HISTORY OF
PRINTING
It is believed
that Johannes Gutenberg of Germany was the first to develop printing around
1439. With printing, there was a revolution in the way communication developed.
Knowledge and
information, which were till then the monopoly of certain sections of the upper
strata of society, slowly became available to ordinary people. Spread of
knowledge, available in print between two hard covers, was fast. Schools,
colleges and universities were places with their libraries making books
available to those who wanted to read even if they could not afford to buy
them. Later newspapers and journals also became popular.
Have you seen a
palm leaf? There was a time when people used to write on palm leaves. This was
before the discovery of paper. Some of the old manuscripts written on palm
leaves are preserved in our National Manuscript Library in Delhi.
The Chinese were
the first to invent the art of printing. They made wooden blocks to print
letters. This was started during the period of the Tang Dynasty in 600 AD. The
oldest known surviving printed work in a woodblock is a Buddhist scripture of
684 AD. It is now exhibited in a calligraphy museum in Tokyo, the capital of
Japan.
The first
printed book published in China was the Buddhist text, the “Diamond Sutra” by
Wang Chick in 868 AD. Some copies of the Buddhist scriptures printed in 1377
are preserved in museums in China.
Can you imagine
a world without paper? Nowadays paper has become an integral part of our life.
We read papers in the morning, write on note books made of paper, send letters
on paper, use paper boxes to carry things and so on and so forth. You have
learnt in an earlier lesson how this paper is made. Though the Egyptians made
paper by 3500 BC, it came to Europe only by the 11th century. The
first paper mill in Europe was set up in Spain in 1120.
Block printing
came to Europe by 1300. It is believed that Johannes Gutenburg of Germany had
developed printing technology around 1439. Gutenburg also invented an oil-based
ink for printing. He printed the Bible in 1450. It was in the Latin language
and had 1282 pages .He used movable printing blocks for the book.
Printing
technology came to India in 1556. It was the Jesuit priests who brought this
technology to our country. The first book printed in India was in Portugese
language in Old Goa. It was Doctrina Christa by St. Francis Xavier.
THE FIRST NEWSPAPER
Which was the
first newspaper published in the world? It is very difficult to point out a
single newspaper as the first one. During the Maurya period, kings used to
circulate news to the people as proclamations. In ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or
government announcements, were published regularly. They were inscribed in
metal or stone. These can be considered as the earliest form of newspapers. In
China also, the government produced such news sheets called tipao.
Many researchers
consider “The Peking Gazette”, published from China, as the first newspaper. It
was started in 618 .In the initial stages, this newspaper was hand written and
distributed to the readers. Later it was printed and circulated. The Peking
Gazette continued its publication till the beginning of the twentieth century.
In England , “The
Weekly News” was launched in 1622. The first newspaper in the modern concept
was published in Oxford in 1655 .It was the “Oxford
Gazette”.
The first
newspaper to be published from London was the Daily Courant. It was edited by
E. Mallet. In 1784, John Walter launched the “Daily Universal Register” from
London which later adopted a new name “ The Times”. It is known to be one of
the greatest newspapers in the world.
In USA, the
first newspaper was “Public Occurances”, which was launched in 1690. Postmaster
John Campbell started another paper in 1704, “The Boston Newsletter”. In 1783, “Pensilvania
Evening Post” was started in USA that had all the features and content of a
modern newspaper. Later in 1851 came “The New York Times”.
Do you know
which the largest circulated newspaper in the world is? In which country is it
published? The largest circulated newspaper is the “Yomi Yuri Shimbun”
published from Japan. It has a circulation of 1, 45, 57, 000 copies per day.
The second and third largest circulated dailies in the world are also published
from Japan.
NEWSPAPER
PRINTING IN INDIA
Do you know the
old name of Kolkata City? It is Calcutta. Did you know that Calcutta was once
the capital city of India? From 1774 to 1922 Calcutta was the Capital of India.
Calcutta has also many other firsts in the history of India.
The first
Railway Company was started here. The first Metro Rail was also in this City.
The first Post and Telegraph office and the first western style bank were also
opened in Calcutta. Our Supreme Court also began functioning from that city.
All of you must
have heard about Nobel Prizes. Calcutta city gave the country five Nobel
Laureates, Rabindranath Tagore, Sir C. V Raman, Mother Theresa, Ronald Rose and
Amartya Sen.
You will find it
interesting to note that Calcutta has one more first. It was from Calcutta that
the first newspaper was published from India. It was a Britisher who started
the first newspaper in our country. On January 29, 1780 James Augustus Hickey
launched the “Bengal Gazette”. It has another title “Calcutta Advertiser”. It
was popularly known as “Hickey’s Gazette”. The first issue of the paper had two
pages and later it was increased to four pages. It’s size was 35 cms x 24 cms.
The British East
India Company did not consider freedom of the press as good for society. They
tried to suppress publication of newspapers. Hickey was a very bold editor. He
continued his criticism of British authorities. He published reports attacking
the East India Company officials. The British authorities arrested Hickey many
times. Finally, they confiscated his paper and press in 1782 and stopped its
publication. Hickey was asked to leave the country. He was sent back to
England. Copies of the Bengal Gazette are still kept in the National Library in
Kolkata and the British Museum in London.
Following in
Hickey’s footsteps in 1780, the second newspaper was launched from Calcutta “The
Indian Gazette”. The “Calcutta Gazette” which started publication in 1784 and
the “Bengal Journal” which was launched in 1785 were the third and fourth
newspapers to come out from Calcutta.
All these four
earlier papers were published in the English language. Slowly newspapers
started coming out from other parts of the country also. The “Madras Courier ”
(1785) and “ Madras Gazette” (1795) were started from Madras. From Mumbai, the
“Mumbai Herald” was launched in 1789.
The Gujarati
daily “Mumbai Samachar” published from Mumbai is the oldest existing newspaper
not only in India but also in Asia. It was established in 1822.
CULTURAL
AWAKENING AND FREEDOM MOVEMENT
Towards the end
of the 19th
century,
many social reformers began actively campaigning for radical changes in Indian
society. The reformation of Hinduism, the move for abolition of sati and efforts
to encourage widow remarriage were some of the major reforms. Inspired by these
great leaders, many newspapers were started in different parts of the country.
All this led to a boom in the newspaper industry in India.
Some of the
leading English newspapers were also launched during this time. “The Times of
India” (1861) was started as a paper supporting the British. Many of you might
have heard about “The Jungle Book”. The author of “The Jungle Book” , Rudyard
Kipling, started “The Pioneer” in 1866 from Allahabad.
“The Amrita Bazar Patrika”(1868), “The
Statesman” (1875), “The Hindu” (1887) and “The Tribune”( 1880) were also
started during this period. “The Hindustan Times” was started later, in 1923.
In the regional languages, some papers that were launched during that period continue
even now as leading papers like “Malayala Manorama” (1888).
When Mahatma
Gandhi returned to India, he gave a great impetus to the freedom movement. He
was also a great editor. He took over “Young India”, the weekly started by the
Home Rule Party in 1918. Gandhiji also launched another weekly, called the “Navjeevan”,
in Gujarati. Later, Gandhiji started the “Harijan” under the editorship of
Mahadev Desai. Gandhiji insisted that his papers will not carry any
advertisements. But all his publications had wide circulation among readers.
ADVENT OF MODERN
TECHNOLOGY
Have you ever wondered
how the pages of a newspaper are printed ? From the days of wooden block
printing, newspapers have undergone a sea change. Technological revolution has modernized
the print media. For a long time, these were produced by hand composing. Later,
these were replaced by monotype and linotype. In this process, a machine
operated by a key board was used to compose letters. This has also become
obsolete now. Typesetting in computers, offset printing and laser printing have
taken over. Desktop publishing has become quite common now.
The invention of
printing has revolutionized mass communication. Books are printed in large
numbers and circulated in many countries. No other invention has had such an
influence in the history of mankind.
