SASNET Book Launch with Kristina Myrvold: "The Sikhs in Print: Media, Politics, and Surveillance in Colonial Punjab"

About the book

Title: "Sikh News in India, 1864–1924: Colonial Reports on Vernacular Newspapers of Punjab"

After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the colonial administration in British India introduced stricter control over Indian publishers and the press printed in various indigenous languages. Newspapers in the Punjab were monitored and scrutinized from 1864 to understand “native opinions” and identify seditious tendencies. The surveillance resulted in extensive weekly press reports that were considered politically significant for British governance. 

This book, divided into four volumes, presents English translations of newspaper articles about the Sikhs published in the weekly press reports for Punjab between 1864 and 1924. Covering press material from over 300 newspapers, the book provides insights into the broader landscape of print media in Indian languages and how discussions on the Sikhs in the press evolved in response to changing imperial policies and politics. In a growing field of research on print cultures and publics in colonial India, the book offers source material for a nuanced and localized understanding of the history of the Sikhs in Punjab.