Press in Sub- Continent During and After1857 MCOM 309: Media History

The 1857 Saga and the Press Till May 1857 there was no change in the laws g overning the newspapers in India. When the War broke out in May 1857, the Indian press had no less than, 75 years old tradition. Apart from English language press, which was la rgely patronized by the British ruling class, press may be classified into four categories.

The 1857 Saga and the Press English and vernacular press that enjoyed full su pport and patronage of East India Company, their officers and other English citizens, and was playi ng its role accordingly. Jam-i Jahan Numa, Fawa’id al-Nadrin, Qiran al- Sa’adayn, Koh-i -Noor, Qadar al-Akhbar, Kurrac hi Advertiser, Lahore Chronicle and The Panjabe e are only a few to mention.

The 1857 Saga and the Press Those English, Bengali, Persian and other language newsp apers, which were founded by educated Indians, like Raja R am Mohan Rai, Dawarka Nath Tegore, Hari Dutt and many others. Their reformist press was different from that of Delhi and adj oining areas. These nationalist Indians used their press with a complete u nderstanding of the changing political economic and cultural environment with major focus on development of society an d the people.

The 1857 Saga and the Press There were some Urdu newspapers that were supported by the rulers and Nawabs of Indian States, Mostly these newspapers pleased the newspaper owners or to make use of them for achieving certain goals. For example, Raja of Nepal, supported Banaras Gazette. M adhur-al-Suroor of Bharat Pur, Gawaliar Gazette and Bagh- o-Bahar, Banaras come in this category. Those Urdu and Persian newspapers which were coming ou t from the areas where war actually broke out, like Delhi and adjoining areas, Lukhnow, Agra and Banaras.

Enforcement of the Gagging Act 1857 Promulgated by the Governor General Lord Canning on 13t h June 1857, a new press regulation was imposed in whole of the India as an immediate result of the 1857 uprising. According to the new law, all the newspapers have to get lic ense before their inception. government of East India Company was determined to curta il the press freedom to make the native rebellious press und er control. Anglo-Indian press started campaigning against the Muslims and demanded their literal extermination and exclusion from all government posts.

Enforcement of the Gagging Act 1857 According to one source, the Urdu press of India, before the War of Independence, was consisted of 103 newspapers inc luding printing presses. In 1853 the number of Urdu newspapers was thirty-five whic h, in 1858, came down to only twelve, Out of which there were six old and six new newspapers; And out of these twelve, the editor of only one newspaper w as a Muslim.

Reporting the War: Some Reflectio ns from Urdu and Persian Newspapers Dilli Urdū Akhbar of Moulvi Mohammad Baqar, who was sen tenced to death by the British rulers on charges of supportin g the mutiny, is said to play the most courageous role during the War. This newspaper, that earlier had a very careful tone, seeme d completely changed once the revolt started. The text of the paper that contained the news of revolt bega n with the verses of Holy Quran

Reporting the War: Some Reflectio ns from Urdu and Persian Newspapers Editor declared: “The mighty rulers whose strength, rule and administration, could not even imagine of the downfall, it did happen in the blink of an eye … Most of the people still think whether this all has happened or they are still in a state of dream.” In the subsequent text the editor gave an objective eyewitn ess account of the events that took place on 11th May 1857 in Delhi. The paper continued to publish the contents that reflected di fferent dimensions of the revolt; these contents were filled wi th anti-English sentiments.

Reporting the War: Some Reflectio ns from Urdu and Persian Newspapers Following are the extracts of the news items published in the issue of 24th May: Kol: It has been heard that four companies of Kol appeared before the king after disgracing the English, killing every En glishman they came across and allowed the people to loot t he treasury and the public looted it thoroughly and everyone grabbed what he would catch hold of. Lucknow: It is reported that in Lucknow Englishman suffered the way they feared. It is also rumoured that the brother of t he deposed king who was known to be mad has occupied th e throne and the state is being ruled in his name.

Reporting the War: Some Reflectio ns from Urdu and Persian Newspapers Sadiq al-Akhbar while supporting the revolt also published f atwa of 35 Ulema in which fight against British was openly d eclared as Jihad. After the War of Independence the editor of Sadiq al-Akhbar, Jamiluddin Khan, was arrested on charges of misreporting against the Government and was sentenced to jail for three years.

Reporting the War Persian and Urdu newspapers of that era played a vital role in creating and forming anti-British public opinion, even prior to the War. When the war finally broke out, their tone became even bitte r against the policies of the East India Company and expres sion of dissent and discontent became louder. The content of almost all the Persian newspapers are found to be filled with disclosures of the ruler’s wrongdoings. Mah‘alam Afroz, AÍsan al-Akhbār and A’inah-i Sikandri are t he few other newspapers of this cadre. These had to pay very heavy prices in the form of forcible cl osures, trials and punitive action even life sentences.

Tone of the press after 1857 Government seemed to have given official patronage and su bsidies to a few loyal papers which were there to avail them selves of the opportunity. Great rebellion of 1857 had impacted Urdu journalism in ter ms of number of publication, volume of circulation and conte nt. While some new Urdu papers appeared during this period, a much larger number ceased publication. The number of publications dropped from 35 in 1853 to 12 i n 1858.

Major Newspaper Some major papers like the Oudh Akhbar Lucknow; the Scintific Gazette, Aligarh, the Tahazib-ul- Akhlaq,Aligarh; the Oudh Punch, Lucknow; the Akmalul Akhbar, Delhi; the Punjab Akhbar, Lahore; the Shamsul Akhbar, Madras; the Kashful Akhbar, Bombay; the Qasim-ul-Akhbar, Bangalore and the Asiful Akhbar Hyderabad.

Oudh Akhbar Launched in 1858 from the Naval Kishore Press in Luckno w, Oudh Akhbar was the most lucrative journalistic venture. At a time when most Urdu papers were short-lived, it remain ed in circulation up to the year 1950, its life span of almost a century covering a crucial period in the history of colonial In dia. Oudh Akhbar lived long and was soon converted into a daily. It shot into great prominence under the editorship of Ratan Nath'Sarshar'.

Oudh Akhbar Oudh Akhbar is credited with having “launched the career o f one of the most important prose fiction writers in Urdu Rata n Nath Sarshar who, in turn, brought about the heyday of th e paper’s fame. Aim of newspaper was to work towards the progress and we lfare of India by informing and educating the Indian public th rough a broad news coverage. Yet at the same time the paper also assumed the function of a literary journal. It promoted both poetry and prose writing, covered literary e vents, announced new publications and provided a forum for literary debate.