During the Indian Freedom Struggle, newspapers proved to be a prominent tool in the hands of nationalists. Many newspapers and journals, during these years, emerged under fearless journalists like B. G. Tilak, M. M. Malviya, and so on. These newspapers spread awareness among the people of the country and united them against the Britishers to attain Independence. The newspapers served the purpose of not only for political education but also served the purpose of political participation. The impact of the newspapers was not limited to cities and towns, as they also reached remote villages.
This article discussed all the important newspapers and journals during the Indian freedom struggle, which are as follows:
| Newspaper/Journal | Year | Place | Founder/Editor | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengal Gazette (or Calcutta General Advertiser) | 1780 | Calcutta | James Augustus Hicky | the first newspaper in India, an English weekly newspaper |
| Madras Courier | 1784 | Madras | Richard Johnston | first newspaper from Madras |
| Indian Gazette | 1787 | Calcutta | associated with Henry Louis Vivian Derozio | |
| Bombay Herald | 1789 | Bombay | William Ashburner | first newspaper from Bombay |
| Indian Herald | 1795 | Madras | Started by R. Williams, published by Humphreys | English newspaper |
| Digdarshana | 1818 | Calcutta | John Clark Marshman | First Bengali monthly |
| Samachar Darpan | 1818 | Serampore | John Clark Marshman | First Bengali newspaper |
| Bengal Gazette | 1818 | Calcutta | Harishchandra Ray | Bengali newspaper |
| Calcutta Journal | 1818 | Calcutta | J. S. Buckingham | |
| Sambad Kaumudi | 1821 | Calcutta | Raja Rammohan Roy | first Bengali weekly newspaper |
| Samachar Chandrika | 1822 | Calcutta | Bhabani Charan Bandyopadhyay | Bengali weekly newspaper, an orthodox Hindu newspaper of the Dharma Sabha |
| Mirat-ul-Akbar | 1822 | Calcutta | Raja Rammohan Roy | First Persian language journal in India |
| Banga-Duta | 1822 | Calcutta | Raja Rammohan Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore and others | the first weekly newspaper in four languages- English, Bengali, Persian, Hindi |
| Jam-i-Jahan Numah | 1822 | Calcutta | Harihar Dutta | the first newspaper in Urdu |
| Bombay Samachar | 1822 | Bombay | Fardunjee Marzban | The first newspaper in Gujarati |
| Udant Martand | 1826 | Calcutta | Jugal Kishore Shukla | first Hindly weekly newspaper |
| Bombay Times | 1838 | Bombay | Foundation laid by Robert Knight, started by Thomas Benett | From 1861 onwards, renamed The Times of India. |
| Sambad Prabhakar | 1839 | Calcutta | Ishwar Chandra Gupta | First Bengali daily newspaper |
| Rast Goftar | 1851 | Bombay | Dadabhai Naoraji | Gujarati fortnightly |
| Vichar Lahiri | 1852 | Krishnashastri Chiplunkar | ||
| Hindoo Patriot | 1853 | Calcutta | Madhusudhan Ray, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Harishchandra Mukerji | English weekly |
| Dinavartamani | 1855 | Madras | Peter Percival | bilingual in Tamil and Telugu, a weekly newspaper |
| Somprakash | 1858 | Calcutta | Dwarkanath Vidyabhushan | First Bengali political paper, a weekly newspaper |
| Neel Darpan | 1859 | Dinabandhu Mitra | Bengali play | |
| Indian Mirror | 1862 | Calcutta | Devendranath Tagore | first India daily paper in English |
| The Bengalee | 1862 | Calcutta | Grish Chandra Ghosh (taken over by S. N. Banerjee in 1879) | first vernacular paper |
| Gram Barta Prokashika | 1863 | Calcutta | Kangal Harinath Majumder | Bengali weekly newspaper |
| Durgeshnandini | 1865 | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | first Bengali Novel | |
| The Pioneer | 1865 | Allahabad | George Allen | |
| National Paper | 1865 | Calcutta | Debendranath Tagore | English weekly |
| Amrita Bazar Patrika | 1868 | Jessore district of Bangladesh, Calcutta | Sirsir Kumar Ghosh, Motilal Ghosh | Bengali in the beginning, later become a bilingual weekly (English and Bengali) in 1871 |
| Bharat Sramajibi | 1870 | Sasipada Banerjee | first Indian journal of the working class | |
| Sulabh Samachar | 1870 | Calcutta | Umanath Gupta | Bengali weekly |
| Tahzeeb-ul-Akhlaq | 1871 | Sir Syed Ahmed Khan | Journal in the Urdu language | |
| Bangadarshana | 1873 | Calcutta | Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | Bengali literary magazine |
| Indian Statesman (or The Statesman) | 1875 | Calcutta | Robert Knight | |
| Deenbandhu | 1877 | Pune | Krishnarao Pandurang Bhalekar | a weekly Marathi language newspaper, which served as an outlet for Satyashodhak Samaj |
| The Hindu | 1878 | Madras | G. S. Aiyar, Vir Raghavacharaya, and Subba Rao Pandit | Started as weekly in English |
| Tribune | 1881 | Lahore | Dayal Singh Majeetia | |
| Kesari | 1881 | Bombay | B. G. Tilak, V. K. Chiplunkar, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar | Marathi daily newspaper |
| Mahratta | 1881 | Bombay | B. G. Tilak, V. K. Chiplunkar, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar | English newspaper |
| Swadeshamitram | 1882 | Madras | G. S. Aiyar | Tamil newspaper |
| Sanjibani | 1883 | Krishna Kumar Mitra | Bengali journal | |
| Voice of India | 1883 | Bombay | Dadabhai Naoroji | |
| Paridasak | 1886 | Bipin Chandra Pal | Bengali weekly | |
| Deepika | 1887 | Mannanam, near Kottayam | Nidhiry Mani Kathanar | Malayalam newspaper |
| Sudharak | 1888 | Pune | Gopal Ganesh Agarkar | Anglo-Marathi language work |
| Vital-Vidhvansak | 1888 | Gopal Baba Walangkar | First monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience | |
| Prabuddha Bharata | 1896 | Madras | P. Aiyasami, B. R. Rajam Iyer, G. G. Narasimhacharya, B. V. Kamesvara Iyer, at behest of Swami Vivekananda | English monthly journal |
| Udbodhana | 1899 | Swami Vivekananda | Magazine | |
| Indian Opinion | 1903 | Durban (South Africa) | Mahatma Gandhi | Newspaper |
| Free Hindustan | 1905 | Taraknath Das | Journal | |
| Talwar | Berlin | Birendra Nath Chattopadhyay | ||
| Reshwa | Sadar Ajit Singh | |||
| Bande Mataram | 1905 | Calcutta | Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin Chandra Pal | English weekly newspaper |
| Yugantar | 1906 | Bengal | Barindar Kumar Ghosh, Bhupendra Dutta | |
| Sandhya | 1906 | Bengal | B. B. Upadhyay | |
| Kal | 1906 | Maharashtra | ||
| Indian Sociologist | London | Shyamji Krishnavarma | ||
| Comrade | 1911 | Maulana Mohammad Ali | English weekly newspaper | |
| Al- Balagh, Al-Hilal | 1912 | Abdul Kalam Azad | Urdu weekly newspapers | |
| Pratap | 1913 | Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi | Hindi newspaper | |
| New India | 1914 | Annie Besant | English daily newspaper | |
| Commonweal | 1914 | Annie Besant | ||
| Bombay Chronicle | 1913 | Bombay | Started by Pherozeshah Mehta, Editor- B. G. Horniman | |
| Independent | 1919 | Allahabad | Motilal Nehru | |
| Young India | 1919 | Mahatma Gandhi | English weekly journal | |
| Tarun Bharat | 1919 | Belgaum | Baburao Thakur | Marathi newspaper |
| The Hindustan Times | 1920 | Delhi | K. M. Panikkar | founded as part of Akali Dal Movement |
| Mook Nayak | 1920 | B. R. Ambedkar | Marathi weekly | |
| Indian Socialist | 1922 | S. A. Dange | first communist journal | |
| Vanguard | 1922 | M. N. Roy | Communist journal | |
| Anandabazar Patrika | 1922 | Suresh Majumdar Parfulla Sarkar | Bengali Daily | |
| Bandi Jivan | 1922 | Bengal | Sachindranath Sanyal | |
| The Milap | 1923 | Lahore | M. K. Chand | Urdu daily |
| Nava Kaal | 1923 | Prabhakar Khadilkar | Marathi daily | |
| Mathrubhumi | 1923 | K. P. Kesava Menon | Malayalam newspaper | |
| Leader | Madan Mohan Malaviya | English newspaper | ||
| Kudi Arasu | 1925 | Madras | E. V. Ramaswamy Naickar (Periyar) | Tamil weekly magazine |
| Kirti | 1926 | Punjab | Santosh Singh | |
| Future of Indian Politics | 1926 | M. N. Roy | Communist journal | |
| Bahishkrit Bharat | 1927 | B. R. Ambedkar | Marathi fortnightly | |
| Kranti | 1927 | Maharashtra | S. S. Mirajkar, K. N. Joglekar, S. V. Ghate | |
| Navijivan | 1929 | Mahatma Gandhi | ||
| Harijan Bandu | 1932 | Mahatma Gandhi | Gujarati newspaper | |
| Harijan Sevak | 1932 | Mahatma Gandhi | Hindi newspaper | |
| Hindustan Dainik | 1936 | M. M. Malviya | Hindi newspaper | |
| National Herald | 1938 | Jawahar Lal Nehru | ||
| Dawn | 1941 | Delhi | Mohammad Ali Jinnah | English newspaper, Mouthpiece for Muslim League |
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