's revolutionary movement.

Bande Mataram — Calcutta

• Language: English

• Bipin Chandra Pal played an important role in starting it.

• Sri Aurobindo became deeply involved in writing and editorial direction.

Modern Review

• Founder/Editor: Ramananda Chatterjee

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• One of the leading intellectual-nationalist journals of twentieth-century India.

Circular-i-Azadi / Circular-e-Azadi

• Associated with Ram Nath Puri

• Language: Urdu

• Region: California / North American West Coast

• Early anti-colonial publication among Indian activists in North America.

Abhyudaya

• Place: Allahabad

• Founder/Association: Madan Mohan Malaviya

• Hindi nationalist publication.

Swarajya — Allahabad

• Place: Allahabad

• Language: Urdu weekly

• Association: Shanti Narayan Bhatnagar.

Free Hindustan / Free Hindusthan

• Founder/Editor/Publisher: Taraknath Das

• Initial place: Vancouver, Canada

• Language: English

• Important overseas anti-colonial publication.

Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act

• Viceroy: Lord Minto

• Enabled action against publications regarded as encouraging violence or revolutionary offences.

Bande Mataram — European Revolutionary Edition

• First issue: 10 September 1909

• Publication setting: Geneva / Paris revolutionary network

• Madame Bhikaji Cama → central association

• Lala Har Dayal → important early editorial role.

Talvar / Madan's Talwar

• Publication centre: Berlin

• Editorial responsibility: Virendranath Chattopadhyay

• Support/establishment network: Madame Bhikaji Cama and the Paris Indian revolutionary network

• Title commemorated Madan Lal Dhingra.

Leader

• Place: Allahabad

• Association: Madan Mohan Malaviya

• Major editor: C.Y. Chintamani

• Important English daily of the United Provinces.

Stri Darpan / Stree Darpan

• Place: Allahabad

• Language: Hindi

• Chief editor: Rameshwari Nehru

• Women-run illustrated monthly; an important forum for women's education, public participation and social questions.

Indian Press Act

• Viceroy: Lord Minto

• Strengthened colonial control through securities, forfeiture and action against prohibited publications.

Swadesh Sewak

• Person: G.D. / Guru Dutt Kumar

• Place: Vancouver

• Language: Gurmukhi

• Connected with the Swadesh Sevak Home and mobilisation among Indian, especially Punjabi, immigrants.

Maryada

• Place: Allahabad

• Association: Krishnakant Malaviya

• Hindi monthly.

Comrade

• Founder/Editor: Muhammad Ali Jauhar

• Language: English

• Important Muslim political and nationalist weekly.

Hitavada

• Founder: Gopal Krishna Gokhale

• Connection: Servants of India Society

• Important English-language public and political newspaper.

Al-Hilal

• Founder/Editor: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

• Language: Urdu

• Powerful anti-colonial political weekly.

Ghadar / Hindustan Ghadar

• First issue: 1 November 1913

• Place: San Francisco

• Publishing organisation: Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast (later popularly Ghadar Party)

• Headquarters/press: Yugantar Ashram

• Party President: Sohan Singh Bhakna

• Major ideologue / initial editorial leadership: Lala Har Dayal

• Kartar Singh Sarabha: sub-editorial work, translation, typesetting and printing-press work

• First issue was in Urdu; Punjabi/Gurmukhi followed soon afterward

• Masthead: "Angrezi Raj ka Dushman"

• Recurring feature: "Angrezi Raj Ka Kacha Chittha"

• Revolutionary poetry circulated as Ghadar di Gunj.

Hamdard

• Founder/Editor: Muhammad Ali Jauhar

• Language: Urdu

• Important political newspaper.

Pratap

• Place: Kanpur

• Founder/Editor: Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi

• Important Hindi nationalist weekly; later a daily.

Prabha

• Initially published from Khandwa.

• Launched by Kalu Ram Gangrade / Gangrane.

• Makhanlal Chaturvedi was entrusted with its early editing and became a major editorial figure.

• The publication later shifted to Kanpur; Balkrishna Sharma 'Navin' also became associated with it.

• Hindi monthly.

Bombay Chronicle

• Place: Bombay

• Language: English

• A group of Indian liberals led by Pherozeshah Mehta was behind its establishment.

• Bibliographic publication records begin in 1913.

• B.G. Horniman became its first / major early editor and gave it a strong nationalist character.

Commonweal

• Place: Madras

• Founder/Editor: Annie Besant

• Political weekly founded in January 1914.

• Used to advocate self-government and Home Rule.

Madras Standard

• Place: Madras

• An established English daily/press before Annie Besant's purchase.

• Annie Besant purchased the press and goodwill in July 1914.

• From 1 August 1914 the paper was renamed New India.

New India — Annie Besant

• Place: Madras

• Annie Besant purchased the existing Madras Standard press and goodwill in July 1914.

• From 1 August 1914 the newspaper was published under the new title New India.

• It became Besant's principal daily organ for Home Rule and political propaganda.

Al-Balagh

• Started by Abul Kalam Azad after restrictions were imposed on Al-Hilal.

Navajivan — Earlier Tradition

• Indulal Yagnik was associated with the earlier Gujarati monthly Navajivan / Navajivan ane Satya tradition.

• This earlier publication was later placed at Gandhi's disposal.

• Gandhi recast Navajivan as a weekly in 1919.

Justice

• Language: English

• Movement: South Indian Liberal Federation / Justice Party / non-Brahmin movement

• Important editorial association: T.M. Nair

• The newspaper became so closely associated with the organisation that it was popularly called the Justice Party.

Searchlight

• Place: Patna

• Language: English

• Started by Sachchidananda Sinha in 1918.

• Rajendra Prasad was also associated with its founding / early history.

• Murli Manohar Prasad was an important later editor.

Shakti

• Place: Almora

• Association: Badri Datt Pandey

• Important for the Coolie-Begar agitation in Kumaon.

Young India

• Young India existed before Gandhi became its editor.

• Earlier associations included Home Rule activists Jamnadas Dwarkadas and Shankarlal Banker.

• Gandhi took over its editorship in 1919.

Navajivan

• Gandhi took over the earlier Navajivan tradition associated with Indulal Yagnik and recast it as a weekly.

• The first issue of Gandhi's Navajivan appeared on 7 September 1919.

• It became one of Gandhi's principal Gujarati vehicles for political education and constructive work.

Independent

• Place: Allahabad

• Founder: Motilal Nehru

• English nationalist daily.

Swadesh

• Place: Gorakhpur

• Association: Dashrath Prasad Dwivedi

• Hindi weekly.

Mooknayak

• First issue: 31 January 1920

• Initiative / intellectual leadership: Dr B.R. Ambedkar

• First official editor: Pandurang Nandram Bhatkar (P.N. Bhatkar).

Vande Mataram — Lala Lajpat Rai

• Language: Urdu/Hindustani

• Associated with Lala Lajpat Rai

• UPPSC association: Lahore; exact place wording is source-sensitive.

Aaj

• Place: Varanasi

• Founder: Shiv Prasad Gupta

• Major editor: Baburao Vishnu Paradkar

• Important Hindi daily.

Liberty

• Appeared as a successor/related Swarajist publication in the Forward press lineage.

Swarajya — T. Prakasam

• Place: Madras

• Language: English

• Founder/associated leader: T. Prakasam

• Nationalist daily associated with the freedom movement in Madras Presidency.

Press Law Repeal and Amendment Act

• Act XIV of 1922 repealed the Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908 and the Indian Press Act, 1910.

Madhuri

• Place: Lucknow

• Association: Naval Kishore Press / Dulare Lal Bhargava

• Important Hindi literary monthly.

Chand

• Place: Allahabad

• Association: Ramrakh Singh Sahgal

• Special fact: banned "Phansi Ank" — 1928.

Forward

• Connection: C.R. Das and the Swaraj Party

• Place: Calcutta

• Language: English

• Major English organ associated with the Swaraj Party.

Hindustan Times

• Origin: Akali / Sikh reform-nationalist milieu

• Early initiators included Sunder Singh Lyallpuri and Tej Singh Samundri

• First editor: K.M. Panikkar

• Publisher: Krishan Das Kohli

• Later important support/association: Madan Mohan Malaviya and G.D. Birla

• Lala Lajpat Rai also had an important association.

The People

• Founded/strongly associated with Lala Lajpat Rai.

Kudi Arasu

• Language: Tamil

• Founder/Editor: E.V. Ramasamy Periyar

• Connection: Self-Respect Movement

• Major vehicle for anti-caste thought, rationalism and Self-Respect ideas.

Bahishkrit Bharat

• Founder/Editor: B.R. Ambedkar

• Important forum for mobilisation of oppressed classes.

Samata

• Movement connection: Samaj Samata Sangh

• Editor: Devrao Naik

• Functioned in the wider equality movement associated with Ambedkar.

Free Press Journal

• Place: Bombay

• Founder/Editorial initiative: S. Sadanand

• Closely connected with the Free Press of India news-agency initiative.

• Reference traditions differ between 1928 and 1930 for its founding/first-issue chronology.

Janata

• Publication began in 1930

• First editor: Devrao Naik

• Important long-running publication associated with the Ambedkar-led movement.

Hans

• Place: Varanasi

• Founder/Editor association: Premchand

• Important Hindi literary-social journal.

Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act

• During the Civil Disobedience period the government obtained strong emergency powers involving security deposits, forfeiture and restrictions on publications.

Jagaran — Premchand

• Hindi weekly associated with Premchand; he took over its running in 1932.

• Distinct from the later Jagran newspaper associated with Puran Chandra Gupta.

Harijan

• First issue: 11 February 1933.

• Associated with Mahatma Gandhi.

• Used especially for social reform, anti-untouchability and public education.

Harijan Sevak

• Language: Hindi

• Commenced on 23 February 1933.

• Hindi member of Gandhi's Harijan publication family.

Harijan Bandhu

• Language: Gujarati

• Commenced on 12 March 1933.

• Gujarati member of Gandhi's Harijan publication family.

National Herald

• Place: Lucknow

• Founder: Jawaharlal Nehru

• First editor: K. Rama Rao

• Important Congress-nationalist newspaper.

Jagran — Puran Chandra Gupta

• Started at Jhansi; later associated with Kanpur

• Founder: Puran Chandra Gupta

• Hindi daily tradition.

Qaumi Awaz

• Place: Lucknow

• Language: Urdu

• Launched in 1945 under Associated Journals Ltd., the publishing group created in the Nehru-led nationalist press tradition.

• Jawaharlal Nehru is securely associated with its launch; Hayatullah Ansari was an important early editor.

• UPPSC/project association also links Rafi Ahmed Kidwai with the venture.

Press-Law Chain

1799 Wellesley → 1818 Hastings → 1823 Adam → 1835 Metcalfe → 1857 Canning → 1867 Press & Registration Act → 1878 Vernacular Press Act → 1882 Ripon repeal → 1908 Newspapers Act → 1910 Indian Press Act → 1922 repeal/amendment → 1931 Emergency Powers Act

Rammohan Roy Press Chain

Brahmunical Magazine (1821) → Sambad Kaumudi (1821) → Mirat-ul-Akhbar (1822) → protest against 1823 Press Regulations → Bengal Herald / Banga Duta (1829)

Buckingham / Early Press Freedom

Calcutta Journal (1818) → John Bull in the East as conservative rival (1821) → Buckingham deported (1823)

Revolutionary Press Abroad

1905 Indian Sociologist → 1907 Circular-i-Azadi → 1908 Free Hindustan → 1909 European Bande Mataram → 1909 Talvar → 1910 Swadesh Sewak → 1913 Ghadar

Gandhi's Press

1903 Indian Opinion → 1915 Navajivan antecedent → 1919 Young India → 1919 Navajivan → 1933 Harijan / Harijan Sevak / Harijan Bandhu

Ambedkar's Press

1920 Mooknayak → 1927 Bahishkrit Bharat → 1928–29 Samata → 1930 Janata

Annie Besant

National Reformer (Britain, pre-India context) → Commonweal (1914) → Madras Standard acquired → New India (1 Aug 1914)

Major South Indian English Press

Madras Courier (1785) → Madras Mail (1868) → The Hindu (1878) → New India (1914)

Bombay / Mumbai Press Line

Bombay Herald (1789) → Bombay Courier (1790) → Bombay Gazette (1791) → Bombay Samachar (1822) → Darpan (1832) → Bombay Times (1838) → Times of India (1861) → Bombay Chronicle (1913)

Statesman Lineage

Friend of India (1818) → Robert Knight's Indian Statesman (1875) → The Statesman lineage

Hicky's Bengal Gazette vs Gangadhar's Bengal Gazette

Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780) = English, James Augustus Hicky, first newspaper in India. Gangadhar/Ganga Kishore's Bengal Gazette/Bangal Gazeti (c.1816–18) = Indian-owned source-sensitive publication; language classification differs across source traditions.

Digdarshan vs Samachar Darpan

Digdarshan = April 1818 monthly Bengali periodical. Samachar Darpan = 23 May 1818 Bengali weekly newspaper. Digdarshan did NOT turn into Samachar Darpan.

Bengali 'First'

Standard objective-exam answer: Samachar Darpan = first Bengali newspaper. Historical caution: Bangal Gazeti is treated by some Bengali press histories as the first Bengali weekly.

Hindi Firsts

Udant Martand 1826 = first Hindi newspaper. Samachar Sudha Varshan 1854 = conventional first Hindi daily. Banaras Akhbar 1845 = UP exam convention. Hindosthan 1885 = first Hindi daily of UP in UPPSC convention.

Sambad Kaumudi vs Samachar Chandrika

Sambad Kaumudi = Rammohan-led reformist line. Samachar Chandrika = Bhabanicharan's conservative/orthodox counter-current.

New India

1901 B.C. Pal — Calcutta ≠ 1914 Annie Besant — Madras. Besant's New India came from the acquired Madras Standard.

Bande / Vande Mataram

1906 Calcutta — Pal + Aurobindo | 1909 Europe — Cama circle + Har Dayal | 1920 Lajpat Rai — Urdu/Hindustani

Swarajya

1907 Allahabad — Urdu — Shanti Narayan Bhatnagar ≠ 1921 Madras — English — T. Prakasam

Jagaran / Jagran

1932 Jagaran — Premchand ≠ 1942 Jagran — Puran Chandra Gupta

Prabuddha Bharata

1896 Vivekananda/Ramakrishna movement journal ≠ later Ambedkarite Prabuddha Bharat title

Prabhat

• PCS matching association: Prabhat ↔ N.C. Kelkar.

• Do not infer a stronger founder/editor role from this matching fact alone.

Rashtramat

• Language-matching fact: Rashtramat → Marathi.

Prajamitra

• Language-matching fact: Prajamitra → Gujarati.

Nayak

• Language-matching fact: Nayak → Bengali.

Bharat Bandhu

• Place-matching fact: Bharat Bandhu → Hathras.

Satyavadi

• Place-matching fact: Satyavadi → Agra.

Paper ↔ Person

Calcutta Journal → James Silk Buckingham

Brahmunical Magazine → Raja Rammohan Roy

Sambad Kaumudi → Raja Rammohan Roy

Mirat-ul-Akhbar → Raja Rammohan Roy

Darpan / Bombay Darpan → Balshastri Jambhekar

Rast Goftar → Dadabhai Naoroji

Voice of India → Dadabhai Naoroji

Som Prakash → Dwarkanath Vidyabhushan

Indu Prakash → M.G. Ranade association

Native Opinion → V.N. Mandlik

Bangabasi → Jogendranath Bose (PCS association)

Sanjibani → Krishna Kumar Mitra

Bombay Chronicle → Pherozeshah Mehta / B.G. Horniman

Searchlight → Sachchidananda Sinha

Prabhat → N.C. Kelkar (PCS matching association only)

Language ↔ Publication

Bombay Samachar → Gujarati

Jam-i-Jahan-Numa → Urdu

Udant Martand → Hindi

Darpan → Marathi

Bharat Mitra → Hindi

Rashtramat → Marathi

Prajamitra → Gujarati

Nayak → Bengali

PCS 2022 — Paper ↔ Place

Swadesh → Gorakhpur

Bharat Bandhu → Hathras

Satyavadi → Agra

Shakti → Almora