''Azdarar'' ( hy, Ազդարար) (pronounced Aztarar in

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...

) was the first

Armenian language Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken t ...

newspaper ever published. It was established on October 16, 1794, in the city of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

by Father

Harutyun Shmavonyan Harutyun Shmavonyan ( hy, Հարություն Շմավոնյան) (born Shiraz, Persia in 1750 - died Madras, India 1824) was a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the founder of the Armenian journalism through publishing of the Armenia ...

. It is also the first non-

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 ...

newspaper to be published in India. The monthly covered mainly cultural and historical issues. Azdarar continued for a year and a half until March 1796. During that period, Father Shmavonian published 18 issues, 965 pages in total.

Other Armenian periodical publications in India

The publication of Azdarar in Madras in 1794 culminated in a series of other pioneering Armenian language publications in other cities of India including ''Ojanaspyurian'' (in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Օճանասփիւռեան) in 1815 in Bombay, ''Hayeli Galgatian'' (in

Հայելի Կալկաթեան meaning Calcuttan Mirror in Armenian) in Calcutta in 1820 and ''Shtemaran'' (

Շտեմարան meaning repository in Armenian) in 1821 also in Calcutta, long before Constantinople (Istanbul) where the first Armenian periodical publication saw the light only in 1832․

Commemorative stamp

The Armenian postal authorities published a stamp denominated as 30

Armenian dram The dram ( hy, դրամ; sign: ֏; abbreviation: դր.; ISO code: AMD) is the currency of Armenia, and is also used in the neighboring unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma (). The Central Bank of Armen ...

s in 1994 in commemoration of Father Shmavonian and his ''Azdarar'' publication's second centennial. Harutyun Shmavonyan

New publication

''Azdarar'' is a publication under the same name has resumed in 2007, in

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 ...

(Calcutta),

, after 210 years of the cessation of the original publication, as an initiative of

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

astrophysicist Nora Andreasyan-Tomas. Azdarar is being published monthly in Calcutta, whereas the original historic publication was in Madras. It is a color magazine of average of 40 colour pages.Hetq: Վերահրատարակվում է «Ազդարար» հանդեսը
(in Armenian)

References

Armenian-language newspapers Publications established in 1794 1794 establishments in British India Madras Presidency {{Armenia-stub