India and the World of Print
Manuscripts Before the Age of Print

India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts in various
languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and many other vernacular
languages.

They were either copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper.

They would be either pressed down between wooden covers or sewn together
in order to ensure preservation.

Manuscripts continued to be produced after the introduction of Print till the
late nineteenth century
pages from the Diwan of Hafiz:

Manuscripts, however, were highly expensive and fragile.

They needed careful handling, and, they couldn’t be read easily as the script
was written/composed in various styles.

However, manuscripts were not widely used in daily life.

For example, although there existed an extensive network of primary schools
in pre-colonial Bengal, the students did not often read texts, they only learnt
to write from whatever portions of texts the teachers used to dictate.

Many, thus became literate without ever actually reading any texts!
Print comes to India

Printing press first came to Goa with the Portuguese missionaries in the midsixteenth century.

Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several tracts.

By 1674, about 50 books had been prepared in Konkani and Kanara languages.

Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin.

Catholic priests also printed the first Malayalam book in 1713.

By 1710, the Dutch Protestant missionaries had printed 32 Tamil texts many
of them being translations of older works.

English language press didn’t grow in India until English EIC began importing
presses from the late seventeenth century.

From 1780, James Augustus Hickey began editing the Bengal Gazette.

It was a weekly magazine that described itself as “a commercial paper open
to all, but influenced by none”

It was independent private English enterprises that started the English
printing in India.

Hickey published a lot of advertisements including those related to sale and
import of slave as well as gossip related to the Company’s senior officials.

The Governor-general of India, Warren Hastings persecuted Hickey, and
encourage publication of officially sanctioned newspapers, this would counter
the flow of information that damaged the image of the government.

The first Indian newspaper was the Bengal gazette, brought out by Gangadhar
Bhattacharya, who was close to Rammohun Roy.
Some new terms

Protestant: a member or follower of any of the Western Christian Churches
that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church in accordance with the
principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and
Lutheran Churches.

Jesuit: a member of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests
founded by St Ignatius Loyola, St Francis Xavier, and others in 1534, to do
missionary work.

Missionary: a person who promotes Christianity in a foreign country.
Frequently asked questions
1.
Briefly describe the history of print revolution in India.
(5 marks)
2.
Write any 3 limitations of handwritten manuscripts India.
(3 marks)
3.
Why did James Augustus Hickey claim that the Bengal Gazette was “a
commercial paper open to all but influenced by none”?
(3 marks)
4.
How did the printing technique begin in India? Describe. (5 marks)
5.
How were manuscripts written in India before the age of print? Mention any 2
drawbacks of manuscripts. (5 marks)