The Spread of Print in Colonial India: Into the Hinterland

Abhijit Gupta

doi:10.1017/9781108979870

Series: Elements in Publishing and Book Culture

The Spread of Print in Colonial India

Into the Hinterland

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 October 2021

Abhijit Gupta

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Abhijit Gupta: Affiliation:
Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Summary

This study focuses on the spread of print in colonial India towards the middle and end of the nineteenth century. Till the first half of the century, much of the print production in the subcontinent emanated from presidency cities such as Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, along with centres of missionary production such as Serampore. But with the growing socialization of print and the entry of local entrepreneurs into the field, print began to spread from the metropole to the provinces, from large cities to mofussil towns. This Element will look at this phenomenon in eastern India, and survey how printing spread from Calcutta to centres such as Hooghly-Chinsurah, Murshidabad, Burdwan, Rangpur etc. The study will particularly consider the rise of periodicals and newspapers in the mofussil, and asses their contribution to a nascent public sphere.

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Keywords

printing networks newspapers colonial Bengal Bengali literature provincial printing

Type: Element
Information: Series: Elements in Publishing and Book Culture

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108979870 [Opens in a new window]

Online ISBN: 9781108979870

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication: 11 November 2021

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