Journalism in Sub-Continent before Independence

      Journalism in Sub-Continent... Before                                 Independence.

 A review about  the English newspapers that were published in the early days of English rule in the subcontinent.

 

In 1707 and with the death of Aurangzeb Alamgir, the Mughal rule in the subcontinent declined. After that, the weaknesses and conspiracies of the incompetent rulers paved the way for the occupation of the subcontinent by the British. The decline of the Muslims led to the rise of the British. When a nation falls into deep pits of moral or bad condition, people's conscience becomes dead and personal interest gets priority over collective interest, then slavery is imposed on such a nation and the collar  of slavery is become the fate  of such nation. It becomes destiny and it is a true fact that when a nation moves towards decline, its collective identity and traditions are also disintegrated and the values ​​and traditions of the dominant people take their place and the slave mind of its own. They take pride in adopting the traditions of their masters.

 

The first printing house in the Indian subcontinent was established by the Portuguese in 1550, but before the 18th century only certain types of material were published from these printing houses. Along with the rise of British, English also got rise and English newspapers were the need of the hour. It began to be felt.

 

In 1744, a free daily newspaper named "Indian Gazette" was published, in which most of the company's news was given, but Colonel John Leena in his travelogue "The Golden East" called "The East India Company Gazette the first English newspaper of the subcontinent". writes which was published in 1743. The only evidence of the latter newspaper is the travelogue of Colonel Turns. Apart from this, there is no record of both of them. In relation to the origin of English newspapers, we cannot ignore the role of William Bolts. William Police was dismissed from the company's employ in 1766. William Botts established a printing house in Calcutta in 1767 and published an advertisement which,  indicated that  he was going to print  a newspaper. In order to get rid of him, the aristocracy issued a decree on 18 April 1768, according to which William Bolts was accused of trying to spread hatred and disorder against the company of William Botts, so he was unable to do so. That the company guarantees its protection. Therefore, it is ordered that he must be sent to Bengal immediately

The following were the characteristics of Indian Gazette –

 

Governmental Backing

 

The owner of Indian Gazette had called for regular updates from the governor and then issued the newspaper. This permission was given on this condition that this news paper wouldn’t print anything against the east Indian company so all the news in it was against the opponents  and in  support of the government.

 

Criticism on Hicky Gazette:

 

Another remarkable quality of this Gazette was that it was highly venomous against even the company's greatest enemies. Thus, unlike the original gazette, it supported the government and did not miss any opportunity to criticize the other party.

 

                      Court News

The salient feature of this news paper  was that it also published all the news about Hicky who was biggest enemy of the company and this newspaper  received regular news from court. In this way, the British were well aware of the situation in the court.

 

 Vulgar Language

 

His style of expression was dramatic. In opposition to Hickey, his language was also abusive. Apart from this, Vulgar poetry was also published in it, which took the newspaper far away from  seriousness.

 

Calcutta Gazette:

 

The third prominent newspaper was published under the name of "Calcutta Gazette". This newspaper was launched from Calcutta on March 4, 1784 and its editor was famous writer  Francis Gladstone.

 

Salient features of the Calcutta Gazette were as follows:

                  Government Supervision:

 

The Calcutta Gazette was also issued with the permission of the regular government and did not publish any anti-government articles.

 

It was because it used to respond to the government opponents.

 

Famous Writer

 

Its outstanding feature is that its editor, Francis Gladstone, was a writer of high caliber. He was an expert in Persian. His book had been  translated from English to Persian and from Persian to English. He also compiled Medical Dictionary and Persian Dictionary.

 

The newspaper also had a top-notch writer and translator.

 

- Cultural Activities of Britishers

 Calcutta Gazette used to give a full report of the cultural activities of the European population and the news of important cultural events in  a reliable source.

Accountability of Governrnent

 Hickey used to present the company's misdeeds and corruption in detail and in a prominent place in satirical language. Thus in this was he was playing an important role to make people denier of East India Company, he was arising people against the company.

 

 

 

 Hicky Gazette Under Pressure

 

 In order to curb the blasphemy of Hicky Gazette the rulers imposed various restrictions on "Hicky Gazette" at different times, the details of which are briefly as follows.

 

 End of Postal Facility:

 

The Gazette continued to use foul language against the Governor General and the life of the Governor General apart from ordinary employees.

 

These aspects were thrown into the limelight due to which the facility of sending the "Hicky Gazette by post" was withdrawn and thus Hicky had to hire many hawkers and they have to keep everything, which is the reason for the weakness of the economic condition of the newspaper.

 

Missionary Zakaria and Hicky

Hicky  wrote against Zakaria, a missionary, that he was going to sell the Calcutta church. On this, the priest obtained a letter of acquittal from the Governor General and filed a complaint against Hicky in court, for which he was sentenced to four months in prison and a fine of five rupees. But he  continued to administer authority. Charges on Governor General and Chief Justice:

 

After being released from the above-mentioned case, Hicky hurled accusations at the Governor General and the Chief Justice, on which the Chief Justice ordered ,So the European soldiers were asked to arrest Hicky but Hicky  refused to be arrested him without a warrant, on which a fight broke out and the government troops had to retreat. HICKY appeared in court soon after. He was arrested and asked for a bail of 80,000 rupees, which he could not deposit. He was detained and in a case ordered by the Supreme Court to undergo one year's imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs.200.

 Corruption of Company:

 

Hicky did the printing work of thirty five thousand rupees for the company, but the  company paid only six thousand seven hundred and eleven rupees and also accepted the full compensation. The financial decline of such a gazette reached its peak and the gazette was closed down. In 1793, Hicky was in such a state that he bowed down to his greatest enemy, Darren Hustinger, and, forced by poverty, begged him to be given a small job. Thus, Adam, the father of journalism in the subcontinent, spent the last days of his life in this miserable state. We can say that Hicky's aim was not to serve art, nor was he a good artist, but still he laid the foundations of journalism and persevered through all hardships for the freedom of writing and encouraged those who came later.

 

After Hicky Gazette, the most prominent English newspaper was the India Gazette which was published in Calcutta in November 1780. This newspaper was regularly published by the Governor.

As a result, he was declared bankrupt and had to go to jail. When a person is made in prison, where in it many things,new ideas and theories are also born. Bankruptcy and the isolation of prison made him more sensitive and a unique idea in his heart popped.

 

So, to fulfill this dream, the first thing he did after coming out of jail was to establish a publishing house and then publish a newspaper.

 

Characteristics

 

Some of the salient features of Hicky Gazette were as follows:-

Newspaper Size Gazette consisted of four pages and the size of these pages was 8 x 12 inches.

 

 Staff

 

Also, the total capital of the Gazette was only owned by James Augustus. He was the reporter, he was the editor and he performed the duties of the editor, so Hicky Gazette was published thanks to that an individual that because of him Hicky Gazette was published.

 

 Dissemination:

 "Hicky Gazette was initially sent by post but Warren Hastings withdrew the postal facility from it. Thus, one appointed employer to distribute the newspaper. Thus the economic condition of the newspaper became weak.

 

 Dramatical Touch:

"In the gazette, all the content was given in a very funny and dramatic way instead of being given seriously and the news was described in a humorous language. These things increased its popularity. –

 

Obscene Language:

 

 

He never forgave anyone. All his opponents, be they ordinary people or the Governor-General, were equal. Lucky used similar language against them. He did not avoid using vulgar language in his opposition and considered it his duty to abuse his opponents, so the use of vulgar language was common in his newspaper.

 

 Advertisements:

 Every single word of which the opposition of the company dripped. Apart from sales, the most important source of newspaper income was advertising. Lucky used to place only these advertisements in his newspaper which were against the company.

 

                         False news:

False news was often given in the gazette, so people did not believe the news published in it.

 

                   Imaginary Plays:

 

Fictional dramas were also published in the gazette, which used to mock the opponents and character assassination, and every bad character was attributed with fictitious names so that the readers could easily recognize this character in real life.

Local Politics

 

The politics of the native rulers were also presented in this newspaper and the readers were informed about the prominent events happening in the native houses.

 

Vulgarity.

 

In this newspaper, like other newspapers, there were also poems of disgrace and open-ended love songs in the name of the British women were given.

When a nation enslaves another nation and after imposing slavery wants to rule the subjugated nation for a period of time, it adopts the traditions of the slaves while acting hypocritically so that the subjugated nation feels that their ruler is actually their ruler. They are true benefactors.