Nawal Kishore Press
The Nawal Kishore Press (also spelled Newal Kishore Press) was a publishing house founded by Munshi Nawal Kishore in Lucknow, British India, in 1858. It grew rapidly between 1865 and 1872 from its modest beginnings as a small printing press, adopting modern technology and improved marketing, and engaging in innovative print ventures. The Press began to decline after 1890, when Nawal Kishore's successor was unable to keep up his legacy.
Also recorded as Newal Kishore Press · Nawal Kishore Press and Book Depot · Naval Kishore Press · Newul Kishore Press
Nawal Kishore Press
- Name
- Nawal Kishore Press
- Founded
- 1858
- Founder
- Munshi Nawal Kishore
- Headquarters
- Lucknow
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
The Nawal Kishore Press (also spelled Newal Kishore Press) was a publishing house founded by Munshi Nawal Kishore in Lucknow, British India, in 1858. It grew rapidly between 1865 and 1872 from its modest beginnings as a small printing press, adopting modern technology and improved marketing, and engaging in innovative print ventures. The Press began to decline after 1890, when Nawal Kishore's successor was unable to keep up his legacy.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Nawal Kishore Press. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q95740391 · wikipedia · Nawal Kishore Press
In this article
Overview
Overview
The Nawal Kishore Press published books in Urdu, Arabic, Persian, and Hindi on a variety of subjects, including: religion, ethics, literature, medicine, and history.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Nawal Kishore Press • Founded — 1858 • Founder — Munshi Nawal Kishore • Successor — Ram Kumar Book Depot Tej Kumar Book Depot • Country — India • Headquarters — Lucknow
History
History
• Illustration — Munshi Nawal Kishore (1836–1895) Munshi Nawal Kishore was associated with the Agra-based Koh-i-Noor Press from 1853 to 1857, and briefly served as an assistant editor and editor of Koh-i-Noor, a Koh-i-Noor Press magazine owned by Munshi Harsukh Roy. When he was 22, Nawal Kishore moved to Lucknow to found his own business. On 23 November 1858, he opened a small printing press with official approval from Robert Montgomery, then Chief Commissioner of Oudh. From 1865 to 1872, the Nawal Kishore Press grew quickly, adopting modern technology, implementing better marketing practices, and undertaking innovative print ventures. Nawal Kishore's successor was unable to keep up his legacy, and the Press began to decline after 1890. When Nawal Kishore died in 1895, his adopted son, (1872–1926), took over management of the publishing house. Following Prag Narayan's death, the ownership of the publishing house passed to his son, Bishan Narayan (1898–1931). Soon afterwards, Bishan Narayan left the Press to his own two sons, Munshi Ram Kumar Bhargav (1915–1971) and Munshi Tej Kumar Bhargav (1919–1987). In 1950, following a rift between the brothers, the firm was divided into two separate book publishers, renamed the Ram Kumar Book Depot and the Tej Kumar Book Depot.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1858
The full dated record · 3 entries
1858
Nawal Kishore Press established.
1858
Nawal Kishore Press is recorded from 1858.
1858
Nawal Kishore Press was established or created on 23 November 1858.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
British Raj and India
Country
Nawal Kishore Press is associated with British Raj and India.
Country
Publications
The Nawal Kishore Press played an instrumental role in promoting literature. It contributed to the preservation and dissemination of Islamic religious texts, Unani medicine, works on Indo-Muslim historiography, and the traditional Persian and Urdu qissa and dastan narrative forms. The Press also published, and produced translations of Sanskrit texts, and promoted the Puranas (Hindu religious texts) in Hindi and Urdu. Through its newspaper Avadh Akhbar, initially published weekly, the Nawal Kishore Press also contributed to Urdu journalism. In 1877, Avadh Akhbar became the first daily Urdu-language newspaper in northern India. The paper became popular, and achieved commercial success through efficient editing and professional management techniques. The Press also published other newspapers and journals. Over almost a century, the Nawal Kishore Press published some 12,000 titles. Approximately 5000 of these were issued during Nawal Kishore's lifetime; 3000 under Prag Narayan; and 2000 each, respectively, in the era of Bishan Narayan then of his two sons.
Reception
Scholar Ulrike Stark comments that the Nawal Kishore Press played a pivotal role in the diffusion of Hindi literature during the latter half of the nineteenth century, as one of the first private Indian publishing houses to engage in the mass publication of printed books in Hindi.
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Nawal Kishore Press stands. Established or created on 23 November 1858. Founded by Munshi Nawal Kishore. Press has its headquarters at Lucknow. Situated in British Raj. Situated in India.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q95740391: Nawal Kishore Press
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Nawal Kishore Press”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
People and holdings
Knowledge graph
People and holdings
Those recorded as working within this institution, and the records it holds or is connected with.
Place
1- IndiaPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Publishers and printers
5,459 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Naval Postgraduate SchoolOrganisation
- Navneet PublicationsOrganisation
- Navodaya PublishersOrganisation
- Navy Records SocietyOrganisation
- Nazarene Publishing HouseOrganisation
- Nazraeli PressOrganisation
- NBM PublishingOrganisation
- NDC MediagroepOrganisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Nawal Kishore Press?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.