On 30 May 1826, Udant Martand (“The Rising Sun”) emerged from Kolkata as the first newspaper entirely in Hindi, using the Devanagari script. Its founder, Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla, a lawyer originally from Kanpur, took on this pioneering venture to give voice to Hindi-speakers under colonial rule, when most print media in India were dominated by English or Bengali publications.

Published weekly every Tuesday from Amartalla Lane in the Barabazar area, Shukla’s newspaper blended Khari Boli and Braj Bhasha dialects to reach a broader audience among Hindi speakers. The first issue printed about 500 copies.

However, the newspaper’s path was far from smooth. Its readership was largely located in the Hindi-heartland Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and beyond which were distant. Postal costs were high and government support minimal; without postal fee exemptions or major subscriptions, Udant Martand struggled to stay afloat. Only around 18 months after its launch, it ceased publication in December 1827.

Though short-lived, Udant Martand’s legacy endures: it marked the beginning of Hindi journalism and is commemorated every 30 May as Hindi Patrakarita Diwas (Hindi Journalism Day).