Newspapers during the freedom struggle in India were an important source of mass communication throughout the country. Leaders like Devendra Nath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, etc., used the newspaper to spread awareness among the masses. The impact of these journals and newspapers was limited to towns and cities and reached remote villages.
Newspapers during British Rule in India propagated the idea of patriotism, equality, the modern idea of democracy, and most importantly, ideas of freedom.
| Magazines/books/News Paper (Year) | Place of Publication | Name of Founder/Editor | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bengal Gazette (Calcutta General Advertiser), (1780) | Calcutta | Augustus Hickey | The first newspaper (weekly) was started in India. |
| Madras Courier (1784-85) | Madras | Richard Johnston. | First paper from Madras. |
| India Gazette (1787) | Calcutta | Derozio was associated with it. | |
| Bombay Herald (1789) | Bombay | James Mackenzie Maclean | First paper from Bombay. |
| Indian Herald (1795) | Madras | Started by R. Williams | Published in English by Humphreys. |
| Digdarshana (1818) | Calcutta | John Clark Marshman | First Bengali monthly. |
| Calcutta Journal (1818) | Calcutta | J.S. Buckingham | |
| Bengal Gazette (1818) | Calcutta | Harishchandra Ray | First Bengali newspaper. |
| Sambad Kaumudi (1821) | Calcutta | Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Weekly in Bengali. |
| Mirat-ul-Akbar (1822) | Calcutta | Raja Ram Mohan Roy | First journal in Persian. |
| Jam-i-Jahan Numah (1822) | Calcutta | An English Firm | First paper in Urdu |
| Banga-Duta (1822) | Calcutta | Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and others | A weekly in four Languages English, Bengali, Persian,Hindi |
| Bombay Samachar (1822) | Bombay | Fardunjee Marzban | First paper in Gujarati |
| East Indian (daily) | Henry Vivian Derozio | ||
| Bombay Times (1838) | Bombay | Founded by Robert Knight and started by Thomas Bennett. | Became The Times of India’ from 1861 onwards, |
| Rast Goftar (1851) | Dadabhai Naoroji | a Gujarati Fortnghtly | |
| Hindu Patriot (1853 ) | Calcutta | Girishchandra Ghosh (later, Harishchandra Mukherjee became owner-cum-editor) | |
| Somaprakasha (1858) | Calcutta | Dwarkanath Vidyabhushan | First Bengali political paper |
| Indian Mirror (1862) | Calcutta | Devendranath Tagore | Fortnightly-first Indian daily paper in English |
| Bengalee (1862) | Calcutta | Girishchandra Ghosh (taken over by S.N. Banerjee in 1879) | This along with Amrita Bazar Patrika are the first vernacular paper |
| National Paper (1865) | Calcutta | Devendranath Tagore | |
| Madras Mail (1868) | Madras | First evening paper in India | |
| Amrita Bazar Patrika (1868) | Jessore District | Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh | A daily, initially in Bengali but later converted to English. |
| Bangadarshan (1873) | Calcutta | Bankimchandra Chatterji | It was in Bengali |
| Indian Statesman (1875) | Calcutta | Started by Robert Knight | Later It was called as The Statesman. |
| Pioneer (1876) | Allahabad | George Allen | In English |
| Deenbandhu (1877) | Pune | Krishnarao Pandurang Bhalekar | first newspaper in India to cater explicitly to the labouring people |
| The Hindu (1878) | Madras | G.S. Aiyar, Viraraghavachari and Subba Rao Pandit | Started as English weekly newspaper |
| Tribune ( 1881) | Lahore | Dayal Singh Majeetia | A daily newspaper |
| Kesari (1881) | Bombay | Tilak, Chiplukar, Agarkar | Marathi daily |
| Maharatta (1881) | Bombay | Tilak, Chiplukar, Agarkar | English weekly |
| Swadeshamitram | Madras | G.S.Aiyar | A Tamil paper |
| Paridasak (1886) | Bipin Chandra Pal | A weekly | |
| Yugantar (1906) | Bengal | Barindra Kumar Gosh and Bhupendranath Dutta | |
| Sandhya (1906) | Bengal | Brahmabandhab Upadhyay | |
| Kal (1906) | Maharashtra | ||
| Indian Sociologist (1908) | London | Shyamji Krishnavarma | Started as part of freedom struggle in other country. |
| Bande Mataram (1909) | Paris | Madam Bhikaji Cama | |
| Talvar (1909) | Berlin | Virendranath Chattopadhyay | |
| Free Hindustan (1907) | Vancouver | Taraknath Das | English version |
| Ghadar (1913) | San Francisco | Gadar party | In Punjabi and English |
| Reshwa (1908) | Ajit Singh | ||
| Al-Hilal (1912) | Calcutta | Abul Kalam Azad | Urdu |
| Al-Balagh (1914) | Calcutta | Abul Kalam Azad | Urdu |
| Bombay Chronicle (1913) | Bombay | Pherozeshah Mehta | |
| Commonweal (1914) | Madras | Annie Besant | a weekly newspaper |
| Independent (1919) | Motilal Nehru | An English weekly | |
| Young India (1919) | Ahmedabad | Mahatma Gandhi | In English |
| Satya (1919) | Mahatma Gandhi | ||
| Navjivan (1919) | Ahmedabad | Mahatma Gandhi | In Gujarati |
| Harijan | Pune | Mahatma Gandhi | In Hindi and Gujarati |
| The Hindustan Times (1920) | Delhi | K.M. Panikkar | Founded as part of Akali Dal Movement |
| The Milap (1923) | Lahore | M.K. Chand | Urdu daily |
| Leader (1924) | Allahabad | Madan Mohan Malaviya | It was in English |
| Kirti (1926) | Punjab | Santosh singh | |
| Bahishkrit Bharat (1927) | Bombay | B. R. Ambedkar | A Marathi fortnightly |
| Kudi Arasu (1910) | Madras | E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker | Tamil Paper |
| Kranti (1927) | Maharashtra | S.S. Mirajkar, K.N.Joglekar, S.V.Ghate | |
| Langal and Ganabani (1927) | Bengal | Gopu Chakravarti and Dharani Goswami | |
| Bandi Jivan (1922) | Bengal | Sachindranath Sanyal | |
| National Herald (1938) | New Delhi | Jawaharlal Nehru | A daily newspaper |