Chapter 5 Print Culture And The Modern World

The First Printed Books

The earliest form of print technology, known as hand printing, originated in China, Japan, and Korea. In China, from around AD 594, books were created by rubbing paper against the inked surfaces of woodblocks. Since the thin, porous paper could only be printed on one side, traditional Chinese books, referred to as 'accordion books', were folded and stitched along the side. Highly skilled craftsmen could accurately replicate beautiful calligraphy through this method.

For a long period, the powerful imperial state in China was the primary producer of printed material. China maintained a vast bureaucracy, and personnel were recruited through rigorous civil service examinations. Textbooks for these examinations were printed in large quantities under state patronage. As the number of candidates for these exams increased from the sixteenth century, the volume of printed materials also grew.

By the seventeenth century, with the flourishing of urban culture in China, the applications of print expanded beyond government use. Merchants utilized print for collecting trade information, integrating it into their daily lives. Reading also became a popular leisure activity. This new readership favored fictional stories, poetry, autobiographies, literary collections, and romantic plays. Women from wealthy families began reading, and many women started publishing their own poetry and plays. Wives of scholar-officials shared their writings, and even courtesans published accounts of their lives.

This evolving print culture saw the introduction of new technology in the late nineteenth century. Western printing techniques and mechanical presses were imported as Western powers established their presence in China. Shanghai emerged as a central hub for this new print culture, serving Western-style schools. This marked a gradual shift from traditional hand printing to mechanical methods.

Print In Japan

Hand-printing technology was introduced to Japan by Buddhist missionaries from China around AD 768-770. The oldest surviving Japanese book, printed in AD 868, is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra. It consists of six sheets of text accompanied by woodcut illustrations. Printing was also applied to other materials like textiles, playing cards, and paper money.

In medieval Japan, poets and prose writers were regularly published, making books inexpensive and widely available. The printing of visual materials led to interesting publishing practices. In the late eighteenth century, in the vibrant urban center of Edo (which later became Tokyo), illustrated collections of paintings depicted the elegant urban lifestyle, including artists, courtesans, and teahouse scenes. Libraries and bookstores were well-stocked with various types of hand-printed materials, covering topics such as women, music, calculations, tea ceremony, flower arrangements, etiquette, cooking, and famous places.

Print Comes To Europe

For centuries, goods like silk and spices from China traveled to Europe via the Silk Route. In the eleventh century, Chinese paper also reached Europe through this route. The availability of paper facilitated the production of manuscripts, which were meticulously copied by scribes.

In 1295, Marco Polo returned to Italy after spending many years in China. He is credited with bringing back the knowledge of woodblock printing technology, which was already established in China. Italians began producing books using woodblocks, and the technology gradually spread to other parts of Europe. However, luxurious editions, intended for aristocratic readers and wealthy monastic libraries, continued to be handwritten on expensive vellum (parchment made from animal skins). These elites often viewed printed books as cheap and common.

As the demand for books increased, booksellers across Europe started exporting books to different countries. Book fairs became common events. To meet the rising demand, the production of handwritten manuscripts became more organized. Scribes were employed not only by wealthy patrons but increasingly by booksellers, with sometimes over 50 scribes working for a single bookseller.

However, the output of handwritten manuscripts could not keep pace with the ever-growing demand. Copying was a costly, labor-intensive, and time-consuming process. Manuscripts were also fragile, difficult to handle, and not easily portable, limiting their circulation. As demand for books continued to rise, woodblock printing became more widely used in Europe. By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks were commonly employed to print textiles, playing cards, and religious pictures with simple text.

There was a clear and increasing need for even faster and more affordable methods of reproducing texts. This led to the search for a new print technology. The crucial breakthrough occurred in Strasbourg, Germany, where Johann Gutenberg developed the first-known mechanical printing press in the 1430s.

Gutenberg And The Printing Press

Johann Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up familiar with agricultural estates where he observed wine and olive presses. He was also skilled in polishing stones, was a master goldsmith, and had expertise in creating lead molds for making trinkets. Drawing upon this diverse knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing technologies to create his printing press. The olive press served as the model for the press itself, and the technique of using molds was adapted for casting the metal types for letters of the alphabet.

Gutenberg perfected his printing system by 1448. The first book he printed was the Bible. He produced about 180 copies, which took three years – a remarkably fast production rate by the standards of the time. The invention of the moveable type printing machine, using metal types for each character, allowed for composing different words and texts much faster than carving entire woodblocks. This basic technology remained in use for the next 300 years. The Gutenberg press could print 250 sheets on one side per hour.

Despite the new technology, the existing art of producing books by hand was not completely replaced. Initially, printed books closely resembled handwritten manuscripts in appearance and layout. Metal letters were designed to imitate ornamental handwritten styles. Borders were often hand-illuminated with decorative patterns, and illustrations were painted by artists. For books intended for wealthy patrons, spaces were left blank on the printed pages for customized decoration, allowing the purchaser to select the designs and painting styles.

Within a hundred years, between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were established in most European countries. German printers traveled to other regions, contributing to the setup of new presses. As the number of printing presses grew, book production boomed. The latter half of the fifteenth century saw around 20 million copies of printed books circulating in European markets. This number dramatically increased in the sixteenth century, reaching approximately 200 million copies. This transition from hand printing to mechanical printing marked the beginning of the print revolution.

The Print Revolution And Its Impact

The print revolution was far more than just a technological advancement in producing books. It fundamentally transformed people's lives, altering their relationship with information and knowledge, and reshaping their interactions with institutions and authorities. It influenced how people perceived the world and opened up new perspectives.

A New Reading Public

The advent of the printing press gave rise to a **new reading public**. Printing significantly reduced the cost of books and the time and effort required for production. Books could be produced in multiple copies more easily, flooding the market and reaching an ever-expanding readership.

Access to a wide array of books fostered a new culture of reading. Before print, reading was largely limited to the elite classes. Common people primarily existed within an **oral culture**. They absorbed knowledge through listening – hearing sacred texts read aloud, ballads sung, and folk tales narrated. Knowledge was transmitted verbally, and people collectively experienced stories or performances. Books were scarce, expensive, and not produced in sufficient numbers for widespread individual reading. With printing, books became accessible to broader sections of society, leading to the formation of a reading public alongside the existing hearing public. While the shift was not instantaneous, the distinction between oral and reading cultures began to blur as printed materials were read aloud, and oral traditions were captured in print. The hearing and reading publics became increasingly interconnected.

However, widespread literacy was still low in most European countries until the twentieth century. Publishers had to adapt to reach those who could not read. They printed popular ballads and folk tales, often richly illustrated, which could be enjoyed through listening when read aloud at social gatherings in villages or taverns. This ensured that printed works reached a wider audience beyond the literate population.

Religious Debates And The Fear Of Print

Print facilitated the widespread circulation of ideas, creating a new environment for **debate and discussion**. Individuals who held dissenting views against established authorities could now print and distribute their ideas. Through printed messages, they could attempt to persuade others to adopt different perspectives and mobilize them for action. This had significant implications across various aspects of life.

Not everyone welcomed the proliferation of printed books, and even supporters harbored concerns. Many were apprehensive about the potential effects of easier access to printed materials on people's thoughts. There was a fear that without control over content, "rebellious and irreligious thoughts" could spread, undermining the authority of established and "valuable" literature. This anxiety was expressed by religious authorities, monarchs, writers, and artists, leading to widespread criticism of the new printed literature.

In the realm of religion in early modern Europe, this tension was particularly evident. In 1517, the religious reformer Martin Luther published his Ninety Five Theses, which critiqued practices and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. A printed copy was posted on a church door in Wittenberg, challenging the Church to a debate. Luther's writings were rapidly reproduced and widely read, contributing significantly to a schism within the Church and marking the beginning of the **Protestant Reformation**. His translation of the New Testament was a bestseller, selling thousands of copies in weeks. Luther himself acknowledged the power of print, calling it "the ultimate gift of God." Many scholars believe print was instrumental in creating an intellectual climate that facilitated the spread of ideas leading to the Reformation.

Print And Dissent

The availability of print and popular religious texts encouraged individuals, even those with limited education, to develop their own interpretations of faith. In the sixteenth century, an Italian miller named **Menocchio** read books available locally and reinterpreted the Bible's message, forming controversial views about God and Creation. His ideas angered the Roman Catholic Church, which was engaged in the Inquisition to suppress **heretical** beliefs. Menocchio was investigated twice and eventually executed.

Troubled by such independent readings and questioning of religious doctrines, the Roman Church imposed strict controls on publishers and booksellers. In 1558, it began maintaining an Index of Prohibited Books, listing publications considered dangerous to faith and morals.

The Reading Mania

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, literacy rates steadily increased across much of Europe. Churches of various denominations established schools in villages, extending literacy to peasant and artisan communities. By the end of the eighteenth century, literacy rates reached as high as 60 to 80 percent in some regions. As literacy and schooling expanded, a widespread **reading mania** developed. People had a growing desire for books, prompting printers to produce them in ever-increasing numbers.

New types of popular literature emerged to cater to these new audiences. Booksellers hired **pedlars** (traveling salespeople) who went from village to village selling small, inexpensive books. These included almanacs (annual publications with astronomical data and other useful information), **ballads** (historical accounts or folk tales in verse), and folk tales. However, readers also began accessing other types of material, primarily for entertainment. In England, small pocket-sized books called chapbooks were sold for a penny by petty pedlars known as chapmen, making them affordable even for the poor. In France, there were the "Bibliothèque Bleue," low-priced small books printed on cheap paper and bound in blue covers. Romances, often just a few pages long, and more substantial "histories" (stories about the past) also gained popularity. Books were produced in various sizes and formats to serve diverse purposes and interests.

The **periodical press** developed from the early eighteenth century, offering a mix of current affairs and entertainment. Newspapers and journals provided information on wars, trade, and developments in other parts of the world.

Print also made the ideas of scientists and philosophers more accessible to the general public. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published, and maps and scientific diagrams were widely printed. Discoveries by scientists like Isaac Newton could now reach a much broader audience of scientifically inclined readers. The writings of influential thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Jean Jacques Rousseau were widely printed and read, disseminating their ideas about science, reason, and rationality into popular discourse.

‘Tremble, Therefore, Tyrants Of The World!’

By the mid-eighteenth century, there was a prevailing belief in the power of books as a means to spread progress and enlightenment. Many intellectuals felt that books had the potential to change the world, overthrow despotism and tyranny, and usher in an era governed by reason and intellect. Louise-Sebastien Mercier, an eighteenth-century French novelist, was a strong advocate of this view. He declared, "The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress and public opinion is the force that will sweep despotism away." In his novels, Mercier often depicted heroes whose lives were transformed by reading; they immersed themselves in books and became enlightened. Convinced of print's power to bring enlightenment and undermine autocratic rule, Mercier famously proclaimed, "Tremble, therefore, tyrants of the world! Tremble before the virtual writer!"

Print Culture And The French Revolution

Some historians have argued that print culture played a crucial role in creating the conditions that led to the French Revolution. Three main arguments are often presented for this connection:

1. Popularization of Enlightenment Ideas: Print made the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers widely accessible. Their writings offered critical perspectives on tradition, superstition, and despotism. They championed the rule of reason over custom and advocated that all aspects of society should be judged through rationality. By attacking the authority of the Church and the power of the state, these thinkers undermined the legitimacy of a traditional social order. Works by figures like Voltaire and Rousseau were widely read, encouraging readers to view the world with a questioning, critical, and rational mindset.
2. Creation of a Culture of Dialogue and Debate: Print fostered a new public culture centered on dialogue and debate. Values, norms, and institutions were openly discussed and re-evaluated by a public increasingly aware of the power of reason and the importance of questioning established beliefs. This public sphere facilitated the emergence of new ideas about social revolution.
3. Criticism of Royalty and Mocking of Authority: By the 1780s, there was a significant increase in printed literature that satirized and criticized the monarchy and the existing social order. Cartoons and caricatures depicted the royalty engrossed in frivolous pleasures while the common people endured immense suffering. This literature circulated discreetly and contributed to growing anti-monarchist sentiment.

While print undoubtedly facilitated the spread of ideas, it's important to consider that people read various types of literature, not just those promoting radical views. They were also exposed to propaganda from the monarchy and the Church. Readers were not passively influenced by everything they read; they selected ideas, rejected others, and interpreted information in their own ways. Print didn't directly dictate their thoughts but significantly expanded the possibilities for critical thinking and alternative viewpoints.

The Nineteenth Century

The nineteenth century marked a period of rapid growth in mass literacy across Europe. This brought large numbers of new readers into the fold, particularly among children, women, and workers.

Children, Women And Workers

• Children: With the implementation of compulsory primary education from the late nineteenth century, children became a significant category of readers. Producing school textbooks became a crucial part of the publishing industry. A dedicated children's press was established in France in 1857, publishing both new works and edited collections of old fairy tales and folk tales. The Grimm Brothers in Germany spent years collecting traditional folk tales from peasants, editing them before publication in 1812. Elements deemed unsuitable for children or offensive to elites were removed, transforming the rural folk tales.
• Women: Women's role as readers and writers became increasingly important. **Penny magazines** and manuals on proper behavior and housekeeping were specifically aimed at women. As novels gained popularity in the nineteenth century, women were recognized as a key readership. Notable female novelists like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and George Eliot emerged, whose writings helped shape the idea of a new type of woman possessing will, strength of personality, determination, and the capacity for independent thought.
• Workers: Lending libraries, which had existed since the seventeenth century, became important in the nineteenth century for educating white-collar workers, artisans, and the lower-middle class in England. Some self-educated working-class individuals also became writers, producing political essays and autobiographies, especially after working hours were gradually shortened from the mid-nineteenth century, allowing more time for self-improvement and expression.

Further Innovations

Printing technology continued to evolve throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By the late eighteenth century, presses were made of metal. Subsequent innovations included:

• The power-driven cylindrical press perfected by Richard M. Hoe in New York by the mid-nineteenth century, capable of printing 8,000 sheets per hour, particularly useful for newspapers.
• The offset press developed in the late nineteenth century, which could print up to six colors simultaneously.
• Electrically operated presses from the turn of the twentieth century, significantly accelerating printing operations.

Improvements in paper feeding, plate quality, automatic paper reels, and photoelectric controls for color registration further transformed the appearance and efficiency of printed texts. Publishers and printers constantly devised new strategies to market their products. Nineteenth-century periodicals serialized popular novels, influencing novel writing styles. In the 1920s in England, popular works were sold in cheap series like the 'Shilling Series'. The **dust cover or book jacket** was a twentieth-century innovation. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, publishers introduced inexpensive paperback editions to maintain sales despite declining incomes.

India And The World Of Print

We now turn to the history of print in India, examining when printing began and how information was shared before its arrival.

Manuscripts Before The Age Of Print

India had a long and rich tradition of handwritten manuscripts in various languages including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, and numerous vernaculars. These manuscripts were typically copied onto palm leaves or handmade paper. Pages were sometimes adorned with beautiful illustrations and were preserved by pressing them between wooden covers or sewing them together. The production of manuscripts continued in India until well into the late nineteenth century, even after the introduction of printing presses.

However, manuscripts had significant limitations: they were very expensive, fragile, and difficult to handle. Reading them was not easy due to the variety of scripts and writing styles. Consequently, manuscripts were not widely used in everyday life. Even in pre-colonial Bengal, which had an extensive network of village primary schools, students often learned to write by copying from memory (dictated by teachers) rather than reading actual texts. Many became literate in writing without regularly reading printed or handwritten texts.

Print Comes To India

The printing press arrived in Goa with **Portuguese missionaries** in the mid-sixteenth century. Jesuit priests learned local languages like Konkani and printed several religious texts. By 1674, around 50 books had been printed in Konkani and Kanara languages. Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin and the first Malayalam book in 1713. By 1710, Dutch Protestant missionaries in India had printed 32 Tamil texts, many of which were translations of older works.

The English language press in India developed relatively late, even though the English East India Company began importing presses from the late seventeenth century. The first English newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette, was started in 1780 by James Augustus Hickey. It was a weekly magazine that claimed independence from colonial influence, describing itself as "a commercial paper open to all, but influenced by none." Hickey's publication included many advertisements, including those for the import and sale of slaves, but also featured gossip about the Company's senior officials. Governor-General Warren Hastings, angered by Hickey's criticisms, persecuted him and encouraged the publication of newspapers that would present the colonial government favorably. By the late eighteenth century, several newspapers and journals were in print. Indians also began publishing newspapers; the first Indian newspaper was the weekly Bengal Gazette, published by Gangadhar Bhattacharya, an associate of Rammohun Roy.

Religious Reform And Public Debates

From the early nineteenth century, India saw intense debates on religious issues. Different groups responded to changes under colonial rule by reinterpreting religious beliefs. Some advocated for reform and criticized existing practices, while others defended tradition and countered the reformers' arguments. These debates took place publicly and were significantly influenced by print. Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread new ideas but also shaped the nature of the discussions, enabling wider public participation and the expression of diverse viewpoints. New ideas emerged from these clashes of opinions.

This period was marked by controversies between social and religious reformers and orthodox Hindu groups over issues like widow immolation (Sati), monotheism, the role of Brahmanical priests, and idol worship. In Bengal, as these debates intensified, a multitude of tracts and newspapers circulated various arguments. To reach a wider audience, ideas were printed in the everyday language spoken by ordinary people. **Rammohun Roy** published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821, and the Hindu orthodoxy responded by commissioning the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his views. In 1822, Persian newspapers like Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamsul Akhbar appeared, followed by the Gujarati newspaper, the Bombay Samachar.

In North India, the ulama (Islamic legal scholars) were deeply concerned about the decline of Muslim dynasties and feared that colonial rulers might encourage conversion and alter Muslim personal laws. To counteract these threats, they utilized inexpensive lithographic presses to publish Persian and Urdu translations of holy scriptures and printed religious newspapers and tracts. The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published thousands of fatwas (legal pronouncements) guiding Muslim readers on daily conduct and explaining Islamic doctrines. Throughout the nineteenth century, various Muslim sects and seminaries emerged, each presenting different interpretations of faith and seeking to expand their followers, using Urdu print to conduct these public debates.

Among Hindus, print also fostered the reading of religious texts, particularly in vernacular languages. The first printed edition of the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas (a 16th-century text) was published in Calcutta in 1810. By the mid-nineteenth century, cheap lithographic editions were widely available in North Indian markets, published by presses like the Naval Kishore Press in Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay. These printed texts, being portable and easily readable, allowed the devout to read scriptures anytime, anywhere, and also facilitated public readings to large groups of illiterate men and women.

Print not only stimulated the expression of conflicting opinions within communities but also served to connect communities and people across different parts of India. Newspapers disseminated news from one region to another, helping to create a sense of pan-Indian identity.

New Forms Of Publication

The spread of printing created a demand for new types of writing that reflected people's own lives, experiences, emotions, and relationships. The novel, a literary form popular in Europe, effectively met this need and soon developed distinct Indian forms and styles, offering readers new perspectives and a vivid sense of human diversity.

Other new literary genres also became part of the reading world, including lyrics, short stories, and essays on social and political topics. These forms, in different ways, emphasized human lives and intimate feelings, and explored the political and social forces shaping them.

By the late nineteenth century, a new visual culture emerged with the increasing number of printing presses allowing for easy reproduction of images. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma produced mythological and other images specifically for mass circulation. Poor wood engravers set up workshops near letterpresses, finding employment in print shops. Cheap prints and calendars featuring these images became readily available in bazaars, affordable even for the poor, who used them to decorate their homes and workplaces. These widely accessible prints played a role in shaping popular perceptions about modernity, tradition, religion, politics, society, and culture.

From the 1870s, **caricatures and cartoons** became common in journals and newspapers, offering commentary on social and political issues. Some ridiculed educated Indians adopting Western styles, while others expressed anxieties about social change. Imperial cartoons often mocked nationalists, while nationalist cartoons criticized British imperial rule.

Women And Print

The lives and emotions of women became a subject of increasingly vivid and intense writing, leading to a significant rise in reading among women, particularly in middle-class households. Liberal husbands and fathers began educating their female family members at home and enrolled them in women's schools established in cities and towns after the mid-nineteenth century.

Many journals started featuring writings by women and published articles advocating for women's education. Some even provided educational syllabi and reading materials suitable for home-based learning. However, not all families embraced these changes. Conservative Hindus feared that educated girls would become widows, and some Muslims worried that reading Urdu romances would corrupt educated women. Despite these restrictions, some women defied the prohibitions.

Stories emerged of women like a girl in a conservative North Indian Muslim family who secretly learned to read and write Urdu, insisting on literacy in her own language despite family pressure to read only the Arabic Quran (which she couldn't understand). In East Bengal, in the early nineteenth century, **Rashsundari Debi**, a young married woman in an orthodox household, secretly taught herself to read in her kitchen. She later wrote her autobiography, Amar Jiban, published in 1876, recognized as the first full-length autobiography in Bengali.

As social reform movements and novels had already generated interest in women's lives and feelings, there was a growing curiosity about women's own perspectives. From the 1860s, Bengali women like Kailashbashini Debi wrote books highlighting women's experiences – their confinement, lack of education, forced domestic labor, and unjust treatment. In the 1880s, in present-day Maharashtra, **Tarabai Shinde** and **Pandita Ramabai** wrote passionately about the difficult lives of upper-caste Hindu women, particularly widows. A character in a Tamil novel articulated the importance of reading for women constrained by social norms, stating that much of her happiness came from books because her world was small.

While print culture developed early in Urdu, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi, Hindi printing began in earnest only from the 1870s, with a significant portion dedicated to women's education. In the early twentieth century, journals written for and sometimes edited by women became very popular. They discussed issues such as women's education, widowhood, widow remarriage, and the national movement, also offering household tips, fashion advice, and entertainment through stories and serialized novels.

In Punjab, similar folk literature aimed at women was widely printed from the early twentieth century. Ram Chaddha published the popular Istri Dharm Vichar advising women on being obedient wives. The Khalsa Tract Society produced cheap booklets with a similar message, often formatted as dialogues about the qualities of an ideal woman.

In Bengal, a central area in Calcutta called **Battala** became a hub for printing popular books. Here, cheap editions of religious texts, scriptures, and even controversial or scandalous literature were produced and sold. By the late nineteenth century, many of these books were richly illustrated with woodcuts and colored lithographs. Pedlars distributed Battala publications directly to homes, making them accessible for women to read in their leisure time.

Print And The Poor People

Print also became accessible to poorer populations. Very cheap small books were sold in markets and crossroads in towns in Madras Presidency in the nineteenth century, making them available to common people traveling to markets. The establishment of public libraries from the early twentieth century further expanded access to books. These libraries were mainly located in cities and towns, and sometimes in more prosperous villages. For wealthy local patrons, funding a library was a way to gain social prestige.

From the late nineteenth century, issues of caste discrimination began to be addressed in printed tracts and essays. Jyotiba Phule, a pioneer of 'low caste' protest movements in Maharashtra, criticized the injustices of the caste system in his book Gulamgiri (1871). In the twentieth century, **B.R. Ambedkar** in Maharashtra and **E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar)** in Madras wrote powerfully on caste issues, and their works were read across India. Local protest movements and various sects also utilized popular journals and tracts to critique ancient scriptures and articulate visions for a new, just future.

Factory workers, often overworked and lacking formal education, had limited opportunities to write extensively about their experiences. However, some individuals emerged as writers. Kashibaba, a millworker in Kanpur, wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in 1938, highlighting the connections between caste and class exploitation. The poems of another Kanpur millworker, writing under the pseudonym Sudarshan Chakr between 1935 and 1955, were compiled and published as Sacchi Kavitayan. By the 1930s, cotton millworkers in Bangalore, following the example of Bombay workers, established libraries to educate themselves. These initiatives were often supported by social reformers who aimed to reduce excessive drinking, promote literacy, and sometimes propagate nationalist ideas among the workers.

Print And Censorship

Before 1798, the colonial government under the East India Company was not primarily concerned with censoring the press. Interestingly, early attempts to control printed material were directed at Englishmen in India who criticized Company mismanagement and the actions of specific officials. The Company worried that such criticism could be used in England by its opponents to challenge its trade monopoly in India.

By the 1820s, the Calcutta Supreme Court implemented regulations to restrict press freedom. The Company also encouraged the publication of newspapers that would praise British rule. However, in 1835, following strong petitions from English and vernacular newspaper editors, Governor-General Bentinck agreed to review the press laws. Thomas Macaulay, a liberal colonial official, drafted new rules that largely restored earlier press freedoms.

The attitude towards press freedom changed significantly after the Revolt of 1857. Enraged Englishmen demanded strict controls on the Indian ('native') press. As vernacular newspapers increasingly adopted a nationalist stance, the colonial government considered implementing harsher control measures. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed, modeled after the Irish Press Laws. This Act granted the government extensive powers to censor reports and editorials in the vernacular press. The government began monitoring vernacular newspapers published in different provinces. If a report was deemed **seditious** (inciting rebellion), the newspaper would receive a warning. If the warning was ignored, the press could be seized, and the printing machinery confiscated.

Despite these repressive measures, the number of nationalist newspapers continued to grow across India. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. Attempts by the government to suppress nationalist criticism often resulted in militant protests, leading to a cycle of further persecution and resistance. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, **Balgangadhar Tilak** wrote sympathetically about them in his newspaper, Kesari. This led to his imprisonment in 1908, sparking widespread protests throughout India.