so gravely and elegantly by these papers as by the Soma Prakasa. In respect of language too, it was a higher model for the others. Inspite of their many defects, those journals must be complimented upon for their attempts at the development of the Bengali language. It cannot but be admitted that the modern form of Bengali prose originated with these newspapers. We will, therefore, try to notice briefly the principal Bengali newspapers, that were born before the birth of the Soma Prakasa.
The general impression is that the Christian missionaries of Serampore were the pioneers of Bengali journalism. But in fact, this notion is mistaken. The missionaries issued their 'Samachara Darpana' in 1817. But before that, Pandit Gangadhar Bhattacharyya had started, in the city of Calcutta, his 'Bengali Gazette' in 1815. So this was the first newspaper in Bengali. In 1820 appeared the 'Sangbada Kaumudi,' edited by Bhavani Charan Banarji, with the help of Raja Ram Mohan Ray and Babu Tarachand Datta. But subsequently when the Raja began writing in it articles against the practice of Sati, Bhavani Charan cut off his connection with the paper. In the next year, he started his "Samachara Chandrika," a weekly, which was afterwards made a daily paper, and ultimately incorporated with the 'Dainika' of the Bangabasi office. Then followed the 'Timira-Nasaka,' also a weekly, edited by Krishna Mohan Das of Mirzapore. This paper lived for a few short
