Sambada Prabhakara (Calcutta, c. 1840-1864)
Sambada Prabhakara, one of the most important 19th century newspapers which continued for a long period, circulated as the first Bangla daily from 1839, and recorded the details of the social reform movement until the end of the 19th century. After experimenting for eight years as a weekly and confronted by financial problems, Ishvarchandra turned the publication into a daily and the public supported him. From then he did not look back. Till his death in 1859, he was the editor of the newspaper and then his younger brother, Ramchandra Gupta, took over the responsibility. It was in circulation even in the 1880s after which it became irregular and finally ceased. As a newspaper Prabhakar performed an important role to mould public opinion and influence local authorities mainly on education, economic and urban development problems. As a conservative Hindu, Ishvarchandra himself was critical of women's education question, but opened his paper to debate on these issues.
Custodian of microfilm copies:
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Kolkata, W.B., India
- Different issues between the years 1247 (1840) until 1271 (1864)
Universitaetsbibliothek Heidelberg