2020-01-29 Wed

This is a story behind the making of South Asia's first printed newspaper, Hicky's Bengal Gazette, also known as the Original Calcutta General Advertiser. Hicky began publication of Hicky's Bengal Gazette on 29 January 1780.

The idea of printing a newspaper in India had been floated twelve years earlier by the Dutch Adventurer William Bolts, but Hicky was the first to execute the concept. Hicky's newspaper was printed once a week on Saturday, and retailed for Re 1. Its circulation was estimated to be around four hundred copies per week.

Hicky's Bengal Gazette was the first English-language newspaper and the first printed newspaper to be published in both the Indian sub-continent and in Asia.[6] The newspaper became famous not only among the British soldiers posted in India at that time but also inspired Indians to write newspapers of their own.

The newspaper was a strong critic of the administration of the Governor General Warren Hastings. The newspaper was important for its provocative journalism well before its time and its fight for free expression in India. Hicky was finally suppressed when Hastings instituted fresh lawsuits against him. Hicky's Bengal Gazette ceased publication on 30 March 1782 when its types were seized by an order of the Supreme Court.

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