Early Newspapers in Colonial India

The printing press arrived in India in 1556, brought to Goa by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries. The East India Company installed its first official printing press in Bombay in 1684, though commercial newspaper publishing emerged nearly a century later. Early colonial publications catered to European residents, focusing on local gossip, shipping news, and administrative developments. James Augustus Hicky launched The Bengal Gazette (also known as the Calcutta General Advertiser) on January 29, 1780. It was a weekly publication and India’s first printed newspaper. Hicky used the paper to criticize colonial officials, exposing corruption involving Governor-General Warren Hastings and Chief Justice Elijah Impey. The government seized Hicky’s press in 1782, stopping publication. Other early English-language newspapers quickly followed in major administrative centers:

• The India Gazette (1780, Calcutta)
• The Calcutta Gazette (1784, Calcutta)
• The Bengal Hurkaru (1795, Calcutta)
• The Madras Courier (1785, Madras)
• The Bombay Herald (1789, Bombay)

Emergence of the Vernacular and Reformist Press

The early 19th century witnessed the rise of Indian-owned journals printed in regional languages. Indian social reformers used the press to advocate social change, promote education, and critique colonial economic policies. Raja Ram Mohan Roy pioneered Indian journalism. He published Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali) in 1821 to campaign against social evils like Sati. In 1822, he launched Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian), the first Persian journal in India, to discuss political and philosophical topics. In Western India, Fardunjee Marzban started Bombay Samachar in 1822. Printed in Gujarati, it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Asia. In 1832, Balshastri Jambhekar launched Darpan, the first Marathi newspaper, earning him recognition as the father of Marathi journalism.

Pioneer Newspapers and Prominent Editors

Early Colonial Censorship Laws

The East India Company viewed the unrestricted press with suspicion, fearing that public exposure of administrative misdeeds would undermine colonial authority.

Censorship of Press Act (1799)

Lord Wellesley enacted the Censorship of Press Act to prevent information leaks during the Anglo-Mysore War and the Napoleonic Wars. The law forced publishers to print the names of the printer, publisher, and editor on every issue. All content required submission to a government secretary for pre-censorship prior to publication. Lord Hastings relaxed these rules in 1818 by removing pre-censorship requirements.

Licensing Regulations (1823)

Acting Governor-General John Adam introduced the Licensing Regulations of 1823. Operating a printing press without a government license became a criminal offense. Magistrates received full authority to seize unlicensed printing presses. The law targeted Indian-language journals that criticized company policies. Raja Ram Mohan Roy shut down Mirat-ul-Akbar in protest against these restrictions.

Press Act of 1835 (Metcalfe Act)

Sir Charles Metcalfe, acting Governor-General, repealed the repressive 1823 regulations. The Press Act of 1835 required printers and publishers to submit a basic declaration specifying their printing premises. Metcalfe earned the title “Liberator of the Indian Press” for restoring freedom of expression. This liberal policy remained in force until the uprising of 1857.

Key Historical Facts

The first book printed in India was Doutrina Christao (Christian Doctrine), published by the Jesuit press in Goa in 1557. The first Hindi newspaper, Oudunt Martand (The Rising Sun), was launched as a weekly in Calcutta on May 30, 1826, by Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla. May 30 is celebrated as Hindi Journalism Day. Harish Chandra Mukherjee used the Hindoo Patriot in the late 1850s to support indigo cultivators during the Indigo Revolt, publishing firsthand reports of peasant exploitation by European planters. Girish Chandra Ghosh established the Hindoo Patriot in 1853 and later launched the Bengalee in 1862, which Surendranath Banerjee took over in 1879. The Serampore Mission Press, founded in 1800 by the Serampore Trio (William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward), printed early vernacular journals including Digdarshan (a monthly magazine) and Samachar Darpan (a weekly newspaper) starting in 1818.