The Gujral Committee Report - Language in India

fort William College, adopted it for its publications. The Company's notifications, orders, rules and regu- lations issued in Calcutta as also the literature produced by the Wahabi sect between 1820 and 1837 were printed in Urdu type. the
According to Gilchrist, books entitled Chihar Darvesh, Sehrul Bayan Gulistan and Tota Kahani were published in type on behalf of the Fort William College, in 1801, at the Harkara Press, Calcutta Gazette Press, the Mirror Press or the Telegraph Press. Urdu 7.25
Akhale-i- Hindi and Miskin ke Marsive were printed in Devnagari script. The first books,
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Calligraphy
Calligraphy
press to use Urdu script regularly was the Hindustani Press (Established in 1801 or 1802) and its first publication was "The Strangers East India Guide to Hindustani". commercial
Notwithstanding this flying start, Urdu type did not acquire popularity and was 7.26
by the litho system of printing in which calligraphed matter is transferred on to a flat stone from which it is printed off. While 'Urdu type was difficult to obtain and costly, calligraphists were easily available. In addition to the superior aesthetic appeal of the replaced
style of calligraphy over the Naskh style, it was also more convenient and practical to adopt in litho printing. The overriding consideration in switching over to calligraphy was, however, the. high cost of books printed in Nastaliq type. An idea of the Nastaliq
can be had from the fact that the Urdu translation of the modest volume of Sadi's costs
and Pandnama was priced at Rs. 32 in 1809. Consequently, there have been very few champions of Urdu type since the establishment of the first litho press in Delhi around 1835. Gulistan
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The Gujral Committee Report on
7.27 The popularity of the litho process can be judged from the fact that by 1848 as many as 17 presses had been established in North West Province alone. Of these, seven were in Delhi, five in Agra, one each in Meerut, Bareilly and Simla and two in Banares. These were in addition to the presses established by the Christian missionaries at Mirzapur, Banaras, Allahabad, Agra and Ludhiana. In 1849, the total
Urdu
765