Chapter 1
Before Newspapers (Before 1850)
We often associate Journalism with newspapers, printing presses, radio broadcasts, television studios and digital news report. Yet the history of journalism started much earlier than the first printed newspaper. At heart journalism is organized collection, verification, and dissemination of information that enables the society to be informed of political authority, commerce, religion and everyday life. Long before the first newspaper was printed in Jammu and Kashmir, the region possessed it own system through which news, political orders, religious ideas and commerical information travelled across towns, villages and mountain passes.
For centuries, rulers depended on reliable and trustworthy sources of information to administer their kingdoms, maintain revenue records, enforce law and order and communicate official decisions. Merchants relied on reports from distant markets to understand prices, trade routes and demand for goods. Pilgrims, travellers and wandering monks carried stories, news and cultural knowledge across regions, informing communities that had little contact with the outside world. Meanwhile, scholars and religious institutions preserved knowledge by carefully copying manuscripts, ensuring that history, literature and religious texts were passed down through generations. In the Duggar and Himalayan regions, many such works were written in the Takri script, with manuscripts from places like Chamba serving as important examples of this rich literary tradition.
1. Communication Before Printing
Before the introduction of printing press, the people of Jammu and Kashmir relied on a variety of informal and official methods to exchange information. In a region divided by mountains, rivers and seasonal routes, news travelled slowly but steadily through oral traditions, administrative networks, marketplaces, religious instutions and itinerant travellers. Although these systems lacked the speed and permanence of printed newspapers, they formed the foundation upon which later journalism which flourish the region.
1.1 What caused the rise of Oral Traditions?
Literacy was limited to a relatively small section of society, including scholars, scribes, priests and administrators. So most people could not read or write, so news was transmitted by word of mouth. Stories,political development and social events spread through conversations. Folk singers,storytellers and village elders acted as carriers of information. Oral traditions also preserved historical memory through songs, legends and ballads.
In the Duggar region, karak/karks (heroic ballads) commemorated notable figures and historical incidents like the 'Karks' of Baba Jitto. Ballad puts beautiful lines in the mouth of Baba Jitto at the occasion of his death, which reflect his burning revolt against exaction ;
“O Mehta, you will not relish the dry wheat.
So I season it with my flesh”.Oral communication was remarkably resilient. Even in remote villages separated by mountains and forests connected by high altitude mountain passes, information eventually travelled through the conversations among travellers, shepherds, pilgrims, merchants and visiting relatives. Although the details of a story could change as it passed from one person to another, oral traditions ensured that news and historical memory remained alive across generations.
1.2 Village Assemblies
While oral communication connected families and communities, matters affecting an entire village required more organised forms of public communication.
Village Assemblies formed one of the most important centres of communication in pre-press Jammu and Kashmir. Meetings conveyed by village elders, village local committee members and local officials provided a forum where public issues can be discussed. These gatherings were done for any disputes, village security, animal safety, grazing rights, and taxation.
Revenue demands, royal orders and administrative decisions were often conveyed through village headmen. These meetings ensured that important information reached the wider population through trusted locals of the villages, respected by all of the villagers.
In many respects, they performed functions later associated with local newspapers by informing communities about matters that affected everyday life.
1.3 Markets as Information Centres
Markets were much more than buying and selling of goods, they served as vibrant centers where merchants, artisans, pilgrims, officials, shepherds and travellers exchanged information alongside commodities. Every market day created opportunities for people from different villages and regions to discuss political developments, military campaigns, changing prices, harvest conditions, weather, road safety and events occurring far beyond their own communities.
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