rajanikanta bordoloi was the first editor of the assamese periodical magazine jonaki.
the first editor of the assamese periodical magazine jonaki?
rajanikanta bordoloi
jonaki (magazine)





















































jonaki (, moonlight) was an assamese language magazine published from calcutta in 1889. it was also the mouthpiece of the then assamese literary society oxomiya bhaxa unnati xadhini xobha in which the society’s aim and objectives were regularly expressed. the first editor of the magazine was chandra kumar agarwala.





















































section::::history.
jonaki (magazine)
jonaki era, age of romanticism in assamese literature jonaki era is also known as the age of romanticism in assamese literature. the "jonaki" magazine, published by “probashi” assamese students in calcutta, was the result of this zeal. ‘bhāxār bikāx holehe jātir bikāx hobo’ (the nation develops only when the language develops) was the slogan of the early assamese intelligentsia and they began the process of standardization of the language by standardizing orthography, writing grammars and dictionary, and most importantly by using a standardized version in print. by the end of the nineteenth century the language spoken in upper and middle assam became the accepted standard language of assam as a direct intervention of this group of young men,” writes uddipan dutta in the same essay. the students living in calcutta at the end of the nineteenth century in various “messes” strove towards the development of the assamese language. one issue of the magazine (vol. 5, no. 7) relates the inception of the magazine as the outcome of the expat students’ meeting on wednesdays and saturdays at 67 mirzapur street mess on saturday 25 august 1888. thus a committee was set up—“axomiā bhāxā unnati xādhini xabhā” the development of assamese language and literature “is the primary aim of the organization. for that purpose it strives to preserve the old assamese texts available, to translate different important books from sanskrit and other languages into assamese which are not available in the mother tongue, to develop reading habit among the masses to introduce pure grammar and orthography instead of the impure orthography and grammar, and to create one standard written language all through the areas of assam.”
history of assamese literature