EARLY JOURNALISM IN INDIA
13.0. Objective of the lesson:
The objective of this lesson is to assist you in
- Understanding the growth of Indian
- Understanding the characteristics of early Indian Press
- Learning about the contribution of Indian press to the nationalist movement
Structure of the lesson :
- Growth of Early Indian Press
- Newspapers that represent the History of early Indian Journalism
- The Hindu
- The Amrita Bazar Patrika
- The Vernacular Press Act
- Summary
- Technical Terms
- Model Questions
- Refernce Books
| 13.1. Growth of Early Indian Press |
The history of media in India is coloured by the colonial experience. William Bolts, an ex-employee of the British East India Company attempted to start the first newspaper in India in 1776. Bolts had to beat a retreat under the disapproving gaze of the Court of Directors of the Company.
Bengal
The Hickey’s Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertiser was started by James Augustus Hickey in 1780. The Gazette, a two-sheet newspaper, specialised in writing on the private lives of the Sahibs of the Company. He dared even to mount scurrillious attacks on the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, wife, which soon landed “the late printer to the Honourable Company” in trouble.
Hickey was sentenced to 4 months jail term and Rs.500 fine, which did not deter him. After a bitter attack on the Governor-General and the Chief Justice, Hickey was sentenced to one year in prison and fined Rs5,000, which finally drove him to penury. These were the first tentatives steps of journalism in India.
Calcutta
B.Messink and Peter Reed were pliant publishers of the India Gazette, unlike their infamous predecessor. The colonial establishment started the Calcutta Gazette. It was followed by another private initiative the Bengal Journal. The Oriental Magazine of Calcutta Amusement, a monthly magazine made it four weekly newspapers and one monthly magazine published from Calcutta, now Kolkata.
Madras
The Madras Courier was started in 1785 in the southern stronghold of Madras, which is now called Chennai, Richard Johnson, its founder, was a government printer. Madras got its second newspaper when, in 1791, Hugh Boyd, who was the editor of the Courier quit and founded the Hurkaru. Tragically for the paper, it ceased publication when Boyd died within a year of its founding.
It was only in 1795 that competitors to the Courier emerged with the Founding of the Madras Gazette followed by the India Herald. The latter was an “unauthorised” publication, which led to the deportation of
its founder Humphreys. The Madras Courier was designated the purveyor of official information in the Presidency.
In 1878, The Hindu was founded, and played a vital role in promoting the cause of Indian independence from the colonial yoke. It’s founder, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, was a lawyer, and his son, K Srinivasan assumed editorship of this pioneering newspaper during for the first half of the 20th century. Today this paper enjoys the highest circulation in South India, and is among the top five nationality.
Bombay
Bombay, now Mumbai, surprisingly was a late starter – The Bombay Herald came into existence in 1789 Significantly, a year later a paper called the Courier started carrying advertisements in Gujarati.
The first media merger of sorts: The Bombay Gazette, which was started in 1791, merged with the Bombay Herald the following year. Like the Madras Courier, this new entity was recognised as the publica- tion to carry “official notifications and advertisements”.
‘A Chronicle of Media and the State’, by Jeebesh Bagchi in the Sarai Reader 2001 is a timeline on the role of the state in the development of media in India for more than a century.
Bagchi divides the timeline into three ‘ages’. The Age of Formulation, which starts with the Indian Tele- graph Act in 1885 and ends with the Report of the Sub-Committee on Communication, National Planning Committee in 1948.
At the time of the first war of independence, any number of papers were in operation in the country. Many of these like Bangadool of Ram Mohan Roy, Rastiguftar of Dadabhai Naoroji and Gyaneneshun advocated social reforms and thus helped arouse national awakening.
At was in 1857 itself that Payam-e-Azadi started publication in Hindi and Urdu, calling upon the people to fight against the British. The paper was soon confiscated and anyone found with a copy of the paper was persecuted for sedition. Again, the first Hindi daily, Samachar Sudhavarashan, and two newspapers in Urdu and Persian respectively, Doorbeen and Sultan-ul-Akhar, faced trial in 1957 for having published a ‘Firman’ by Bahadur Shah Zafar, urging the people to drive the British out if india. This was followed by the notorious Gagging Act of Lord Canning, under which restrictions were imposed on the newspapers and periodicals.
Notable Role
In the struggle against the British, some newspapers played a very notable role. This included the Hindi Patriot! Established in 1853, by the author and playwright, Grish Chandra Ghosh, it became popular under the editorship of Harish Chandra Mukherjee. In 1861, the paper published a play, “Neel Darpan” and launched a movement against the British, urging the people to stop cultivating the crop for the white traders. This resulted in the formation of a Neel Commission, Later, the paper was taken over by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. The paper strongly opposed the Government’s excesses and demanded that Indians be appointed to top government posts. The Indian Mirror was the other contemporary of this paper which was very popular among the reading public.
Yet another weekly, Amrita Bazar Patrika which was being published from Jessore, was critical of the government, with the result that its proprietors faced trial and conviction. In 1871, the Patrika moved to Calcutta and another Act was passed to suppress it and other native journals.
Marathi Press
Mahadev Govind Rande, a leading leader of Maharashtra, used to write in Gyam Prakash as well as the Indu Prakash. Both these journals helped awaken the con-science of the downtrodden masses. Another Marathi weekly, Kesari was started by Tilak from January 1, 1881. He alongwith Agarkar and Chiplunkar started another weekly journal, Mratha in English. The Editor of the ‘Daccan Star’ Nam Joshi also joined them and his paper was incorporated with Maratha. Tilak and Agarkar were convicted for writings against the British and the Diwan of Kolhapur. Tilak’s Kesari became one of the leading media to propagate the message of freedom movement. It also made the anti-partition movement of Bengal a national issue. In
1908, Tilak opposed the Sedition ordinance. He was later exiled from the country for six years. Hindu edition of Kesari was started from Nagpur and Banaras.
Press and the First Session of Congress
The Editors commanded a very high reputation at the time of birth of the Indian National Congress. One could measure the extent of this respect from the fact that those who occupied the frontline seats in the first ever Congress session held in Bombay in December 1885 included some of the editors of Indian newspapers. The first ever resolution at this Session was proposed by the editor of The Hindu, G. Subramanya Iyer. In this resolution, it was demanded that the government should appoint a committe to enquire into the functioning of Indian administration. The second resolution was also moved by a journalist from Poona, Chiplunkar in which the Congress was urged to demand for the abolition of India Council which ruled the country from Britain. The third resolution was supported by Dadabhai Naoroji who was a noted journalist of his time. The fourth resolution was proposed by Dadabhai Naoroji.
There were many Congress Presidents who had either been the editors or had started the publication of one or the other newspapers. In this context, particular mention may be made of Ferozeshah Mehta who had started the Bombay Chronicle and Pandi Madan Malaviya who edited daily, Hindustan. He also helped the publication of leader from Allahabad. Moti Lal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the leader. Lala Lajpat Rai inspired the publication of three journals, the Punjabi, Bandematram and the People from Lahore. During his stay in South Africa, Gandhiji has brought out Indian Opinion and after settling in India, he started the publication of Young India; Navjeevan, Harijan, Harijan Sevak and Harijan Sevak and Harijan Bandhu. Subash Chandra Bose and C.R.Das were not journalists but they acquired the paper like Forward and Advance which later attained national status, Jawaharlal Nehru founded the National Herald.
Revolutionary Movement and the Press
So far as the revolutionary movement is concerned, it did not begin with guns and bombs but it started with the publication of newspapers. The first to be mentioned in this context is Yugantar publication of which was started by Barindra Kumar Ghosh who edited it also.
When the Ghadar party was organized in America, Lala Hardayal started publication of the journal ‘Ghadar’. Within one year, millions of copies of this journal were published in Hindu, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and English and sent to India and to all parts of the world where Indians were residing. In the beginning the copies of the journal were concealed in parcels of foreign cloth sent to Delhi. It was also planned to smuggle the printing press into India for this purpose. But then the war broke out and it became almost impossible to import printing machinery from abroad. Lala Hardayal was attested in America and deported to India. One of his followers Pandit Ramchandra started publishing Hindustan Ghadar in En- glish. With the U.S. joining the war, the Ghadar party workers were arrested by the American Government. When the trail was on, one of the rivals of Pandit Ramchandra to obtain a gun and shoot him dead in the jail itself. The death of Ramchandra led to the closure of this paper.
In 1905 Shyamji Krishna Verma started publication of a journal Indian Sociologist from London. It used to publish reports of political activities taking place at the Indian House in London. In 1909 two printers of this journal were convicted. Shyamji Krishna Verma left England for Paris from where he started the publica- tion of the journal. Later on, he had to leave for Geneva. He continued to bring out the journal from there for two or three years more. In Paris, Lala Hardayal, in collaboration with Madam Cama and Sardar Singhroji Rana brought our Vandematram and Talwar.
After Yugantar, it was Vandematram that played a significant role in the freedom struggle. This journal was established by Subodha Chandra Malik, C.R. Das and Bipin Chandra Pal on August 6, 1906. its editor, Aurobindo Ghosh, the editor of Sandhya B. Upadhyay and editor of Yugantar B.N.Dutt had to a face a trial for espousing the cause of freedom.
So far as the Hindi papers were concerned, they looked to government for support for some time. Bhartendu Harish Chandra was the first to start a journal Kavi Vachan Sudha in 1868. its policy was to give vent to the miseries of the people of India. When the Prince of Wales visited India, a poem was published in his honour. The British authorities were given to understand that the poem could also mean that the Prince of Wales should get a shoe-beating.
The government aid to journals like Kavi Vachan Sudha was stopped for publishing what was objection- able from the government point of view. Bhartendu Harish Chandra resigned from his post of an honorary Magistrate. Histwo friends, Pratap Narain Mishra and Bal Krishna started publication of two important political journals.
Two friends, Pratap Narain Mishra and Bal Krishna Bhatt started publication of two important political journals Pradeep from Allahabad, and Brahman from Kanpur. The Pradeep was ordered to be closed down in 1910 for espousing the cause of freedom.
The Bharat-Mitra was a famous Hindi journal of Calcutta which started its publication on May 17,1878 as a fortnightly. It contributed a lot in propagating the cause of freedom movement. The journal exposed the British conspiracy to usurp kashmir. Several other papers published from Calcutta which played an impor- tant role in freedom struggle included Ambika Prasad Vajpayee’s Swantrantra. Ramanand Chatterjee’s Modern Review in English, Pravasi Patra in Bengali and Vishal Bharat in Hindi.
One of the foremost Hindi journalist who has earned a name for his patriotism was Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi, In 1913, he brought out weekly Pratap from Kanpur. He made the supreme sacrifice in 1931 in the cause of Hindu-Muslim Unity. Krishna Dutt Paliwal brought out Sainik from Agra which became a staunch propagator of nationalism in Western U.P. The noted Congress leader, Swami Sharadhanand, started the publication of Hindi journal Vir Arjun and Urdu journal Tej. After the assassination of Swami Sharadhanand, Vidyavachaspathi and Lala Deshbandhu Gupta continued the publication of these journals. They were themselves prominent Congress leaders. One of the Important newspapers during this time was started by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s. He was of the view that the Freedom Movement against the British is the combined responsibility of all communities and hence it should be carried unitedly. With these thoughts in his mind, Maulana Azad started the “Al-Hilal” Press and a weekly by the same name.
The “Al-Hilal” weekly was a landmark in the history of the press in India. Its circulation figures rose to 26,000 copies. Further, even back issues of this weekly had to be republished as every new subscriber wanted to hold all copies of “Al-Hilal”. The message of patriotism and nationalism coupled with religious fervor inherent in the weekly gained wide acceptance among the masses, But these developments dis- turbed the British Government in 1914, a security of two thousand rupees was imposed on “AL-Hilal” under the Press Act. When Maulana Azad deposited this amount, it was confiscated and a further security of rupees ten thousand was imposed.
When these punitive measures failed to tone down the anti-establishment stance of the periodical, the government banned “Al-Hilal” and confiscated its press in 1915. Maulana Azad was not discouraged by this move.
1915, barely five months after the ban on “Al-Hilal”, Maulana Azad started the publication of the “Al- Balagh” weekly. It was similar in its content to “Al-Hilal”. The British realized that the provisions of the Press Act are not enough to counter the onslaught of Maulana Azad’s writings. Hence the Maulana Azad was asked to leave Calcutta after the Defence of India Provisions were invoked against him in 1916.
Punjab, U.P., Delhi and Bombay also prohibited his entry under the same law. Bihar was the only state in which he could move without any hindrance. But the moment he reached Ranchi he was kept under house arrest. This detention continued till December 31, 1919. He was released on January 1,1920.
In 1921 Maulana Azad started a weekly named “Paigham”. But it was banned in December 1921 and he arrested. Maulana Azad’s detention continued till January 1,1921. In 1921. In 1927, Maulana Azad re- started the publication of “Al-Hilal” and this weekly continued to be published till the end of the year.
In Lahore, Mahashaya Khushal Chand brought out Milap and Mahashaya Krishna started publishing Urdu journals which helped a lot in promoting the national cause. In 1881, Sardar Dayal Singh Majitha on the advice of Surendra Nath Bannerjee brought out Tribune under the editorship of Sheetal Kant Chatterjee. Bipin Chandra Pal also edited this paper for sometime. Later in 1917, Kalinath Rai joined the paper as its editor.
There is not a single province in India which did not produce a journal of newspaper to uphold the cause of freedom struggle A.G. Horniman made the Bombay chronicle a powerful instrument to promote militant nationalism. He himself took part in the meetings where Satyagraha used to be planned. He published vivid accounts of Jallianwala Bagh Carnage for which one correspondent of his paper, Goverdhan Das,
was sentenced to three years imprisonment by a military court. Horniman too was arrested and deported to London even though he was ill at that time. Amrital Shet brought out the Gujarati Journal ‘Janmabhumi which was an organ of the people of the princely states of Kathiawad, but it become a mouthpiece of national struggle. Similarly another Gujarati journal Saanjvartman played a prominent role under the editorship of Sanwall Das Gandhi, who played a very significant role in the Quit India Movement in 1942, It was soon after independent formed a parallel Government in Junagarh and forced the Nawab of Junagarh to leave the country. The three editors of the Sindhi journal Hindi Jairam Das Daulatram, Dr. Choithram Gidwani and Hiranand Karamchand, were arrested, their press closed and the property of the paper confiscated.
in bihar the tradition of national newspapers was carried forward by sachidanand sinha, who had started the publication of searchlight under the editorship of murtimanohar sinha Dev Brat shastri stsrted publica- tion of ‘Nav Shakti and Rashtra Vani’ the The weekly yogi and the Hunkar ‘also contributed very much to the general awakening,
| 13.2. Newspapers that represent the History of early Indian Journalism |
The earliest History of Indian journalism is represented by The Hindu of Madras, The Amrit Bazar Patrika and the Indian Patriot of former Malabar (now Kerala).
13.2.1. The Hindu
The Indian press is two centuries old, 223 years old to be exact (if we take the launch of James Augustus Hickey’s Bengal Gazetto on January 29, 1780 as the founding date). Its strengths have largely been shaped by its historical experience and, in particular, by its association with the freedom struggle as well as movements for social emancipation, reform and amelioration. The long struggle for independence; controversies and battles over social reform, radical and revolutionary aspirations and movements; compromising as well as fighting tendencies; and the long-term competition between self-serving and public service visions of journalism – all these have found reflection in the character and performance of the Indian press over the long term.
Within the press, there was the famous divide between ‘nationalist’ and ‘loyalist’ newspapers, which lasted right up to the time of Independence. The histories of The Hindu and The Times of india exemplify this divide. six young nationlists led by the upstading social reformer and economic nationalist, G. Subramania Aiyer, founded the Hindu in Madras on september 20,1878 as a weekly .It is the oldest suriving major newspaper of indian nationalism, by which we mean the great socio-political movement that won freedom for india from colonial bondage and helped consolidate the gains of independence in every sphere of national life.
No issues of the newspaper from the first three years have survived as far as we know. Fortunately, we have the text of the first editorial titled “Ourselves”. Not surprisingly for the times, no radical vision of freedom for India informed this leader. Indeed the founders of The Hindu identified for themselves a middle ground between “altogether (ignoring) the superiority of Western rule” and “cry(ing) down every- thing native.. and (advocating) as a rule the preferability of Western institutions to those of our country.” But the remarkable thing about the editorial was not the identifications of such a middle ground. It was the clear-sighted and bold formulation of a role for a weekly starting with a print run of 80 copies – as the creator, regulator and moulder of public opinion. Attributing the absence of public opinion to “the want of a well conducted native press to which the public may look to regulate their opinion,” the first editorial proclaimed that “the Press does not only give expression to public opinion but also modify and mould if according to circumstances. It is this want that we have made bold to attempt to supply.” The Hindu asked the educated section of “the native community” to fill up “as far as it is possible and practicable the gap separating the governors from the governed.” For itself, the newspaper proposed two guiding principles – “fairness and justice.” These were to prove crucial for its survival and development over the long term.
It was the freedom struggle that provided a life support system for the newspaper when, in the early years of the 20th century, it found itself in a financial and professional crisis despite an enviable reputation among the educated public. With the partners falling out over socio-political issues, the radical social reformer Subramania Aiyer edged out, a toll taken by libel actions, and languishing circulation and adver- tising revenues, the big question on everyone’s mind during the Silver Jubilee celebrations of September 21,1903 was whether such a risky “journalistic enterprise that has deterred other men of public spirit from joining” the proprietor in “this noble work” (to quote M.Veeraghavachariar, the propreitor) could survive.
The answer came through the acquisitions of The Hindu on April 1,1905 by the lawyer, political radical, moderniser and shrewd entrepreneur, S.Kasturi Ranga Iyengar. The path of multi-faceted development – based on clear and boldly articulated principles in relation to which the newspaper’s performance could be tested – he worked out at the beginning of a new era in India’s social, political and economic development proved to be a winner. With the newspaper’s survival never again in question, the challenge before his successors was one of cosolidation, technological and editorial modernisation, expansion, enhancement of professional values, making serious journalism viable and successful in a business sense, and enabling successful journalism to keep its soul.
Even in the pre-Independence context, The Hindu, like some other mainstream newspapers, learned to act like a player in the Major league political and socio-economic arena. Walking on “two legs” serious, independent, quality journalism, and business viability and success – along the path worked out by The Hindu’s second founder has brought the newspaper to where it is today: the front ranks of the world’s major newspapers. Successive waves of technological modernisation, particularly over the past 75 years, have been a key to this achievement.
Journalism in India used to be regarded as a ‘calling’. Fired by the spirit of patriotic and social reforming idealism, it was able to draw in outsanding talent as the freedom struggle and movements for social change intensified and as new educational and career opportunities arose in a modernising society. As is often the case with such pursuits, the calling was conspicuously underpaid. The transformation of the calling into a profession took place over a long period, mirroring the change in the character of a newspa- per like The Hindu from a purely societal and public service mission into a business enterprise framed by a societal and public service mission.
Source : The Hindu, Saturday, Sept 13,2003.
13.2.2. The Amrita Bazar Patrika
The history of Amrita Bazar Patrika and Jugantar is a thrilling study and once you go through it, a feeling of resurgent patriotism would grip you. During the freedom movement in India, newspapers played a great and significant role in arousing the sentiments about motherland, which was under British rule and in motivating people against their misrule. In this context, the role played by Amrita Bazar Patrika group was so prominent that the national leaders were depending on it for correct information and for getting genuine inspiration. The editor of Amrita Bazar Patrika, Sisir Kumar Ghose was a man of strong principle. Several years ago, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak wrote about Sisir Kumar Ghose which I quote: “I had learnt many lessons sitting at his feet. I revered him as my father and I venture again to say that he, in return, loved me as his son ”
Most unfortunately, this great newspaper was closed in the year 1996 for huge debt in the market and for labour movement. That modernisation was not done in proper time, was another reason for which they were miserably discredited and discarded by general readers. There were efforts made by both central and state governments. But this newspaper could not be revived. When P.V. Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister, he took special initiative to run this traditionally renowned newspaper and formed a consortium of banks with six nationalised banks to provide them with funds. But the story was, they also failed in their mission. Ultimately they had to take a hard decision to sell out the properties held by Amrita Bazar Patrika group and pay off the employee’s debts and sundry other debtors including the banks. To this date all properties have been sold barring two properties in Allahabad and one flat in Mumbai. It means the death of Amrita Bazar Patrika has already taken place. Now the preparation for its funeral is going on. Before giving its detail account, let me recall certain historical facts about Amrita Bazar Patrika for which it be- came so famous and people still remember its role with reverence.
Amrita Bazar Patrika was a bilingual weekly (in Bengali and English) started on January 17,1868. It started its journey from a village called palua-Magura under the district of Jessore, now in Bangladesh. Ghose brothers who started this weekly changed the name of the village as Amrita Bazar to perpetuate the memory of their mother Amritamoney Devi.
Sisir Kumar Ghose, the founder editor of Amrita Bazar Patrika, always believed in the policy of “survival of the fittest”. Apprehending ill motive and stringent action by the government under Vernacular Press Act he made its editor to convert it into a full-fledged English weekly with effect from March 21,1878 the second
week of operation of the Act. The Patrika became a daily on February 19,1891, Its security deposit with the government was forfeited in 1919 for writing two editorials (i) ‘To whom does India belong?’ (April 19) and
(ii) ‘Arrest of Mr.Gandhi:More outrages’ (April 12). On May 15 of the same year the government of Sir Michael O’Dwyer banned the entry of the Patrika into the province of Punjab. The paper under the stew- ardship of Tushar Kanti Ghose since the thirties enlarged its circulation and income and put it in the rank of big newspapers of the country. Since 1937, it has a sister Bengali daily Jugantar.
Mention must also be made of the Hindu Patriot of Calcutta, which had as its first editor, Babu Harish Chandra Mukherji and as its second, Babu Kristo Das Pal. The paper made history in Bengal; and later it fell to the Amrita Bazar Patrika to carry on. Kristo Das Pal (1839 – July 24, 1884), (also known as Krihnadas pal) Indian publicist, was born in Kolkata in 1839, of the Teli or oil-mans caste, which ranks low in the Hindu social hierarchy, He received an English education at the Oriental Seminary and the Hindu Metropolitan College, and at an early age devoted himself to journalism. In 1861 he was appointed assis- tant secretary (and afterwards secretary) to the British Indian Association, a board of Bengal landlords, which numbered among its members some of the most cultured men of the day. At about the same time he became editor of the Hindu Patriot, originally started in 1853 and conducted with ability and zeal by Harish Chandra Mukherjee until his death in 1861. This journal having been transferred by a trust deed to some members of the British Indian Association, it henceforth became to some extent an organ of that body. Thus Kristo Das Pal had rare opportunities for proving his abilities and independence during an eventful carrer of twenty-two years.
In Allahabad, Dr.Sachchidananda Sinha founded the Indian People in 1903; it was later on incorporated with the Leader, which began its existance in 1909. Madan Mohan Malaviya, who founded the Benares Hindu University (BHU), was born at Allahabad on 25 December 1861. His ancestors were known for their Sanskrit scholarship. His zeal for public work mede him realise the necessity of starting newspapers, particularly in Hindi, for the education of the public. He started the Abhyudaya as a Hindi weekly in 1907 and made it a daily in 1915. He started the Leader, an English daily, on 24 October 1909. Both the Abhyudaya and the Leader rendered valuable service to the cause of national freedom for nearly half a century. Apart from this he also started a Hindi Monthly, ‘Maryada’. This freedom fighter of India was also the founder and editor of the two national weeklies: Hindustan (Hindi) and the Indian Union (English). He was the nationalistic to the core and believed that the freedom from the foreign rule can be achieved only through right kind of education.
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a Public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees. The Tribune, the largest selling daily in North India, Pbulishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the paper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term. The English edition apart, the 124-year-old Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi). One of its ablest editors was the late Mr.N.Gupta, who went over to Lahore from Allahabad where he was joint editor of the Leader, with the late Sir CY Chintamani. A later editor of the Tribune, Kali Nath Roy was also a journalist of the first rank.
The Pioneer of Lucknow and the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore had the distinction of publishing Rudyard Kipling. The Pioneer was founded in Allahabad in 1865 by George Allen, an Englishman who had great success in the tea business in north-east India in the previous decade. It was brought out three times a week from 1865 to 1869 and daily thereafter. In 1866, a supplement, the Pioneer Mail, consisting of “48 quarto-size pages,” mostly of advertisements, was added to the publication. In 1872, Anthony Sinnett became the editor of the newspaper. Although he was later to be known for his interest in theoso- phy, he oversaw the transformation of the newspaper to one of exercising great influence in British India. In 1874, the weekly Pioneer Mail became the Pioneer Mail and India Weekly News and began to also feature short stories and travel writings. The Pioneer became noted for its politically conservative outlook, and for example, denounced Lord Irwin (Viceroy of India 1926-31) as a ‘Bolshevik’ in response to the later’s moderate approach to the Indian nationalist movement. Author Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), in his early 20s, worked at the newspaper office in Allahabad as an assistant editor from November 1887 to March 1889.
The Times of India, Bombay and the Statesman and the Englishman of Calcutta were other distinguished newspapers of this time. The Times of India was founded on November 3, 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, and served the British colonists of western India. It adopted its present name in 1861. Published every Saturday and Wednesday, The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce was
launched as a bi-weekly edition. It contained news from Europe, the Americas, and the Subcontinent, and was conveyed between India and Europe via regulate steamships. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850 and by 1861, the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India. In the 19th century this newspaper company employed more than 800 people and had a sizable circulation in India and Europe. Originally British-owned and controlled, its last British editor was Ivor S.Jehu, who resigned the editorship in 1950. It was after India’s Independence that the ownership of the paper passed on to the then famous industrial family of Dalmiyas and later it was taken over by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain of the Sahu Jain group from Bijnore, UP.
The Statesman was incorporated and directly descended from two newspapers: The Englishman and The Friend of India, both published from Calcutta. The Englishman was started in 1811. An Englishman named Robert Knight founded the new newspaper with a name of The Statesman and New Friend of India on 15 January 1875. Soon after, the name was shortened to the present The Statesman. During the British era, It was British run and managed, but after independence, control passed to Indians. It is known for its vehe- ment antiestablishment stance. It opposed the shifting of Indian’s capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911 in the following terms: “The British have gone to the city of graveyards to be buried there”. It strenu- ously opposed Indira Gandhi’s Emergency in 1975-77. The Statesman had Sir Alfred Watson as its editor fro some time, he had been connected with the old Westminster Gazetto of London and had served under the late Mr.J.A.Spender. The association of Sir Alfred with that great liberal journalist seemed to augur well for the further of Statement, but events belied that pious hope. In due course he left the country, and was succeeded by Mr.Arthur Moore, During his tenure the Stateman became more or less a pro-Indian paper and remained such even under Mr.Ian Stephens, who had taken over Moore’s duties. When Delhi became the seat of government of India, the Statesman started Publishing a Delhi edition; as a journalistic venure this was unique in India.
Sir PherozShah Mehta founded the Bombay Chronicle under the brilliant editorship of Bengamin Honiman. Sir The English newspaper, the Bombay Chronicle (April 1913), became an important agency for express- ing Indian public opinion. The Chronicle was edited by Mr.Syed Abdulla Brelvi, to whose credit it may be recorded that for over two decades he had contrieved steadily to maintain the same high standars that had been set by his predecessor. He also skillfully piloted his journals through strenous times. Benjamin Horniman was another strong supporter of Indian Independencemovement and later moved his activities to Bombay’s second evening newspaper, the Bombay Sentinel. Horniman, a Britisher, who choose to side with the Indian nationalists throughout his long and turbulent career as journalist in India – he was editor, among other newspapers, of The Bombay Sentinel – often paid for his courage and principles and had to be deported. Pothan Joseph was in a class all his own and is probably the only editor who was renowned not so much for the editorials he wrote – brilliant thought they were – or the manner in which he gave leadership to his staff, but for his singular column, Over A Cup of Tea. In a way he remains India’s original columnist, when writing columns was not very common.
Another newspaper, Blitz first appeared on 1 February 1941. It was founded by R.K. Karanjia, who had earlier worked at The Times of India, and had briefly edited the Sunday Standard and the short-lived Morning Standard. He assembled a group that comprised three others: Dinkar V.Nadkarni, who had earned a reputation in journalism by penning sensational crime stories in the Bombay Sentinel, edited by the veteran B.G.Horniman; Zahir Babar Kureishi, who wrote a popular column under the pen-name of ZABAK; and Nadir Boman-Behram, who was to look after the advertising and business side of things.
The Leader was a distiguished newspaper in the United Province when it saw the light of the day in 1909 it had two editors – Sri N.Gupta and Sir.C.Y.Chintamani. After a year or two the former resigned from his position to take up the editorship of the Tribune of Lahore. The latter continued to occupy his chairtill his death in 1941. SirC.Y.Chintamani was an Indian editor, journalist, liberal politician and parliamentarian of early 20th century. He was born on Telugu new year day (ugadi) at Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was called “Pope of Indian Journalism” by Sri V.S. Srinivas Sastry.
He made history at the age of 18 years by becoming the news paper editor of “Vizag Spectator”. He also organised ‘Indian Herald’ and ‘Standard’.
He has made great impact as Chief editor of “The Leader” from Allahabad, between 1909 and 1934.
‘The liberals’ are those people who broke away from the Indian National Congress for they were not prepared to participate in the Non-Cooperation Movement. This core value guided him and his comrades
who formed the Liberal Party. He has done great service at Education Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He was invited as special guest to attend the First Round Table Conference at London in 1930-1931.
Mahatma Gandhi and the British administrators and the Indian People were greatly inspired by his edtiorials
Dr.Sachchidananda Sinha, who was Vice Chancellore of Patna University and also was finance minister of the Bihar government, wa a barrister of great eminance and a journalist. He founded the Indian People of Allahabad and selected Chintamani as its editor. He also started the periodical The Hindustan Review, which had the distinction of being the first monthly in India. It originalle started as the Kayasthe Samachar in July 1899, and was then edited by Babu Ramayana Chaterjee, who later became the editor of the Modern Review of Calcutta.
13.2.3. The Vernacular Press Act
Vernacular Press Act, 1878 a highly controversial measure repressing the freedom of vernacular press. The regime of viceroy lord Iytton is particularly noted for his most controversial press policy which led to the enactment of the Vernacular Press Act on 14 March 1878. Earlier dramatic performances act (1876) was enacted to repress the writing and staging of the allegedly seditious dramas. Vernacular Press Act (1878) was aimed at repressing seditious propaganda through vernacular newspapers. Introducing the Bill the Law Member of the Council narrated how the vernacular newspapers and periodicals were spreading seditious propaganda against the government. The viceroy Lord Lytton strongly denounced newspapers published in the vernacular languages as “mischievous scribblers open sedition”. He remarked that the avowed purpose of most of the vernacular newspapers was an end to the British raj.
The papers that made the government worried were Somprakash, Sulabh Samachar, Halisahar Patrika, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Bharati Mihir, Dacca Prakash, Sadharani and Bharat Sanskarak. All these papers were said to have been leading the seditious movement against the government. The Act provided for submitting to police all the proof sheets of contents of papers before publication. What was seditious news was to be determined by the police, and not by the judiciary. Under this Act many of the papers were fined, their editors jailed. Obviously this repressive measure came under severe criticism. All the native associa- tions irrespective of religion, caste and creed denounced the measure and kept their denunciations and protestations alive. All the prominent leaders of Bengal and of India condemned the Act as unwarranted and unjustified, and demanded for its immediate withdrawal. The newspapers themselves kept on criticiz- ing the measure without an end, The succeeding administration of Lord Ripon reviewed the developments consequent upon the Act and finally withdrew it.
| 13.3. Summary |
William Bolts, an ex-employee of the British East India Company attempted to start the first newspaper in India in 1776. Bolts had to beat a retreat under the disapproving gaze of the Court of Directiors of the Company. The Hickey’s Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertiser was started by James Augustus Hickey in 1780. The Gazette, a two-sheet newspaper, specialised in writing on the private lives of the Sahibs of the Company. B.Messink and Peter Reed were pliant publishers of the India Gazette, unlike their infamous predecessor. The colonial establishment started the Calcutta Gazette. It was followed by another private initiative the Bengal Journal. The Oriental Magazine of Calcutta Amusement, a monthly magazine made it four weekly newspapers and one monthly magazine published from Calcutta, now Kolkata.
The Madras Courier was started in 1785 in the sourthern stronghold of Madras. It was only in 1795 that competitors to the Courier emerged with the founding of the Madras Gazette followed by the India Herald.
In 1878, The Hindu was founded, and played a vital role in promoting the cause of Indian independence from the colonial yoke. It’s founder, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, was a lawyer, and his son, K Srinivasan assumed editorship.
The Bombay Herald came into existence in 1789. Significantly, a year later a paper called the Courier started carrying advertisements in Gujarati. At was in 1857 itself that Payam-e-Azadi started publication in Hindi and Urdu, calling upon the people to fight against the British. The paper was soon confiscated and anyone found with a copy of the paper was persecuted for sedition. Again, the first Hindi daily, Samachar Sudhavarashan, and two newspapers in Urdu and Persian respectively, Doorbeen and Sultan-ul-Akhar,
faced trial in 1957 for having published a ‘Firman’ by Bahadur Shah Zafar, urging the people to drive the British out if India. This was followed by the notorious Gagging Act of Lord Canning, under which restric- tions were imposed on the newspapers and periodicals.
In the struggle against the British, some newspapers played a very notable role. This included the Hindi Patriot! Established in 1853, by the author and play wright, Grish Chandra Ghosh, it became popular under the editorship of Harish Chandra Mukherjee. In 1861, the paper published a play, “Neel Darpan” and launched a movement against the British, urging the people to stop cultivating the crop for the white traders. The Indian Mirror was the other contemporary of this paper which was very popular among the reading public.
Mahadev Govind Rande, a leading leader of Maharashtra, used to write in Gyan Prakash as well as the India Prakash Both these journals helped awaken the con-science of the downtrodden masses. Another Marathi weekly, Kesari was started by Tilak from January 1, 1881. He alongwith Agarkar and Chiplunkar started another weekly journal, Mratha in English. The Editor of the ‘Daccan Star’ Nam Joshi also joined them and his paper was incorporated with Maratha.
Ferozeshah Mehta started the Bombay Chronicle and Pandit Madan Malaviya edited daily, Hindustan. He also helped the publication of leader from Allahabad. Moti Lal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the leader. Lala Lajpat Rai inspired the publication of three journals, the Punjabi, Bandematram and the People from Lahore. During his stay in South Africa, Gandhiji has brought out Indian Opinion and after setting in India, he started the publication of Young India; Navjeevan, Harijan, Harijan Sevak and Harijan Bandhu, Subash Chandra Bose and C.R.Das were not journalists but they acquired the papers like Forward and Advance which later attained national status. Jawaharlal Nehru founded the National Herald In 1905 Shyamji Krishna Verma started publication of a journal Indian Soci- ologist from London. It used to publish reports of political activities taking place at the India House in London. In Paris, Lala Hardayal, in collaboration with Madam Cama and Sardar Singhraoji Rana brought our Vandematram and Talwar.
After Yugantar, it was Vandematram that played a significant role in the freedom struggle. This journal was established by Subodha Chandra Malik, C.R. Das and Bipin Chandra Pal on August 6, 1906. its editor, Aurobindo Ghosh, the editor of Sandhya B. Upadhyay and editor of Yugantar B.N.Dutt had to a face a trial for espousing the cause of freedom. Bhartendu Harish Chandra was the first to start a journal Kavi Vacham Sudha in 1868.
1915, barely five months after the ban on “Al-Hilal”, maulana Azad started the publication of the “Al- Balagh” weekly. In 1921 Maulana Azad started a weekly named “Paigham”. But it was banned in Decem- ber 1921 and he arrested. Maulana Azad’s detention continued till January 1, 1921. In 1927, Maulana Azad restarted the publication of “Al-Hilal” and this weekly continued to be published till the end of the year. In Lahore, Mahashaya Khushal Chand brought out Milap and Mahashaya Krishna started publishing Urdu journals which helped a lot in promoting the national cause. In 1881, Sardar Dayal Singh Majitha on the advice of Surendra Nath Bannerjee brought out Tribune under the editorship of Sheetala Kant Chatterjee.
A.G. Horniman made the Bombay chronicle a powerful instrument to promote militant nationalism. Amritial Shet brought out the Gujarati journal ‘Janmabhumi which was an organ of the people of the princely states of Kathiawad, but it became a mouthpiece of national struggle. In Bihar the tradition of national newspa- pers was carried forward by Sachidanand Sinha, who had started the publication of Searchlight under the editorship of Murtimanohar Sinha. Dev Brat Shastri started publication of ‘Nav Shakti and Rashtra Vani’. The weekly yogi and the Hunkar also contributed very much to the general awakening.
The earliest history of Indian journalism is represented by The Hindu of Madras, The Amrit Bazar Patrika and the Indian Patriot of former Malabar (now Kerala). The Hindu Patriot of Calcutta, which had as its first editor, Babu Harish Chandra Mukherji and as its second, Babu Kristo Das Pal made history in Bengal. In Allahabad, Dr.Sachchindananda Sinha founded the Indian People in 1903; it was later on incorporated with the Leader, which began its existance in 1909.
The Tribune was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees. The Pioneer of Lucknow and the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore had the distinctin of publishing Rudyard Kipling. The Pioneer was founded in Allahabad in 1865 by George Allen. The Times of India, Bombay and the Statesman and the Englishman of Calcutta were other distinguished newspapers of this time. The Times of India was founded on November 3,1838
as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, and served the British colonists of western India. It adopted its present name in 1861. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850 and by 1861, the Bombay Times was renamed The Times of India. The Statesman was incorporated and directly de- scended from two newspapers. The Englishman and The Friend of India, both published from Calcutta.
The Englishman was started in 1811.
Another newspaper, Blitz first appeared on 1 February 1941. It was founded by R.K. Karanjia, who had earlier worked at The Times of India, and had briefly edited the Sunday Standard and the short-lived Morning Standard.
The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was a highly controversial measure repressing the freedom of vernacu- lar press. Vernacular Press Act (1878) was aimed at repressing seditious propaganda through vernacular newspapers. Introducing the Bill the Law Member of the Council narrated how the vernacular newspapers and periodicals were spreading seditious propaganda against the government. All the prominent leaders of Bengal and of India condemned the Act as unwarranted and unjustified, and demanded for its immediate withdrawal. The newspapers themselves kept on criticizing the measures without an end. The succeeding administration of Lord Ripon reviewed the developments consequent upon the Act and finally withdraw it.
| 13.4. Technical Terms |
Vernacular : Regional
| 13.5. Model Questions |
- Briefly trace the history of early Indian newspapers in
- Mention atleast ten important early Indian
- What is the Vernacular Press Act?
