In late 19th-century India, the burgeoning of print media and new public spaces of discourse ushered in distinctive forms of politics as well as new forms of colonial governmentality. These new media practices politicised public spaces and they created important links, networks and circuits of discussion – not only within British and Indian arenas, but also among an emerging global pan-Islamic movement. This chapter looks at how colonial publics emerged, functioned and were made effective in late 19th- and early 20th-century Delhi by highlighting different aspects of public mediation. I emphasise the vital contribution of print media and other public spaces of discourse to the cultural and political landscape of colonial Delhi, and draw attention to the various strategies employed by the British and the Indian elite to shape these spaces.

I am interested in the late 19th and early 20th century because this era immediately preceded the shift of the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi, and it was a time when Delhi was becoming increasingly involved in national and global networks of activities, driven by the growth of print media. Part of my PhD research was based on the analysis of newspapers, pamphlets and public meetings as complex public spaces of discourse in which the British and the Indians participated in order to fulfil diverse cultural and political objectives.