''Gram Barta Prokashika'' ( bn, গ্রাম বার্তা প্রকাশিকা, links=no) is a

Bengali 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 ...

weekly newspaper published by Kangal Harinath Majumder in April 1863. Initially, it was printed at Girish Vidyaratna Press 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 ...

. The publication was shifted to Mathuranath Press at

Kumarkhali Kumarkhali (spelt Commercolly in old British Indian documents) is a town in Kushtia District in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. ...

Kushtia Kushtia ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া) is a city in the Khulna Division of southwestern Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh largest city in the country. The second largest city in Khulna div ...

in 1864.

History

Majumder was an employee of a British-owned indigo production factory. He left the job and moved to Kumarkhali, a small town in

Kushtia District Kushtia District ( bn, কুষ্টিয়া জেলা, pronunciation: ''kuʃʈia'') is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia is the second largest municipality in Bangladesh and the eleventh l ...

in present-day Bangladesh. He started teaching students and decided to publish his own newspaper. In June–July 1864, the newspaper became a fortnightly and a weekly in April–May 1871. In 1873, the Kumarkhali press was donated to Majumder by its owner, Mathuranath Maitreya. Maitreya was the father of historian

Akshay Kumar Maitreya Akshay Kumar Maitreya ( bn, অক্ষয় কুমার মৈত্রেয়) (1 March 1861–10 February 1930) was an Indian historian and social worker from Bengal. Life Maitreya was born in Nadia (now in West Bengal) to Mathu ...

. The writer

Mir Mosharraf Hossain Mir Mosharraf Hossain ( bn, মীর মশাররফ হোসেন; 1847–1912) was a Bengali writer, novelist, playwright and essayist. He is considered to be the first major writer to emerge from the Muslim society of Bengal, and one ...

wrote part of his classic novel Bishad Shindhu inside the press building. The novel and

Lalon Lalon ( bn, লালন; 14 October 1772 – 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji and titled Fakir, Shah, was a prominent Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of ...

's songs were first published here.

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

allocated a budget of Tk 6 crore to build a museum to preserve the press.

References

{{reflist Publications established in 1863 Bengali-language newspapers published in India Weekly newspapers published in Bangladesh Organisations based in Kushtia District