Where and when was the newspaper ‘Mazharul – Saroor’ published?
- (1)Bharatpur, 1849
- (2)Jaipur, 1856
- (3)Ajmer, 1840
- (4)Udaipur, 1879
Answer
Why
Correct — option (1), Bharatpur, 1849.
Manohar Prabhakar's Rajasthan mein Hindi Patrakarita (1981) says Mazharul Sarur is considered Rajasthan's first newspaper: a bilingual paper in Urdu and Hindi, published from Bharatpur in 1849.
He adds that no copy survives. The French scholar Garcin de Tassy only mentions it in his discourses, so little can be said about its form.
Ram Ratan Bhatnagar's The Rise and Growth of Hindi Journalism also lists Bharatpore (1849, Mazharul Sarur) among the early papers of Rajputana and Central India. The Pandit Jhabarmall Sharma Abhinandan Granth (1977) says the Raja of Bharatpur brought it out in 1849 as a monthly.
The place and year are option (1), Bharatpur, 1849.
The year is not the same in every source. Bhatnagar's own list of early monthlies, elsewhere in his book, gives Mazharulsarur as 1852. No option pairs Bharatpur with 1852, so that variant does not change the answer.
The idea to remember: Mazharul Sarur — Bharatpur, 1849, Urdu and Hindi, under the Maharaja's patronage.
Why the others are wrong
- (2)Jaipur, 1856 — Jaipur, 1856 belongs to a different paper. Prabhakar records that in 1856 Jaipur's bilingual Rozatul Talim, or Rajputana Akhbar, edited by headmaster Kanhaiyalal, began publication.
He calls it the oldest Rajasthan paper whose file survives, in the Maharaja's Public Library, Jaipur. Mazharul Sarur came from Bharatpur, seven years earlier.
- (3)Ajmer, 1840 — Neither Ajmer nor 1840 fits. Prabhakar dates Ajmer's first papers to the 1860s: Jaglabh Chintak in 1861 and Jaghitkarak in 1863. Bhatnagar also gives Ajmer (1861, Jagalabh Chintak).
1840 is earlier than Mazharul Sarur itself, which these sources treat as Rajasthan's first paper, from Bharatpur.
- (4)Udaipur, 1879 — Udaipur, 1879 is the start of another paper. Prabhakar says Maharana Sajjan Singh of Mewar started the Hindi weekly Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar in 1879, under Swami Dayanand's influence.
He notes that Bhatnagar's thesis gives 1876 for it, a date Prabhakar calls misleading. Mazharul Sarur is a Bharatpur paper of 1849.
Concept
Rajasthan's earliest papers grew under princely patronage. The Pandit Jhabarmall Sharma Abhinandan Granth calls their history a history of state-patronised journalism, beginning with Bharatpur's bilingual Mazharul Sarur in 1849.
Bhatnagar quotes Garcin de Tassy's address of 4 December 1854: the paper was printed at Bharatpore under the patronage of the Maharaja and, like Indore's Malwa Akhbar, ran two columns side by side, one Hindi and one Urdu.
Prabhakar's sequence of later papers includes Rozatul Talim (Jaipur, 1856), Jaglabh Chintak (Ajmer, 1861), Marwar Gazette (Jodhpur, 1866), Jaipur Gazette (1868) and Udaipur Gazette (1869).
A decade after the Udaipur Gazette came Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar (1879), a Hindi weekly under Maharana Sajjan Singh.
RPSC's syllabus lists, under History, Art, Culture, Literature, Tradition & Heritage of Rajasthan, "Political Awakening: role of newspapers and political institutions."
The early state papers came before the political press. Prabhakar notes that in an age when State gazettes printed Persianised Urdu, even a small amount of Hindi publishing from Rajasthan mattered.
Prabhakar knew of no surviving copy of Mazharul Sarur, only Tassy's mention of it. Its year also varies: Prabhakar and two of Bhatnagar's lists give 1849, and Bhatnagar's list of monthlies gives 1852.
Key facts
- Prabhakar (1981): Mazharul Sarur, a bilingual Urdu–Hindi paper from Bharatpur in 1849, is considered Rajasthan's first newspaper; no copy survives.
- Bhatnagar lists Bharatpore (1849, Mazharul Sarur) among the early papers of Rajputana and Central India, all bilingual.
- Garcin de Tassy (1854, quoted by Bhatnagar): Mazharul Sarur was printed at Bharatpur under the Maharaja's patronage, in two columns, Hindi and Urdu.
- Prabhakar: Jaipur's bilingual Rozatul Talim or Rajputana Akhbar began in 1856, edited by headmaster Kanhaiyalal.
- Prabhakar: Maharana Sajjan Singh started the Hindi weekly Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar at Udaipur in 1879.
Options (2) and (4) are the years of other papers. Bhatnagar's list of monthlies dates Mazharul Sarur to 1852.
Study next
Common traps
- Taking Jaipur, 1856 for the first paper. Rozatul Talim is the oldest paper whose file survives, but Mazharul Sarur (1849) came earlier.
- Choosing Udaipur, 1879 because Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar is well documented. It began three decades after Mazharul Sarur.
- Fixing Mazharul Sarur's year without a source. Prabhakar gives 1849; Bhatnagar gives 1849 in two lists and 1852 in his list of monthlies.
A question can name an early newspaper and ask where and when it was published, as here.
A question can also ask which was Rajasthan's first newspaper, or put early papers of different States in chronological order.
Related PYQs
Consider the following statements related to Bijolia Peasant Movement : A. Vijay Singh Pathik had gone to Wardha to meet Gandhiji to give information regarding the Bijolia Peasant Movement. B. Prayag’s Abhyudaya and Calcutta’s Bharat Mitra newspaper regularly published news related to the Bijolia Peasant Movement. Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
- (1) Only A is correct.
- (2) Only B is correct.
- (3) Both A and B are correct.
- (4) Neither A nor B is correct.
Answer(2)
Newspapers again, in a movement: that question asks whether Vijay Singh Pathik went to Wardha to meet Gandhiji about the Bijolia Peasant Movement and whether Prayag's Abhyudaya and Calcutta's Bharat Mitra regularly published news of it (RPSC key: option (2), Only B is correct). This question is about Rajasthan's first newspaper.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to Manohar Prabhakar, which is the oldest newspaper of Rajasthan whose file is still available?
- (a)Mazharul Sarur
- (b)Rozatul Talim (Rajputana Akhbar)
- (c)Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar
- (d)Jaglabh Chintak
Answer(2) — Prabhakar calls Rozatul Talim (Jaipur, 1856) the oldest available paper, its file kept in the Maharaja's Public Library, Jaipur. Mazharul Sarur (1) is older but no copy survives. Jaglabh Chintak (4) came in 1861 and Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar (3) in 1879. - practice — not a real PYQ
The Hindi weekly 'Sajjan Kirti Sudhakar' was started in 1879 from —
- (a)Bharatpur
- (b)Jaipur
- (c)Udaipur
- (d)Jodhpur
Answer(3) — Prabhakar says Maharana Sajjan Singh of Mewar started it at Udaipur in 1879. Bharatpur (1) is the home of Mazharul Sarur, Jaipur (2) of Rozatul Talim, and Jodhpur (4) of the Marwar Gazette.