Begins in BengalDid you know that back in 1780, Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the capital of British India? An Irishman who went by the name James Augustus Hicky set up a newspaper there in 1780 titled Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, also known as the Original Calcutta General Advertiser. This English language weekly newspaper was not just the first of its kind in India, but in fact was the first newspaper printed in Asia!Known for his eccentric nature, Hicky had his newspaper running for two years and was openly critical of the administration of Governor General Warren Hastings. This naturally meant that the East India Company took offence, and they soon swooped in to seize the newspaper’s types and press.
Hicky's Bengal Gazatte was India’s first newspaper.
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
The seeds, however, had been sown by then. The provocative journalism that Hicky championed and the need to fight for free expression in India formed a template that would be replicated in the years and decades that followed.Taking the fight to the colonistsBy the turn of the century, Indian-owned newspapers began to emerge. Initially starting out as a way to give voice to social critique and reforms, these weren’t political. That was at least another half a century away. These newspapers, however, showed Indians that they could unite in thought and communicate across previously inconceivable distances.Also read: The role of theatre in freedom struggleIt was from the 1850s that many Indian newspapers started becoming political, championing the need for change. The ruling British were aware of what was happening around them, and took every step they could to strangle the Indian voices. The trouble was, the voices only grew louder the harder they tried to muffle it.Following the Revolt of 1857, while the Britishers were busy painting it as a ‘mutiny’, the Indian outlets made sure their own version was also published. In their newspapers, the event was described as what it was – a fight against oppression. History is often written by those in power. The newspapers that were blossoming in our country back then, however, made sure that it made Indians feel empowered.
