PRESS & JOURNALISM IN PRE-INDEPENDENCE ERA | RAS EXAM

Published on June 4, 2021 by Abhishek Shekhawat |
Last Updated on March 14, 2023 by Abhishek Shekhawat

INTRODUCTION

Journalism played an important role in freedom movement against British rule in India. It was an attempt to propagate political and social awareness among masses in their vernacular languages. In Rajasthan too, this revolution began in 20^th century.The very first print media in Rajasthan was ‘Litho Press’ was established by a Christian Missionary in Beawar in 1864. It published books based on religion, school, Bible etc.Most of the newspapers were published in Ajmer.The major newspapers of Rajasthan were:

• Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar – Maharana Sajjan Singh got inspired by the works of Dayanand Saraswati and published this in 1879. It was an official gazette of Mewar written in Hindi. It included only administrative news.
• Rajputana Gazette – It was a bilingual newspaper by Maulvi Murad Ali. It was published in 1885 in Ajmer. It had the purpose of removing fear of ruler class among common people.
• Aagi Baan – This magazine was started by Jaynarayan Vyas in 1937 to educate people about evil practice of Jagidari and Samanti system. It called for an agitation against the cruelty.
• Naveen Rajasthan – In 1922, it was started by Rajasthan Sewa Sangh and later Vijay Singh Pathak took control over its publication. The objective was to uncover the mistreatment and suppression of peasants and Bheels.
• Tarun Rajasthan – It was published and edited by Ramnarayan Chaudhary and Shobhalal Gupt for 10 years between 1920-30 to reveal the killings of people in Neemuch, Sirohi and Jodhpur.
• Rajputana Samachar – It was popularly circulated in Jaipur from 1850-60. It was published and edited by Master Kanhayalal. It was written in Hindi and Urdu. The aim was to criticize corrupt policies of the government.
• Prabhat – Printed by Lalit Narayan in 1932. The editors were Sidhraj Dhadha and Satyadev Vidyalankar. It raised awareness among people to develop self-respect against British atrocities.
• Rajasthan Times – It was published in 1885 in Ajmer by Bakshi Lakshmandas. This journal in English language uncovered the shortcomings of the administration. Its Hindi version came out in 1889 in the name of Rajasthan Samachar which was edited by Munshi Samarthdan.
• Rajasthan Herald – It was published by Hanuman Singh in 1885 in Ajmer. It revealed the scam of bandobast and several other flaws of the government under Additional Governor General.
• Rajasthan Weekly – It was published in Beawar in 1923 by Rishidatt Mehta. It highlighted the concerns of the public of Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Hadoti.
• Rajasthan Kesari – Vijay Singh Pathak published and edited this newspaper in 1919 in Wardha. It covered the issues of peasants of Bijolia in the front page of the newspaper. The manager of the Publication was Haribhari Kinkar while edited by Ishwardan Aasiyan and Ramnarayan Chaudhary. It was financially sponsored by Jamanalal Bajaj.

 OTHER IMPORTANT NEWSPAPERS:

• Navjyoti – By Durgaprasad Chaudhary in 1936
• Akhand Bharat – By Jaynarayan Vyas in 1936 in Bombay
• Vaibhav – By Jagannath Adhikari in 1920
• Jaipur Samachar – 1935
• Kal ki Duniya – 1940
• Praja Sewak – 1940
• Audambar and Navjeevan – By Haribhau Upadhayay in 1939
• The Bandhu – 1944
• Naya Rajasthan – by Ramnarayan Chaudhary
• Mewar ke Vartmaan Shashan – financed by Manikyalal Verma in Ajmer
• Pratap – Edited by Vijay Singh Pathik and funded by Ganesh Shankar in Kanpur
• Sarawati – A magazine published by Haribhau Upadhayay and edited by Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi
• Navyuva Sandesh and Karmabhumi – Edited by Sanwal Prasad Chaturvedi in 1942
• Rajasthan Patrika – By Kapurchand Kulish in 1956