Rast Goftar
Topic: Print Culture and the Modern World · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Rast Goftar was a Gujarati newspaper started in Bombay in 1851. Its name means "truth-teller". Dadabhai Naoroji and other young Parsi reformers founded it. It began as a fortnightly (published every two weeks). It pushed for social and religious reform in the Parsi community. It shows how reformers in western India used newspapers in Indian languages to argue for change.
Example
Dadabhai Naoroji, later called the "Grand Old Man of India", edited Rast Goftar in its early years. The paper argued for women's education and against old customs among the Parsis of Bombay.
Don't confuse with
- Bombay Samachar: a Gujarati paper from Bombay, started in 1822 and much older. It was a general newspaper, not the organ of a reform group.
Related concepts
- Rammohun Roy
- Sambad Kaumudi
- Samachar Chandrika
- Mirat-ul-Akhbar
- Bombay Samachar
- Deoband Seminary
- Ramcharitmanas