''Azdarar'' () (pronounced Aztarar in

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on the Yerevan Arme ...

) was the first

Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...

newspaper ever published. It was established on October 16, 1794, in the city of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

) in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by Father

Harutyun Shmavonyan Harutyun Shmavonian () (born Shiraz, Persia in 1750 - died Madras, India 1824) was a priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the founder of the Armenian journalism through publishing of the Armenian newspaper ''Azdarar'' (Monitor). The paper's ...

. It is also the first non-

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

newspaper to be published in India. The monthly covered mainly cultural and historical issues. Azdarar continued for a year and a half until March 1796. During that period, Father Shmavonian published 18 issues, 965 pages in total.

Other Armenian periodical publications in India

The publication of Azdarar in Madras in 1794 culminated in a series of other pioneering Armenian language publications in other cities of India including ''Ojanaspyurian'' (in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Օճանասփիւռեան) in 1815 in Bombay, ''Hayeli Galgatian'' (in

Հայելի Կալկաթեան meaning Calcuttan Mirror in Armenian) in Calcutta in 1820 and ''Shtemaran'' (

Շտեմարան meaning repository in Armenian) in 1821 also in Calcutta, long before Constantinople (Istanbul) where the first Armenian periodical publication saw the light only in 1832․

Commemorative stamp

The Armenian postal authorities published a stamp denominated as 30

Armenian dram The Armenian dram (; Armenian dram sign, sign: ֏; abbreviation: դր.; ISO 4217, ISO code: AMD) is the currency of Armenia. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma (). The Central Bank of Armenia is responsible for issuance and circulation ...

s in 1994 in commemoration of Father Shmavonian and his ''Azdarar'' publication's second centennial. Harutyun Shmavonyan

New publication

''Azdarar'' is a publication under the same name has resumed in 2007, in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

(Calcutta),

, after 210 years of the cessation of the original publication, as an initiative of

Armenian-American Armenian Americans () are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immig ...

astrophysicist Nora Andreasyan-Tomas. Azdarar is being published monthly in Calcutta, whereas the original historic publication was in Madras. It is a color magazine of average of 40 colour pages.Hetq: Վերահրատարակվում է «Ազդարար» հանդեսը
(in Armenian)

References

Armenian-language newspapers Publications established in 1794 1794 establishments in British India Madras Presidency {{Armenia-stub