Interface | February 2016 | 63 K

Urdu Press in Telangana: A Historical Account DR. K. VENKATESHWARLU* Abstract Urdu newspapers entered Telangana region belatedly owing to a host of reasons, especially, the oppressive rule of Nizam, impoverished conditions and lack of educational facilities in the region. The present article is a part of the doctoral thesis, Press in Telangana-A Historical Study. It dilates on the role of the Press in the socio- political history of Telangana and the Hyderabad Samsthan, which was under the Nizam rule. The press was divided in its support to the Nizam and opposed the role of Razakars -- Nizam’s private army. The article captures the run-up to the police action and the merger of the Hyderabad Samsthan into the Indian Union following police action. Further, the movements for Telangana in 1969 and later after 2001 were adequately covered by the Urdu Press. The ownership pattern, problems of Urdu journalists due to technological changes, advertisement and circulation strategies as also the emergence of small newspapers in Hyderabad and the districts of Telangana also find mention in this article. Key words: Urdu press, Telangana, Nizam rule The origin of the Urdu press in Telangana the Turkish word ‘ordu’ meaning ‘camp’ has its roots in the history and origin of or ‘army’, nourished during the period of Urdu as a language in India and the birth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. It had of Indian journalism across the country. words from Persian and local languages. Also it is integrally linked to Urdu The language was to facilitate easy com- press/journalism which surfaced in differ- munication among soldiers who included ent parts of the country. Arabs, Turks and locals. Based on the The origin of Urdu language has a Khariboli dialect of Delhi and Western unique history. M Chatterjee (2011) states Uttar Pradesh in the Indian subconti- that Urdu was not the language of Mus- nent, Urdu developed under local Persian, lims, it was the language of the lashkari Arabic, and Turkish influence over the (soldiers). The word ‘Urdu’ comes from course of almost 900 years. It began to take shape in what is now Uttar Pradesh, * The author obtained his PhD from the India during the Delhi Sultanate (1206- Department of Communication & Journalism, Osmania University, Hyderabad. 1527), and continued to develop under the Interface | February 2016 | 63 K. Venkateshwarlu Mughal Empire (1526-1858). erences to the growth of Urdu press while Urdu is written from right to left just writing the cultural accounts of Hyder- like Arabic and Persian. Urdu has 39 basic abad. There is no clarity about the first letters and 13 extra characters, all to- Urdu paper published in the erstwhile gether 52 and most of these letters are Hyderabad State. from Arabic and a few from Persian. It The Telangana region was under has almost all the ‘sounds’ available in any Nizam rule when the first newspaper Ben- other language spoken in the world. gal Gazette, a weekly political and com- Chatterjee states that the Persian mercial paper was launched in January, newspapers of West Bengal were fore- 1780 by James Augustus Hickey in runners of the Urdu press. After the de- Kolkata (then Calcutta). It was only after cline of Persian as an official language, 77 years, Jam-i-Jahan-Numa, the first Urdu Urdu gained prominence. The first news- newspaper founded by Harihar Dutta paper of Urdu language was Jam-i-Jahan- was launched in 1822 in Kolkata and was Numa, founded by Harihar Dutta in 1822 followed by the publication of Risala-i- in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He was the Tababat, Urdu magazine for medicine and son of Tara Chand Dutta, an eminent science in 1857 in the Hyderabad Sam- Bengali journalist and one of the founders sthan by one George Smith. The maga- of Bengali weekly, Sambad Koumudi. zine had articles by eminent surgeons, On 14 January 1850, Munshi Harsukh physicians and doctors. Rai started Kohinoor weekly, which had a The history of the Urdu press can remarkably high (for those times) circu- broadly be discussed in three different lation of 350 copies. In 1858, Manbir phases-- prior to 1948; before accession Kabiruddin started the Urdu Guide, the of the Hyderabad Samsthan under the first Urdu daily, from Calcutta. Another Nizam rule into the Indian Union; after important paper founded that year was the formation of Andhra Pradesh State in Roznamha-e-Punjab from Lahore. Oudh 1956 to 2014. Based on the stance Akhbar by Munshi Nawal Kishore was adopted towards the then prevalent so- the first Urdu newspaper from Lucknow, cial and political issues, between 1935- also launched in 1858. There was a spurt 1948, Urdu newspapers can be grouped in Urdu journalism from the 1850s till In- under three categories. dependence in 1947. The first Urdu news- The first group of newspapers was pro- papers of Delhi were Fawaid-ul-Nazarin Nizam and respected the dynasty. They and Kiran-us-Sadai, founded by Rama included the Nizam Gazette and Subah-e- Chandra in 1852. The Urdu press in Delhi Deccan. The second group strongly advo- became highly critical of the British Gov- cated the news and views of the ernment. The best example of them is Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and the Urdu Akhbar, edited by Syed Hasan, pleaded for an independent Hyderabad which highlighted many civic issues like Samsthan and projected Nizam as protec- drainage, sanitation, adulteration of food, tor of Muslim interests. Such newspapers and corruption. were Rahbar-e-Deccan, Itteha, Aghaz, etc. Few historians have made cursory ref- The last group - Riyat, Payam, Waqt and 64 | February 2016 | Interface Urdu Press in Telangana Imroze were in favour of a constitutional functions and prominent personalities and responsible Government account- which enhanced its popularity and circu- able to the people of the State. lation. The paper projected the views of the then politically dominant community. Pro-Nizam It was printed on electrical press. After the military action, Major JN History records that newspaper enthusi- Chowdhary, the military general of In- asts first gained the confidence of the dian Union ordered the closure of Rah- Nizam and later started newspapers. bar-e-Deccan as it supported independent Maulavi Syed Hussain Bilgrami, who be- Hyderabad. The paper was in the final came chief consultant and advisor of all stage of printing when orders were issued important affairs of the Nizam govern- in 1948. The Nizam Gazette daily (1927) ment, launched Magznul Fawade (1875), was loyal to the Nizam and till 1942, it which published educational news. Taj, a published all firmans of the Nizam. After monthly magazine, was launched in 1912 the police action, the paper published the and urged the government to spread ed- affairs of King Kothi. Manshoor and Waqt ucation among masses. Taj raised its voice (1929) published news in favour of nation- against rituals, traditional and supersti- alist movement. tions and presented a correct perspective Subha-e-Deccan (1928) pleaded with the of religion. Nizam for protection of Muslims’ inter- Newspapers like Hazar Dasthan (1883), ests. The editor of the paper Akbar first Urdu daily, and Paiki-e-Asafi (1885) re- Waqafi was shocked at the accession of ceived a grant Rs. 1500 from Nizam. the Hyderabad state into Indian Union Afsar (1896) launched by Moheebul Has- and migrated to Pakistan. san worked as a mouthpiece of military The relatives of the Nizam also affairs. Interestingly, several newspapers launched newspapers. One Gulam Mo- were launched during the crisis in Hyder- hammed Calcuttawala, a businessman, abad Samsthan. Ittehad (1947) worked as son in law of Khan Bahadur Ahmed Al- the official organ of the Majlis-e-Itte- ladin, launched Meezan Urdu daily along hadul-Muslimeen. Jinah (1947) published with English, following it up with Telugu news in support of Majlis. version Meezan in 1943 and wrote in Newspapers like Deccan Punch (1887) favour of the Nizam. Meezan was a popu- and Hyderabad Gazette supported the lar daily with a circulation of 20,000 Nizam and followed the firmans issued copies and it ceased publication in 1947 by the Nizam. Saltanat (1930) published when Calcuttawala migrated to Pakistan. the firmans and poems written by the Tanzeem (1944) expressed balanced and Nizam. moderate views. Rahbar-e-Deccan (1921) was against the merger of the Hyderabad state into In- Anti-Nizam dian Union as it supported the Nizam government and the Razakars. The paper Several Muslim scholars, who launched started publishing photos of important Urdu newspapers and magazines, pub- Interface | February 2016 | 65 K. Venkateshwarlu lished news against the anti-people poli- months. They included Rahbar-e-Deccan, cies of the Nizam Government. North which supported the views of Majlis Itta- Indian scholars who settled in Hyderabad hadul Musleemeen (MIM) advocating and were employees of the Nizam Gov- the Nizam of Deccan as the representa- ernment launched newspapers to expose tive and protector of Muslims’ interest the anti-people policies of the Nizam to and was against the merger of Hyderabad educate people. Samsthan into Indian Union. Shoebullah Khan launched Imroze with After 10 months, several newspapers the support of B Ram Krishna Rao, the reappeared and Rahbar-e-Deccan was re- first chief minister of the Hyderabad launched under a new name Rahnuma-e- state, and friends. The writings of the Deccan. paper were critical about the Razakars, the private army of the Nizam led by Post Police Action (1948) Khasim Razvi as it indulged in excesses, though it was meant to defend the The military government, which took province. Shoebullah Khan criticised the over after the Police Action, resorted to policies of Majlis and supported the ac- oppressive measures leading to the clo- cession of Hyderabad Samsthan in Indian sure of several Urdu newspapers.

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