{"id":129251,"date":"2026-10-16T17:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T11:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=129251"},"modified":"2026-10-16T17:07:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T11:37:51","slug":"udant-martand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/udant-martand\/","title":{"rendered":"Udant Martand, History, Founder, Significance and Hindi Journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Udant Martand<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was a weekly newspaper that played a pioneering role in expanding access to news in Hindi, promoting public awareness and shaping the development of Indian-language journalism under British rule.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Udant Martand<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Udant Martand was the first newspaper published in Hindi using the Devanagari script.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was launched on 30 May 1826 in Calcutta (now Kolkata).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> founded and edited the newspaper, while Manna Thakur was its publisher.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was published weekly, every Tuesday.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The name Udant Martand means \u201cThe Rising Sun\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It carried local news, reports from India and abroad, government announcements, market prices and advertisements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its language included forms of <\/span><b>Khari Boli and Braj Bhasha.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newspaper ceased publication on 4 December 1827 due to limited readership, high postal costs and inadequate financial support.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite its short lifespan, Udant Martand marked a significant milestone in the development of Hindi journalism under <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/british-rule-in-india\/\" target=\"_blank\">British rule<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why Was Udant Martand Started?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Udant Martand was launched to address the limited availability of newspapers for Hindi-speaking readers during the early nineteenth century.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newspapers were already being published in English, Bengali and Persian, but Hindi-speaking readers had limited access to news in their own language.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla aimed to make news and public affairs accessible to Hindi-speaking people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newspaper also reflected the growing use of Indian languages in print and public communication under British rule.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Udant Martand Significance\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Udant Martand played a pioneering role in the growth of Hindi journalism and the use of Indian languages in public communication during British rule.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It marked the beginning of Hindi-language newspaper journalism using the Devanagari script.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It helped establish Hindi as a medium for news reporting and public discussion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its use of Khari Boli and Braj Bhasha reflected the linguistic diversity of Hindi writing at the time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It holds an important place in the history of the Indian press and the development of Indian-language journalism.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Why Did Udant Martand Close Down?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Udant Martand ceased publication on 4 December 1827<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, after approximately eighteen months, mainly because it could not sustain its readership and finances.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Limited readership<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: There were relatively few Hindi-speaking subscribers in Calcutta.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High postal costs<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Distributing copies to readers in northern India was expensive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Inadequate financial support<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Efforts to secure government assistance and postal concessions did not provide the support needed to continue publication.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Growth of Hindi Journalism After Udant Martand<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although Udant Martand was short-lived, Hindi journalism continued to develop through the efforts of other publishers and writers.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bangadoot (1829)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Associated with Raja Rammohan Roy, it was published in Hindi, Bengali, English and Persian.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Benaras Akhbar (1844)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Started by Raja Shiva Prasad in Varanasi, it was an early newspaper to use the Devanagari script in the North-Western Provinces.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Samachar Sudha Varshan (1854)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Edited by Shyam Sunder Sen, it is recognised as the first Hindi daily newspaper and was published in Hindi and Bengali.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bharatendu Harishchandra<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: His contributions to Hindi literature and journalism helped strengthen modern Hindi as a language of public expression.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Hindi Journalism Day and Udant Martand<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Hindi Journalism Day is observed on 30 May to commemorate the launch of Udant Martand in 1826.<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The day recognises the contributions of early journalists to the growth of Hindi-language media.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It highlights the role of Indian-language newspapers in expanding access to news and public affairs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Udant Martand remains a landmark in the history of Hindi journalism despite its short publication history.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Udant Martand, launched on 30 May 1826, was India&#8217;s first Hindi newspaper in Devanagari script. Learn about its founder, history, significance and role in Hindi journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":129278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[10926,10925],"class_list":["post-129251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general-studies","tag-udant","tag-udant-martand","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129251"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129269,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129251\/revisions\/129269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}