Jorhat, Oct. 26: The payscale of a lecturer in English at Cotton College was just Rs 425 during the colonial era. Salary of a headmaster in Kamrup Academy was just Rs 100.
Price of a used Fiat car was just Rs 1,000 or an Austin 7,1928 model cost only Rs 1,500.
Steamer Brand Beer was probably the first advertisement of an alcohol beverage to appear in newspapers in Assam.
There are 14 banks with nearly 50 branches and 32 insurance companies were functioning in the state during that period.
These were a few of the many interesting nuggets of information that came to light during a research carried out by a scholar, department of history, Dibrugarh University, for a thesis on Advertisement in the Print Media in Colonial Assam.
Soumitra Puzari, also a history department professor at Jorhat College here, conducted the research on this unique topic for over five years and was awarded a PhD degree a couple of days ago.
"The main objective of the study is to establish advertisements, hitherto not used, as a significant source of history," Puzari said. Another important objective of the study was to collect information on the socio-cultural, political and economic life of the people of colonial Assam from these advertisements published in newspapers and magazines of that period, he said.
The British occupied Assam in 1826 and normally this period from 1826 to Independence in 1947 is considered as the colonial period.
According to the study, there were nearly 100 newspapers and magazines published in Assam, mainly in Assamese, English and Bengali, during the colonial period.
"Though the total number was nearly 100, many of these were institutional journals and magazines. Moreover, many were shortlived," he told The Telegraph.
Puzari said the study has revealed that there were no advertisements in the first Assamese newspaper, Arunodoi, appeared in 1846.
"Advertisements became an indispensable part of the industry since Jonaki, 1889," he said.
Jonaki was an Assamese language magazine published from Calcutta in 1889.
He said several newspapers - Assam Times, Asomiya, Deka Asom, Awahan and Bahi got a good number of advertisements in those days.
"In fact, there were not less than 100 advertisements in each issue of Asomiya. The Dainik Batori had an average of 50 advertisements for each of its issues in 1935. Interestingly there were very few government advertisements till 1935," the study revealed.
Puzari said he visited different archives and libraries of the country to collect the advertisements that appeared during the British rule. Among these were the national library in Calcutta, library of Banga Sahitya Parishad, Calcutta, the Nehru Museum Library, and other libraries and archives in the state.
"Unfortunately, the preservation of these rare newspapers and magazines was not satisfactory. Apart from the national and state archives, many of these papers are lying scattered in the nooks and corners of the state," he said.
Dambarudhar Nath, a professor in the Aniruddhadev Chair of Dibrugarh University, said this was the first time in the state that a study has been conducted on advertisements during the colonial era. "We have not come across any book of history where we can observe the use of advertisements as a source. The study is unique in nature," he said.
The study, he said, apart from getting information on the socio-cultural and economic condition of colonial Assam, would also reveal the usefulness of advertisements as a source of history.
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