Modern Indian History
🔒 Log in to trackNewspapers, Journals & Books of the Freedom Era
🔒 Log in to trackNewspapers and books spread the ideas of the freedom movement across India. Most questions name a paper or a book and ask who started or wrote it. Learn each one as a pair: paper with editor, book with author.
Why the press mattered
The national movement ran on print. Newspapers built all-India opinion and spread calls for boycott. Their editors often faced cases and jail.
Learn three things for each paper: its editor, its language and its year.
Example: Kesari → Tilak → Marathi. Mahratta → Tilak → English.
The first papers and press laws
- Bengal Gazette (1780): James Augustus Hicky. The first newspaper in India, in English.
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali, 1821) and Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian, 1822).
- Metcalfe (1835) was called the "liberator of the Indian press".
- Amrita Bazar Patrika (1868): the Ghosh brothers, Sisir Kumar and Motilal. It began in Bengali.
- The Hindu (1878, Madras): G. Subramania Iyer.
- Vernacular Press Act (1878): Lytton's "Gagging Act". It gagged Indian-language papers. Amrita Bazar Patrika became an English paper overnight to escape it. Ripon repealed the Act in 1882.
Papers of the freedom struggle
| Paper | Language | Person |
|---|---|---|
| Bengalee | English | Surendranath Banerjea |
| Kesari / Mahratta (1881) | Marathi / English | Bal Gangadhar Tilak |
| Indian Opinion (1903) | English, Gujarati and others | Gandhi (South Africa) |
| Young India / Navajivan | English / Gujarati | Gandhi, in the Non-Cooperation years |
| Harijan (1933) | English weekly | Gandhi, against untouchability |
| Al-Hilal (1912), Al-Balagh | Urdu | Maulana Abul Kalam Azad |
| Comrade | English | Mohammad Ali Jauhar (one of the Ali brothers) |
| Bande Mataram | English | Aurobindo Ghosh, with Bipin Chandra Pal |
| New India, Commonweal | English | Annie Besant |
| Mooknayak (1920) | Marathi | B.R. Ambedkar |
| National Herald (1938) | English | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Tahdhib-ul-Akhlaq | — | Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Aligarh message) |
Harijan also had sister papers: Harijan Bandhu (Gujarati) and Harijan Sevak (Hindi).
Tip: Gandhi's papers are Y-N-H: Young India, Navajivan, Harijan (plus Indian Opinion in South Africa).
Songs that came from print
- Vande Mataram comes from Bankim Chandra's novel Anandamath (1882). Tagore first sang it at the 1896 Calcutta Congress session.
- Tagore wrote Amar Sonar Bangla during the 1905 Swadeshi movement. It later became Bangladesh's national anthem.
- Jana Gana Mana is also by Tagore, not Bankim.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Newspaper ↔ editor or founder
"Who edited Kesari?", "New India was published by", or a match-the-column of papers and editors.
Recall the big four: Tilak (Kesari, Mahratta), Gandhi (Young India, Navajivan, Harijan), Besant (New India, Commonweal), Azad (Al-Hilal).
Then the rest: Banerjea (Bengalee), Mohammad Ali (Comrade), Aurobindo (Bande Mataram), Ambedkar (Mooknayak).
Match the sure pairs first and cut options.
Each paper has one main editor, so one sure pair clears most options.
The newspaper New India, which carried the Home Rule campaign, was started by: (a) Bipin Chandra Pal (b) Annie Besant (c) Jawaharlal Nehru (d) Tilak
Show solutionHide solution
Home Rule + New India point to the September 1916 League leader.
Nehru's paper was National Herald; Tilak's was Kesari.
(b) Annie Besant
Book ↔ author
"Who wrote The Discovery of India?", "Gulamgiri is a work of", or a book–author match.
Gandhi: Hind Swaraj, My Experiments with Truth.
Nehru: Glimpses, Toward Freedom, Discovery of India.
Naoroji vs R.C. Dutt: Poverty and Un-British Rule vs Economic History.
Azad: India Wins Freedom; Prasad: India Divided; Bose: The Indian Struggle; Ambedkar: Annihilation of Caste.
Most book questions draw from this short list of leaders.
The book The Discovery of India was written by:
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It was written in Ahmednagar Fort jail and published in 1946.
It is one of Nehru's three books.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Press laws
"Vernacular Press Act was passed/repealed by", "liberator of the Indian press", paper that changed language overnight.
Vernacular Press Act 1878 = Lytton.
Repealed 1882 = Ripon.
Metcalfe 1835 = liberator of the press.
Amrita Bazar Patrika became English overnight.
Only three names and one paper appear in press-law questions.
The Vernacular Press Act (1878) was repealed by:
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Lytton passed it in 1878.
Ripon, the next reformer Viceroy, repealed it in 1882.
Lord Ripon (1882)
Gandhi's journals
"Harijan was started in", paper of the Non-Cooperation years, language of Navajivan.
South Africa: Indian Opinion (1903).
Non-Cooperation: Young India (English), Navajivan (Gujarati).
Harijan (1933): English weekly; Harijan Bandhu (Gujarati), Harijan Sevak (Hindi).
Gandhi's papers change with his phase of work, so the year points to the paper.
Gandhi started the English weekly Harijan in:
Show solutionHide solution
Harijan was for the campaign against untouchability.
It came after Civil Disobedience began.
1933
Anandamath, Vande Mataram and protest writing
Source of Vande Mataram, where it was first sung, Amar Sonar Bangla, Unhappy India.
Vande Mataram: from Anandamath (1882), Bankim Chandra.
First sung by Tagore at the 1896 Calcutta Congress.
Amar Sonar Bangla: Tagore, 1905; later Bangladesh's anthem.
Unhappy India (1928): Lajpat Rai's reply to Mother India.
Song questions test the book, the writer and the first singing together.
The song Vande Mataram first appeared in:
Show solutionHide solution
The song is by Bankim Chandra.
It is part of his 1882 novel.
Anandamath
Odd one out: not by this person
"Which of these was NOT edited/written by X?"
List X's papers or books from memory.
Tick every option that is on the list.
The option left over is the answer; check who it really belongs to.
Knowing a person's full list is faster than checking each option alone.
Which of these books was NOT written by Jawaharlal Nehru? (a) Glimpses of World History (b) Toward Freedom (c) India Wins Freedom (d) The Discovery of India
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Nehru's three: Glimpses, Toward Freedom, Discovery.
India Wins Freedom is by Maulana Azad.
(c) India Wins Freedom
Language of a paper
"Kesari was published in which language?" or "Al-Hilal was an ___ weekly".
Marathi: Kesari, Mooknayak. English: Mahratta, Young India, New India, Bengalee.
Gujarati: Navajivan. Urdu: Al-Hilal. Bengali: Sambad Kaumudi. Persian: Mirat-ul-Akbar.
Watch pairs by one editor that use two languages.
Some editors ran two papers in two languages, which is the usual trap.
Mirat-ul-Akbar, started by Ram Mohan Roy in 1822, was published in:
Show solutionHide solution
Roy had two papers.
Sambad Kaumudi was Bengali; Mirat-ul-Akbar was the other one.
Persian
Shortcuts that save time
Young India · Navajivan · Harijan (plus Indian Opinion from South Africa). Any other paper in the options belongs to someone else.
Which of these was NOT edited by Gandhi: Young India, Harijan, Kesari, Navajivan?
Show solutionHide solution
Y-N-H covers Young India, Navajivan and Harijan.
Kesari is left over; it was Tilak's Marathi paper.
Kesari
Tilak → Gita Rahasya in Mandalay. Nehru → The Discovery of India in Ahmednagar Fort.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Giving Al-Hilal to Mohammad Ali.
Al-Hilal = Abul Kalam Azad. Comrade = Mohammad Ali Jauhar.
Saying Anandamath was written by Tagore.
Anandamath is by Bankim Chandra. Jana Gana Mana and Amar Sonar Bangla are by Tagore.
Saying Ripon passed the Vernacular Press Act.
Lytton passed it (1878). Ripon repealed it (1882).
Giving New India to Bipin Chandra Pal or Nehru.
New India was Annie Besant's paper, with Commonweal.
Mixing Naoroji's and R.C. Dutt's books.
Naoroji = Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Dutt = Economic History of India.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
First newspaper: Bengal Gazette (1780), James Augustus Hicky.
Roy: Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali) + Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian).
Vernacular Press Act 1878 (Lytton) → repealed 1882 (Ripon); Amrita Bazar Patrika turned English overnight.
Tilak: Kesari + Mahratta; Besant: New India + Commonweal; Azad: Al-Hilal; Ambedkar: Mooknayak.
Gandhi: Indian Opinion, Young India, Navajivan, Harijan (1933); Hind Swaraj (1909).
Nehru: Glimpses 1934, Toward Freedom 1936, Discovery of India 1946.
Vande Mataram from Anandamath (1882), first sung by Tagore at Calcutta, 1896.
Practice: 14 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 4 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.