(15 July 2014) The first published newspaper in India is digitized and now provided for online use from the holdings of the library of the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University. The newspaper is called Hicky´s Bengal Gazette (1780-1782), which was published by James Augustus Hicky (1739/40-1802) from 28 January 1780 in Calcutta.
It reported weekly on balls and dances, love affairs, scandals and local gossip – in short, about the life of British society in Calcutta. Hicky’s critical, partly sarcastic coverage of the British colonial government and the then Governor General Warren Hastings, caused a libel suit with JA Hicky spending several years in jail. It ceased publication 23 March 1782. For more information (in German) click here.
Read more about Hicky’s Bengal Gazette on Wikipedia.
