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INDIAN NEWSPAPER REPORTS, c1868-1942
From the British Library, London

Part 3: Punjab, Agra, Oudh, Rajputana and Central Provinces, c1868-1896

From 1858 until independence in 1947 the British Government ruled India with two administrative systems, the British Provinces, comprising around 60% of the country and totally under British control, and the Indian (“princely”) states which recognised British rule in return for local autonomy, comprising around 40% of the country.

The material in Part 3 of this microfilm project covers numerous important regions in India:

  • Punjab: Reports cover the period 1868-1888 (later material on the Punjab, 1896-1924, will be included in the forthcoming Part 8 of this project).
  • Agra: In 1833 the Bengal Presidency had been divided into two parts. The
    north-western part became the Presidency of Agra, which in 1836 was
    re-named the North-Western Provinces and placed under a Lieutenant-Governor. Reports included here for the North-Western Provinces cover the period 1868-1896 and are continued in Part 4 of this project for the period 1897-1937.
  • Oudh: The kingdom of Oudh was annexed in 1856 and placed under a Chief Commissioner. In 1877 the North-Western Provinces and Oudh were joined together under a single administration. Their name was changed to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1902 and shortened to the United Provinces in 1912 with the city of Lucknow at their centre. In 1947 the United Provinces became a province of the new independent India and its name was changed to Uttar Pradesh.
  • Rajputana: Reports cover the period 1882-1895.
  • Central Provinces: The Chief Commissionership of the Central Provinces was formed in 1861 partly out the Saugor and Nerbudda territories previously administered through the North-Western Provinces and partly out of the Nagpur region which had been annexed in 1853. In 1902 the Hyderabad Assigned Districts (or Berar) were also transferred to the Central Provinces which became a Governor’s province in 1920. After Indian Independence in 1947, the Central Provinces and Berar became part of India, and was merged with the princely states under its own authority to become the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh in 1950. Reports cover the period 1868-1895; a number of important meetings of the Indian National Congress were held in Nagpore, the capital of this region.

What happened in all these areas had a crucial bearing on the legacy of the Sepoy Rebellion and the shaping of colonial policy after 1857. The press in cities such as Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Oudh, Allahabad and Benares played a significant role in the growth of nationalism after the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885. Improvements in education fostered the exchange of ideas and aspirations for liberty from foreign rule.

Lord Ripon’s repeal of Lytton’s Vernacular Press Act in 1881 also saw the abolition of the Press Commissionership. The relaxation in the attempted exercise of political control by the British over the press in India opened the way for vigorous debate on the future of India. The writings of the Indian intelligentsia found their way into an increasing number of new newspapers, Anglo-Indian and Vernacular. The increasingly active independence movement later formed into two separate camps in 1907. There was the Garam Dal (the extremists or “hot faction”) of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who founded the Marathi daily Kesari (The Lion), and the Naram Dal of Gopal Krishna Gokhale (the moderates or “soft faction”). Early developments can be found in the newspapers of the last two decades of the nineteenth century.

The Indian National Congress, formed in 1885, was comprised chiefly of members of the western-educated professional elite. Public opinion had started to turn against the British government of India and it sought to represent the views of the populace from both urban and rural areas. There was an undercurrent of feeling that British rule was unfair and this is reflected in the newspaper reports contained in this collection. Agitation and disturbances in the streets were common and the media played a huge role in re-enforcing feelings of real and imagined grievances.

Many changes were to take place in India in the second half of the nineteenth century but one of the most important was the development in communications. In the 1840’s the construction of major roads linking the main cities and regions had commenced, but railways were to have even more of an impact on the economy of the country. Construction started in the late 1860s and by 1880 the railway system was vast. This led to more people being able to travel throughout the country and to an increase in communication between different levels of society. Much information about the impact of the railways can be found in the newspaper reports. Other factors which influenced the major changes were the expansion of education, the increase in industrialisation and the growth of agriculture. These topics are well covered in the newspaper reports.

Indian Newspaper Reports

The Indian Newspaper Reports from the Asia, Pacific and Africa Department at the British Library, constitute an important series to be found in the Record Department Papers of the Oriental and India Office Collections. The reports consist of abstracts taken from Anglo-Indian and Vernacular newspapers for the various different regions of India.

The reports were completed weekly and consist of typewritten abstracts of the contents of Indian newspapers with some extracts, translated by an official translator whose name is given at the end of the week’s report. Each weekly report gives a list of both the Indian language newspapers and the English language newspapers owned by Indians examined, with their place of publication, whether issued weekly or monthly, the number of subscribers, the names of the publisher, the circulation and the date of the issues examined. An extremely wide variety of newspapers was looked at weekly, averaging around 60, ensuring that a wide spectrum of ideas, views and politics was addressed. The reports list the languages of the newspapers, for example Bengali, English and Bengali, English and Urdu, Bengali and Hindi, Hindi and Persian.

Part 3: Punjab, Agra, Oudh, Rajputana and Central Provinces, c1868-1896

The newspaper reports included in Part 3 cover the years 1868-1896. The abstracts and extracts contained in the reports will provide scholars with an invaluable insight into Indian social and political events, the conditions of the Indian and British population, criticisms of the British government and the development of nationalist feelings.

Examples of newspapers examined are:

  • Hardil Aziz
  • Jubilee Paper
  • Kanauj Punch
  • Fitnah
  • Naiyar-i-Azam
  • Natya Pattra
  • Kashi Patrika
  • Bharat Jiwan
  • Ashraf-ul-Akhbar
  • Agra Akhbar
  • Lawrence Gazette
  • Urdu Delhi Gazette
  • Benares Akhba
  • Hindu Prakash
  • Vidya Vilas
  • Matla-i-Nur

The abstracts contained in the reports are divided into the following sections:

  • I Political
  • II General Administrative
  • III Education
  • IV Post Office and Railway
  • V Local and Miscellaneous

The reports contain a wealth of information on subjects as diverse as:

  • the faults of Lord Lansdowne’s administration
  • religious divisions between Hindus and Muslims
  • Lord Lytton’s speeches
  • his moves to control the Press, establishing a press bureau in March 1877
  • the creation of a Press Commissioner in 1878 to prevent the press from publishing “mischievous falsehoods” and to give a positive spin on the views and intentions of government
  • the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 to suppress opposition and anti-British stories in Indian newspapers; this draconian measure must have caused ill-feeling
  • Lord Ripon and his more liberal policies, including the repeal of Lytton’s Vernacular Press Act in 1881 and the abolition of the Press Commissionership
  • regulations for Indian judges and magistrates and the possible amendment of the Indian legal code in February 1883 following new proposals by Sir Courteney Ilbert
  • legislation concerning Public Works Department posts
  • debates about the age of consent (it was raised from 10 to 12 in 1890)
  • the Customs Line known as “The Great Hedge” and the prevention of smuggling of salt and opium.
  • details on famine funds and fever in North India and the need for improved sanitary conditions
  • alleged oppression and ill treatment of pilgrims by the police
  • thefts at Agra and robberies in Gujarat
  • marriage of the Nawab of Bahawalpur with a European lady
  • cuts in aid to seminaries and to teachers in village schools
  • separation of castes on the railways and the appointment of native engine drivers and guards
  • the deportation of the Yakub Khan from Kabul
  • the extravagances of the Wasikadars of Oudh
  • details on the visit to India of the Prince of Wales in 1875
  • the adoption of Hindi as the court language
  • anarchy in the states of Tonk and robberies and violence in Lahore
  • the suggested introduction of a marriage tax
  • treatment of native convicts in jail
  • the unsatisfactory management of the Golden Temple at Amritsar

The literate population in India was still very small in percentage terms, even by 1900, but it was undeniable that from 1870 onwards, the number of Indian newspapers and journals proliferated. Most were in native languages and had small print runs and a local circulation. By 1885, Lawrence James suggests that there were some 319 different vernacular titles plus 96 English language newspapers. Most native newspapers were cheap weeklies. Personal abuse of officials was commonplace; one of the Punjabi newspapers attacked the province’s Lieutenant Governor, Sir George Campbell, as “the baboon Campbell with a hairy body…His eyes flash forth in anger and his tail is all in flames”. Many of the English language press, with a predominantly European readership, were equally quick to launch attacks on the pronouncements of the Indian National Congress. Kipling’s old newspaper, the Allahabad Pioneer (circulation 5,000) and the Lahore Civil and Military Gazette (circulation 4,000) were both virulent mouthpieces of British government propaganda.

The following extracts taken from the reports provide us with an idea of the strong feelings against the Government which were running just below the surface:

The following are from the May reports, 1875:

“The ‘Rohilkhand Akhbar’ noticing the recent disturbances in Karipatan (Baroda) remarks that all this is the result of the unjust procedure adopted by Government in the case of the Maharaja Malhar Rao, and of its foolish adherence to the opinions of the English members of the Baroda Commission….”

“The ‘Akhbar-i-Anjuman-i-Panjab’ of 14 May, joins its contemporaries in welcoming the approaching visit of the Prince of Wales to India. The editor also notices the various opinions expressed by the English and the Anglo-Indian journals, as to whether the expenses consequent on the Prince’s visit should be borne by the Indian or the Home Government….”

The following is from the June reports, 1880:

“The Ashraf-ul-Akhbar of the 21st June states that when Lord Lytton came to India natives warmly welcomed him. It was expected that he would greatly improve the condition of the country. The Imperial Assemblage held by him at Delhi and the minute recorded by him in the Fuller case excited great hopes in the minds of the natives, but unfortunately they have been disappointed. He has brought odium on himself by his subsequent mischievous acts…. He gagged the vernacular press in order that natives may not be able to criticise his acts. He aggrieved the hearts of the native chiefs by his hostile attitude towards them…. The natives will never forget the troubles and hardships to which they were exposed during his administration…. Lord Ripon, the new Liberal Viceroy, has arrived and we hope that he will remedy all the evils….”

The following is from the August reports, 1886:

“The Aftab-i-Hind (Jalandar) of the 28th August says that Englishmen appear to be a very selfish people. They are ready to call any one their father when they require any services of him, but they will have nothing to do with him when he is of no use to them. Their conduct does not differ much from that of prostitutes in this respect….”

Those below are from the reports for August 1891:

“The Najm-ul-Akhbar (Etawah) of the 16th August, says that there can hardly be two opinions that this country is sinking deeper and deeper into poverty, and that this growing poverty is due to the drain of wealth to England…”

“The ‘Azad (Lucknow), of the 21st August, complains of the alleged growing poverty of this country, and asks the leaders of the native community not to waste their time and money in political agitation, the spread of literacy education and other such matters, but to encourage trade, arts and industries by the establishment of joint-stock companies….”

The extract below is from the reports for November 1894:

“The ‘Bharat Jiwan’ (Benares), of the 5th November, …says that India was once prosperous, and that the fame of her riches spread far and wide…the possession of India has made them (Britain) one of the richest nations in the world…. But the growing poverty of this country is now viewed with grave anxiety and fear by wise and well informed politicians. During the last twenty years the incomes of the people have considerably fallen off, but still there has been a steady increase in taxation….”



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