Question

Which was the first Indian newspaper?

Answer 1

Hint:This Anglo-Indian newspaper was published on 29th January 1780 by James Augustus Hicky. It was the English Language weekly and used to highly critique the administration of the then Governor-General of India- Warren Hastings.

Complete solution: This was not just the first newspaper of India it was the very first newspaper in Asia altogether. The newspaper ran for two years straight, from 1780 to 1782, until the East India Company seized the Paper’s types and a printing press.
“Hickey's Bengal Gazette” or “Original Calcutta General Advertiser” was the name of the newspaper. We can see that the name is derived, obviously from the last name of the creator of the Newspaper and the then capital of British India, Calcutta (now Kolkata). The newspaper held itself important for multiple reasons like: provocative journalism and its fight for free expression in India.
The idea of printing a newspaper in India had been floated twelve years earlier by the Dutch Adventurer William Bolts, but we need to remember that Hickey was the first to execute the concept. Moreover, Hicky's newspaper was printed once a week on Saturday and retailed for Re 1. The circulation of the newspaper is estimated to be around 16000 copies per month.

Note: Most of the time, the name of Hickey is skipped from the name of the newspaper, so if in case you are attempting a multiple-choice question, there are chances that the option might just say ‘ Bengal Gazette’ instead of “Hicky's Bengal Gazette”. The final issue date for this iconic newspaper was 23rd March 1782.