HISTORY OF PRESS

HISTORY OF VERNACULAR
PRESS IN URDU

PRESENTED BY
ANTARA
CHAKROBORTHY
DIKSHITA KALADE
RAWJITH KAUR
SOUNDARYA.J

VERNACULAR PRESS

nativelanguageornativedialectofa
specificpopulation
newspaperscamefromsmallerplacesof
thecountry.
newspapers-publishedinlocallanguage
ornativelanguageorvernacularlanguage.
remarkablegrowthofvernacularpress.
Newspapersrole-creatingsocio-political
consciousness.

URDU

AssociatedwithMuslimsoftheregion
ofHindustan.
ThenationallanguageofPakistan
AnofficiallanguageoffiveIndianstates

oneofthe22scheduledlanguagesin
theConstitutionofIndia.

URDU JOURNALISM
THE FORERUNNER

ThePersiannewspapersofWestBengal
ThedeclineofPersian,RiseofUrdu.
Jam-e-Jahan Numa,aUrdunewspaper
startedinmarch27,1822.
Editor-Harihar dutta.
Foundthatitwouldbeverydifficultto
continuethepublicationofnewspaperin
Urdu
ChangedittoaPersiandailyfrommay16,
1822.

THE FIRST URDU NEWSPAPER

ThefirstUrdunewspaper-DELHI URDU
AKHBAR in 1836.
StartedbyMAULVIMOHAMMEDBAQAR.
ManyUrdunewspapersandweeklies
started.
Fourmainfactorshelpedinprogressof
Urdujournalismin3rdand4thdecadeof19th
century

FACTORS BEHIND PROGRESS OF

URDU JOURNALISM

In1830,EICdeclaredUrdutheofficial
languageforgovernmentinstitutionsand
courtoflaw.SoUrdugainedprominence.
After1835,manyvernacularlanguage
newspaperscametofrontline.Amongthose,
Urdulanguagenewspapersweremost
importantbecauseUrduwastheofficial
language.

FACTORS BEHIND PROGRESS OF

URDU JOURNALISM

In1836,Litho-typeprintingstarted.Itwas
attractiveandoflowcost.Consequently,cost
ofprintingUrdunewspaperreduced.It
becameeasiertostartanUrdunewspaper.
Urdunewspapers-suitablemediumfor
promotingwesternideas.Thegovernment
purchasedUrdunewspapers.Financially
supportedsomeofthenewspapers.

URDU NEWSPAPER-PLACES OF
PUBLICATION
Later, many new Urdu papers started in following places
Delhi,
Lahore,
Multan,
Gujarat,
Peshawar,
Rawalpindi,
Lucknow,
Bombay,
Aligarh and
Madras.

However, Delhi and Lahore are considered to be

the mother land of Urdu journalism.

READERSHIP OF URDU
NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS,
WEEKLIES.

Notveryremarkable.
Koh-e-Noor,startedbyMunshi Harsukh Rai -
highestcirculationwith350copiesaday.
Anotherweekly,Syed-ul-Akhbar-thelowest
circulationof27copies.
Majorityofthenewspapers50copiesperday.
somepapers-200copiesbecausetheBritish
took50to100copiesonpermanentbasis.

THE FIRST JOURNALIST MARTYR

MaulviMohammedBaquar-founderof
Delhi Urdu Akhbar
sentencedtodeathbyBritishgovernment.
Firstjournalisttomartyrinthehistoryof
Indianjournalism.
Anotherincident-threeyearimprisonment
giventoeditor Jamaludin ofweeklySyedul-Akhbar.
AdramaticeffectonUrdujournalism

A NEW ERA BEGINS

In1848,therewere26newspapersinIndiain
vernacularlanguage,outofwhich19wereUrdu
newspaper.
Thegreatrebellionin1857alsocalledasSepoy
mutinyaffectedthenewspapers.
Somenewspapersceasedpublication.
Afterthemajorsetbackin1857,Urdunewspaper
realignedsoon.
AneweraofUrdujournalismbegan.

A NEW ERA BEGINS

Someofthenewspapersstartedaftersepoymutinyin
1857arelistedbelow.
Oudh Akhbar, Lucknow
Tahazib-ul-Akhbar, Aligarh
The Oudh Punch, Lucknow
Akmalul Akhbar, Delhi
The Punjab Akhbar, Lahore
Shamsul Akhbar, Madras
The Khashful Akhbar, Bombay
Qasiv-ul-Akhbar,Banglore.
Outofthese,OUDH AKHBAR started in 1858livedlonger
andsoonbecameadailyundertheeditorshipofRatannath
Sarshar.

AFTER GREAT
REBELLION
In1858,Manbir

KabiruddinstartedThe
Urdu Guide -thefirstUrdudailyofCalcutta.
Roznamha-e-PunjabfromLahorein1858.
Oudh AkhbarbyMunshiNawalKishore
in1858fromLucknow

ExtensivegrowthinUrdujournalismfromthe
1850stillIndependencein1947.

FROM DELHI
ThefirstUrdunewspapersofDelhi

Fawaid-ul-Nazarinand
Kiran-us-Sadai,
FoundedbyRama Chandrain1852.
UrdupressinDelhi-highlycriticaloftheBritish
government.
Example:TheUrdu Akhbar,editedbySyed
Hasan,highlightedmanycivicissueslikedrainage,
sanitation,adulterationoffood,andcorruption.

TREND IN 1870s

In1877, Maulvi Nasir Alifounded3

newspapers-
Nusrat-ul-Akhbar,
Nusrat-ul-Islam and
Mihir-e-Darakhshan.
Focusedoncurrentcivilandpoliticalaffairs,
valuableaidsofMuslimempowerment.
In1877,Oudh Punch,startedby Sajjid
Hussain.
OudhPunch1sthumourmagazineinUrdu.

TREND IN 1870s
Thefirstwomen'sjournalinUrdu

wasAkhbar-un-Nisa.
Duringthistime,Urdujournalist
startedusingcartoonsand
humourwasusedaswayin
newspapertoattractreaders.
Theprofessionthrewupacouple
oftalentedcartoonist.

IN 1880s AND 1890s

In1880s,weekliescameout.
Akhbar-i-aam, edited by Pandit
Gopinath
Paisa Akhbar , edited by Munshi
Mahboob Aalam
AnewphaseofUrdujournalismbegan.
Newspapers-popularformorethanhalf
century.
Coveragewasvaried
Butnotextensive.

IN 1880s AND 1890s

Anelementaddedtotheiradvertisements.
Editorialcomment-betterinformed.
Ranoncommerciallinesandachieved
success.
Bytheendof19thcentury,Paisa Akhbar
surpassedalltheotherUrdunewspapers
incirculation.

BEGINNING OF 20TH CENTURY

Tookonastronglynationalisticnote
towardstheturnofthe20thcentury.
Politicalandsocialissuesdominated.
Thepoliticalandsocialmovements
launchedbyCongress,
theMuslimleague,
Aaryasamaj,
Khilafatcommittee,
Aligarhmovement.

BEGINNING OF 20TH CENTURY

Thestylemoreforceful
Amuchricherandvariedvocabulary
developed
Resultofincreasedtempoandwidening
ofhorizons.
NewspaperslikeZameendar,
Hindustan, Al Hilal, Paisa Akhbar,
oudh Akhbar introducedthepolitical
purposefulnessofjournalism.

20

TH

CENTURY

MaulanaMuhammadAliJauharstartedNaqeeb-eHamdardin1912.
Anotherpowerfulpoliticalperiodicalwasthe
Madina,editedbyHamidulAnsari.
ThegreatestUrduperiodicalthattimewasAlHilal,
startedbyMaulanaAbulKalamAzad
Aweekly,Al-Hilalcreatedpoliticalandreligious
consciousnessamongthemuslims.
putequalimportanceoncontentandpresentation
includingthelayoutanddesign.
thepatternofEgyptiannewspapers.
assetwasthecontent.
styleofexpression.

20

TH

CENTURY

In1919,ThePratapwasstartedinLahoreby
MahsheKrishnan.
vigorouslysupportedGandhispoliciesandthe
IndianNationalCongress.
avictimofgovernmentharassmentand
suspendedpublicationseveraltimes.
In1923,theAryaSamajstartedThe Milap,a
dailyinLahore.
Itwasknownforitspowerfulnationalistic
editorials.
JawaharlalNehrufoundedQaumi Awaazin1945.

FATHER OF URDU JOURNALISM

Maulana

Zafar Ali Khan, fatherof

Urdujournalism
Tookchargeofzameendhar and
converteditintoarevolutionarypress.
Zameendar,startedinLahorein1903.
ThefirstUrdunewspaperto
subscribetonewsagencies.

FATHER OF URDU JOURNALISM

Zameendarwasintenselynationalistic
Circulationover30,000copies
MainlyduetoeffortsofZafarAliKhan.
AttractedtheMuslimyouthofPunjab.
Noimportantincidentswereleftuncovered

bythisveteranjournalist.
HehelpedPakistanmovementgain
momentum.

DURING AND AFTER PARTITION

Urdujournalismsufferedheavily,duringand
afterPartition.
RiotsinLahoreleadtomobsraidingthe
officeofMilapandburningmachinesand
newsprint.
ItsManagingEditor,Ranbirwasstabbed
andthepaperwasclosedforsixweeks.It
thenshiftedtoDelhi.
Duetotheunrest,thePratapalsoshiftedto
Delhi.

DURING AND AFTER PARTITION

Atthetimeofpartitiontherewere415Urdu

newspapers.
Afterpartition345ofthemremainedinIndia
AspertheRNIreportof1957,therewere513
Urdunewspapersandthecombinedcirculation
was7.48lakh.
FiftyyearslaterthenumberofUrdudailies
alonewas3168andthecombinedcirculation
ofallUrdunewspaperswas1.7croreasper
RNIreport2007.

DURING AND AFTER PARTITION

UrdunewspapersafterpartitioninIndia

areDawat,NaiDuniya,apopularUrdu
weekly
After1980s,agradualdeclineinthe
numberofpublicationsandreadership.
Someceasedpublication.Forexample,in
WestBengalShan-e-Millat,Imroze,AsreJadeed,GhaziandIqrawereclosed.
In21stcentury,anumberofnew
newspapersmakingtheirentry.

TODAYS SCENARIO

Morenumberofurdunewspaperspublishedtoday
Till2006AndhraPradeshhadthemaximum
numberofregisteredUrdunewspapers(506)
MumbaihaveseveralUrdupublicationsincluding
TheInquilabdailyandUrduTimes.
WestBengal,especiallyKolkatahasasizable
numberofUrdupublications.
In2005therewerefiveUrdudailiesinKolkata:
AzadHind,RozanaHind,Akhbaar-e-
Mashrique,AabshaarandAkkas.

TODAY,S SCENARIO-GETTING INTO

INTERNET

HyderabadbasedSiyasatwasthefirstUrdu
newspapertostartawebeditioninlate90s.
SeveralotherUrdupublicationspresentlyhave
theirwebedition.SOMEURDUNEWSPAPES
PRESENTTODAY
Hamara Samaj
Hindustan Express
Inquilab, Mumbai
Jadeed Mail, New Delhi
Jadid Khabar, New Delhi
Munsif,Hyderabad
Rashtriya Sahara
Roznama Sahafat
Siasat, Hyderabad
Urdu Times, Mumbai.

REFERENCES

1)Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee; Professor, Indian Institute of Mass

Communication www.mrinalchatterjee.in
-http://www.orissadiary.com/
2)WIKIPEDIA-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/urdu
3)www.docstoc.com/docs/23631682/History-of-Urdu-Journalism
4)madrasa.wordpress.com/category/urdu-journalism/
5)www.gktoday.in
6)www.thefreedictionary.in
7)www.mediahive.co.in
8)www.urdumediamonitor.com
9)blogs.thenews.com.pk
10)www.nusratalinsari.com
11)www.google.co.in

THANK
YOU