page_title: Avadh Akhbar
section_title: Editors
hierarchical_section_title: Avadh Akhbar / Editors
caption_attribution_description: English: Pandit Ratnnath Sarshar (d. 21 January 1903)
context_page_description: Avadh Akhbar was an Urdu-language newspaper founded by Munshi Nawal Kishore, and published by Nawal Kishore Press from Lucknow, British India. It was launched in 1858 and lasted for almost a century. It was the most popular newspaper of its time, specialising in politics, social reform and literature. In 1877, it became the first Urdu daily in Northern India.
  Pandit Ratan Nath Dhar Sarshar, one of the paper's editors, serialised his novel Fasana-e-Azad in this newspaper. It is considered the first 'serialised novel' in Urdu.
context_section_description: The initial issues of Avadh Akhbar were edited by Munshi Naval Kishore himself. He was soon forced to entrust this time-consuming task to others. In 1859, Maulvi Hadi Ali 'Ashk', one of Naval Kishore Press's scholars and calligraphers, was appointed the paper's first formal editor. Due to his failing health, Ashk left the editorship in 1864. According to an editorial notice which appeared in a later issue of the paper, Maulvi Fakhruddin 'Fakhr', a scholar, took over the editorship from Ashk, probably in 1865. In 1866, he was succeeded by Mehdi Husain Khan, the ex-proprietor of the Riyaz-e-Nur Press in Multan and former editor of an Urdu weekly of the same name.
  Following Mehdi Husain Khan, in 1867 the editorship was assumed by Maulvi Raunaq Ali, a Persian and Urdu scholar and poet who wrote under the pen names 'Afsun' and 'Raunaq'. He had joined the Naval Kishore Press as a proofreader for Avadh Akhbar but was soon promoted to editor. He was sent to Patiala by Naval Kishore to oversee the establishment of a new printing office. In 1870, Maulvi Ghulam Muhammad Khan was appointed as the new editor. As well as a journalist and editor, he was a pupil of poet Mirza Ghalib and wrote poetry in Persian and Urdu under the pen-name 'Tapish'. He served as editor for eight years. During his editorship, Avadh Akhbar flourished. In 1876, he left the press following disagreements with Naval Kishore. Some time later he became editor again, and in March 1877, he announced in the paper that because of his ill health and low eyesight he would quit Avadh Akhbar and start his own paper, Mushir-e-Qaisar-e-Hind. According to Garcin de Tassy, Maulvi Amjad Ali 'Ashhari' took charge of the paper for a short period after Tapish.
  On 10 August 1878, Pandit Ratan Nath Dhar Sarshar was appointed as editor. Avadh Akhbar helped to launch his career as one of the most important fiction writers in Urdu. Sarshar's novel Fasana-e-Azad appeared serially, and later as a special supplement, in the paper from 1878 to 1880. It became the first Urdu novel to be serialised in a newspaper. Sarshar also published articles on literary, educational, political and social subjects in the paper, advocating progressive thoughts, enlightenment and modernity. Ulrike Stark remarks that Sarshar gave a new dimension to journalistic prose in Urdu and became a model for many later writers. Sarshar resigned from the editorship on 1 February 1880; however, he remained associated with the Naval Kishore Press for some time. His novels Fasana-e-Jadid (later published in book form as Jam-e-Sarshar) and Sair-e-Kohsar were serialised as special supplements to Avadh Akhbar in 1880 and 1886 respectively.
  After Sarshar, no formal editor was appointed. The editorial work was handled by several editors including Abdul Halim Sharar (assistant editor from 1880 to 1882), Mirza Hairat Dehlavi, Munshi Shiv Parshad, Maulvi Ahmad Hasan 'Shaukat' and Munshi Debi Parshad 'Sihr'.
caption: Pandit Ratan Nath Dhar Sarshar, one of the editors of Avadh Akhbar; his novel Fasana-e-Azad serialised in the paper.
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