The Rise and Fall of Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780–2): A Study in Transoceanic Political Culture. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gilding, Ben
• Is Part Of: Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth history. Volume 47:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 27
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Empire -- newspapers -- East India Company -- politics -- transoceanic; Commonwealth countries -- History -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 909.0971241
• DOI: 10.1080/03086534.2018.1506870
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-6534

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The rise and fall of Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780–82), India's first printed newspaper, is a narrative of prime importance to the history of Indian newspapers, and such is the context within which it has invariably been written. Previous works have approached Hicky's Gazette in a somewhat teleological and insular manner. These accounts have ignored the significance of foreign news among its content and fail to acknowledge Hicky's appropriation of political rhetoric from other parts of the British Empire. Through the contents of Hicky's Gazette we find Calcutta residents engaged in a transoceanic political discourse, criticising 'nabobs' with all the ferocity of the metropolitan British press; claiming the freedoms of Englishmen in common cause with the discontented, not only in Britain, but also in Ireland and America; and participating in discussions to regulate the governance of the East India Company through petitions of grievances. In the circulation of Hicky's paper throughout the presidencies and in the contributions of pseudonymous writers we find a platform for the politically discontented among the European community of Bengal whose voice is otherwise muted amidst the Francis-Hastings disputes and the steady stream of 'official' information between Calcutta and London.