Wars, bankruptcy, pandemics: Asia’s oldest paper still going strong

Wars, bankruptcy, pandemics: Asia’s oldest paper still going strong

It has survived two world wars, the fight against colonialism, global financial slumps and on Thursday, Mumbai Samachar, Asia's oldest newspaper still in print, entered its 200th year confident of beating the pandemic-driven decline that has hit many rivals. Printed in a British-era building in Mumbai's financial district, the Gujarati-language daily was founded on July 1, 1822. It originally served as a weekly for businessmen living in the key port city.

Mumbai Samachar-which means "Mumbai News" in Hindi-published ship departure times, property listings, government appointments, the price of opium in China and news from other British outposts. "The newspaper was started for traders and still today, traders are our first readers," Nilesh Dave, the paper's editor for the last nine years, told AFP. "We call it the 'trader's newspaper'." It also attracted the attention of luminaries like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, whose letters to the editor are treasured in the archives.

Over the years, it evolved into a daily broadsheet covering politics, business and general news for Gujarati readers across twelve Indian states. It claims a daily circulation of over 150,000 "” and the paper's fiercely loyal readership has helped it survive an industry-wide decline. Many have stuck with the paper