''Amrita Bazar Patrika'' was one of the oldest

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s in India. Originally published in

Bengali script Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, it evolved into an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

format published from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and other locations such as

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literall ...

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

and

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

. The paper discontinued its publication in 1991 after 123 years of publication. Its sister newspaper was the Bengali-language daily newspaper ''Jugantar'', which remained in circulation from 1937 till 1991. It debuted on 20 February 1868. It was started by

Sisir Ghosh Sisir Ghosh is a former Indian professional footballer who played as a striker for local Kolkata clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. He also represented the India national team. International career Ghosh made his competitive debut for the In ...

and Moti Lal Ghosh, sons of Hari Naryan Ghosh, a rich merchant from Magura, in District Jessore, in Bengal Province of British Empire in India. The family had constructed a

Bazaar A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...

and named it after Amritamoyee, wife of Hari Naryan Ghosh. Sisir Ghosh and Moti Lal Ghosh started ''Amrita Bazar Patrika'' as a weekly first. It was first edited by Motilal Ghosh, who did not have a formal university education. It had built its readership as a rival to ''Bengalee'' which was being looked after by

Surendranath Banerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nati ...

. After Sisir Ghosh retired, his son

Tushar Kanti Ghosh Tushar Kanti Ghosh (September 21, 1898 – August 29, 1994) was an Indian journalist and writer. For sixty years, until shortly before his death, Ghosh was the editor of the English-language newspaper ''Amrita Bazar Patrika'' in Kolkata. He also ...

became editor for the next sixty years, running the newspaper from 1931 to 1991.

History

''Amrita Bazaar Patrika'' was the oldest Indian-owned English daily. It played a major role in the evolution and growth of Indian journalism and made a striking contribution to creating and nurturing the

Indian freedom struggle The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

. In 1920, Russian Communist revolutionary

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

described ''ABP'' as the best nationalist paper in India. ''ABP'' was born as a Bengali weekly in February 1868 in the village of Amrita Bazaar in Jessore district (now in Bangladesh). It was started by the Ghosh brothers to fight the cause of peasants who were being exploited by indigo planters. Sisir Kumar Ghosh was the first editor. The ''Patrika'' operated out of a battered wooden press purchased for Rs 32. In 1871, the ''Patrika'' moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata), due to the outbreak of plague in Amrita Bazaar. Here it functioned as a bilingual weekly, publishing news and views in English and Bengali. Its anti-government views and vast influence among the people was a thorn in the flesh of the government. Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India promulgated the Vernacular Press Act on 1878 mainly against ABP. The ''Patrika'' became a daily in 1891. It was the first Indian-owned English daily to go into investigative journalism. During the tenure of Lord Lansdowne, a ''Patrika'' journalist rummaged through the waste paper basket of the Viceroy's office and pieced together a torn up letter detailing the Viceroy's plans to annex Kashmir. ''ABP'' published the letter on its front page, where it was read by the Maharaja of Kashmir, who immediately went to London and lobbied for his independence. Sisir Kumar Ghosh also launched vigorous campaigns against restrictions on civil liberties and economic exploitation. He wanted Indians to be given important posts in the administration. Both he and his brother Motilal were deeply attached to Bal Gangadhar Tilak. When Tilak was prosecuted for sedition in 1897, they raised funds in Calcutta for his defence. They also published a scathing editorial against the judge who sentenced Tilak to 6 years of imprisonment, for 'presuming to teach true patriotism to a proved and unparalleled patriot.' The ''Patrika'' had many brushes with

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

, the Viceroy of India at the time of the Partition of Bengal (1905). It referred to him as 'Young and a little foppish, and without previous training but invested with unlimited powers.' Because of such editorials, the Press Act of 1910 was passed and a security of Rs 5,000 was demanded from ABP. Motilal Ghosh was also charged with sedition but his eloquence won the case. After this, the ''Patrika'' started prefacing articles criticising the British government with ridiculously exuberant professions of loyalty to the British crown. When Subhas Chandra Bose and other students were expelled from Calcutta Presidency College, the ''Patrika'' took up their case and succeeded in having them re-admitted. Even after Motilal Ghosh's death in 1922, the ''Patrika'' kept up its nationalist spirit. Higher securities of Rs 10,000 were demanded from it during the

Salt Satyagraha The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

. Its editor Tushar Kanti Ghosh (son of Sisir Kumar Ghosh) was imprisoned. The ''Patrika'' contributed its share to the success of its freedom movement under the leadership of Gandhi and suffered for its views and actions at the hands of the British rulers. The ''Patrika'' espoused the cause of communal harmony during the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. During the great Calcutta killings of 1946, the ''Patrika'' left its editorial columns blank for three days. When freedom dawned on 15 August 1947, the ''Patrika'' published in an editorial: ''It is dawn, cloudy though it is. Presently sunshine will break.''

References

External links

*
Endangered Archive Project, CSSSC

Nehru Memorial Museum & Library

Bengali-language newspapers published in India Defunct newspapers published in India English-language newspapers published in India Newspapers published in Kolkata Newspapers established in 1868 Daily newspapers published in India 1868 establishments in India 1991 disestablishments in India ABP Group Newspapers owned by Patrika Group

History

Archives

References

External links