James Augustus Hicky

James Augustus Hicky was an Irish printer in colonial India who founded Hicky’s Bengal Gazette in 1780, the first newspaper printed in India.

Hicky’s Bengal Gazette: A weekly newspaper founded by James Augustus Hicky in Calcutta in 1780, the first newspaper printed in India. Hicky’s paper made him a pioneer of Indian newspaper publishing and a target of colonial authorities.
Freedom of the press in India: The principle and practice of allowing publications in India to criticize authorities without prior restraint or punishment. Hicky’s prosecution is an early episode in the history of press freedom in India.
Philip Francis: A British politician and member of the Supreme Council of Bengal from 1774 to 1780. Hicky’s newspaper attacked Francis and other Company officials amid factional conflict in Bengal.
Regulating Act 1773: A British law that reorganized the East India Company’s government in India and established a supreme court at Calcutta. Its new court and governing structure shaped the authorities Hicky challenged.
Warren Hastings: The first governor-general of Bengal, who held office from 1773 to 1785. Hicky’s attacks on Hastings and his administration helped bring the newspaper into conflict with government power.
Censorship in British India: Government restrictions on publication and circulation imposed in British-ruled India. The Company’s postal restrictions and legal actions curtailed Hicky’s newspaper.
Elijah Impey: The first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Calcutta. As chief justice, Impey presided over the court that convicted Hicky of libel.
Press freedom: The right to publish opinions and information without government censorship or retaliation. Hicky’s case raises the basic conflict between independent criticism and state control.
Mariam Hastings: The wife of Warren Hastings, known in India as Marian Hastings. Hicky’s paper published attacks on her, prompting a libel case that contributed to its financial and legal troubles.
Indian journalism: The practice of gathering, editing, and publishing news in India across print and later media. Hicky’s Gazette marks an early starting point in the history of Indian journalism.

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Dean MahomedCompared with: His newspaper offers a contrasting early print culture in British India, rather than Mahomed's English-language memoir from Britain.