The Bengali Press (1818-1868)- A Study in the Growth of Public Opinion (An Old and Rare Book)

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BENGAL Occupies a unique position in the history of Indian journalism. It is the birth place of both the first English and the first vernacular newspaper in India. It is well-known that most of the important socio-religious, educational and political movements of the last century, out of which evolved modern India, first emanated from this part of the country. The story of this historic transformation is inter-woven with the history of the Bengali press. The present work is an attempt to make a comprehensive and critical study of the role of the Bengali press (i.e., all newspapers, journals and periodicals published in the Bengali language) as the builder as well as the vehicle of public opinion in Bengal during the period 1818 to 1868. Our period begins with the appearance of the first Bengali paper and ends with the birth of the Amrita Bazar Patrika. In other words, it covers the first fifty years of the eventful history of Bengali journalism.

It may be underlined that the present work is not a conventional history of the Bengali press. It is a study of the growth of public opinion in Bengal, revealing how the intelligent, responsive and to some extent the restive sections of the people of this province were reacting and responding to the forces of change and modernisation and the injustice and abuses of the British administration. Though a number of articles and a few books have been written on the subject their main purpose has been to present a mere factual or rather chronological account of the history of the press in Bengal or India. Even when views of some important and well-known papers or journals have been quoted, very often no attempt has been made to relate them to the historical forces in operation or to the subsequent developments. The impact and effectiveness, or otherwise, of the views and comments that appeared in the periodicals and newspapers have not properly been examined and assessed. The present work is an attempt to make such a systematic study of the role of the Bengali press.