''The Pioneer'' is an English-language daily newspaper in India. It is published from multiple locations 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 ...

, including

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. It is the second-oldest English-language newspaper in India still in circulation after ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. In 2010, ''The Pioneer'' launched its Hindi version in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

.Pioneer launches Hindi edition in Lucknow
''The Pioneer''

History

''The Pioneer'' was founded in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

in 1865, by George Allen, an Englishman who had great success in the tea business in north-east India in the previous decade.Das Gupta, Uma. 1977. "The Indian Press 1870–1880: A Small World of Journalism", ''Modern Asian Studies'', 11(2):213–235. pp. 233–234. It was brought out three times a week from 1865 to 1869 and daily thereafter. In 1866, a supplement, the ''Pioneer Mail'', consisting of "48 quarto-size pages," mostly of advertisements, was added to the publication. In 1872, Alfred Sinnett became the editor of the newspaper. Although he was later to be known for his interest in

theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

, he oversaw the transformation of the newspaper to one of exercising great influence in British India. In 1874, the weekly ''Pioneer Mail'' became the ''Pioneer Mail and India Weekly News'' and began to also feature short stories and travel writings.National Library of Australia. 1994
South Asian Newspapers in Australian Libraries: A Holdings List
/ref> Author

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

(1865–1936), in his early 20s, worked at the newspaper office in Allahabad as an assistant editor from November 1887 to March 1889; much of his poetry was published in the paper.

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

was at one point the paper's war correspondent. In July 1933, ''The Pioneer'' was sold to a syndicate and moved from Allahabad to

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, at which time the ''Pioneer Mail and India Weekly News'' ceased publication. The newspaper remained a primarily Lucknow-based paper until 1990, when it was purchased by the Thapar Group, under L. M. Thapar, who made it a national newspaper, published from

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

and

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

. Thapar sold the paper to its editor Chandan Mitra in 1998; at that time it had 484 employees. Mitra announced that he intended to seek other investors in due course rather than to remain the ownership for himself. On 17 October 2010, ''The Pioneer'' launched its Hindi edition from Lucknow. In May 2012, the paper inaugurated its Raipur bureau, beginning operations of its Chhattisgarh edition. Mitra resigned as printer and publisher in June 2021, and died in September 2021.

Editions

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' ( ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

The Lucknow edition includes four other editions: Varanasi, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Lucknow itself.

Notable contributors

Writers

* Alfred Percy Sinnett * Rudyard Kipling * Winston Churchill * Chandan Mitra * Kanchan Gupta * Balbir Punj * K G Suresh * KPS Gill * Kalyani Shankar * Gyaneshwar Dayal * Ashok K Mehta * Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Cartoonists

* Sudhir Dar * Shekhar Gurera * Irfan Hussain

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pioneer, The 1865 establishments in British India Newspapers established in 1865 English-language newspapers published in India Daily newspapers published in India