The Statesman was founded in Calcutta in January 1875 by Robert Knight and absorbed the Friend of India (1818) in 1883. It launched a Delhi edition in 1931, pu…
Its lineage is. The Friend of India began at Serampore in 1818 and campaigned against sati. Knight later bought it.
Robert Knight, with backing from 24 merchants. He bought the struggling Friend of India for Rs 30,000.
In 1883, after nearly eight years side by side. The joint title was used for many years.
The Knight family until 1927, then Sir David Yule. It stayed British-owned until the 1960s.
In 1931, under Alfred Watson, beside the new imperial capital. The Englishman was absorbed in 1934.
Editor Ian Stephens published photographs of famine victims in Calcutta, defying censorship. The world took notice.
Yes. When foreign-owned papers were barred in 1955, it was called the honourable exception.
In the mid-1960s, under a consortium chaired by N.A. Palkhivala. Pran Chopra became editor.
The Junior Statesman, India's first youth magazine, launched in February 1967. C.R. Irani joined as managing director in 1968.
Under C.R. Irani it left blank spaces where censored copy was cut, and lost government advertising.
Kolkata, Delhi, Siliguri (1998) and Bhubaneswar (2002). Dainik Statesman, in Bengali, followed in 2004.
Ravindra Kumar and Anand Sinha were arrested after the paper reprinted a Johann Hari column on religion. Both got bail.
The R.P. Gupta family, whose stake rose from about 20% to 90% through special shares, Scroll reported.
Yes. The NCLT approved its plan for the insolvent agency, and it took full control in June 2025.
Scroll reported no profit for over a decade and Rs 47.4 crore in accumulated losses.
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