Thread by @BengalAntiquity

#Bengaliwomantravellers
#পথিকৃৎ
(2)

Before we venture further into the topic, it would be prudent to provide a backdrop to the topic and discuss about the facilitators who gave a platform to these budding writing talents.

The three most influential periodicals which

provided these industrious women with a platform to express themselves would be Bamabodhini Patrika, Bharati Patrika and most importantly Antahpura Patrika which was an all women effort.

Antahpur Patrika (1898-1903)

The first editor of the magazine was Banalata Devi. After her short but eventful life came to an abrupt end in 1900 the mantle was taken over by Hemanta Kumari Devi and later on Kumudini Mitra of Mary Carpenter fame.
( Kindly check the alt text 👇)

Bamabodhini Patrika (1863-1922)

Founded by eminent personality Umeshchandra Datta and editors such as Ashutosh Ghosh and Santosh Kumar Datta, Bamabodhini Patrika carried around 13 travel articles by women in between 1863-1922.

Bharati (1877-1926)

This periodical was published by the illustrious Tagore family from Jorasanko ,Kolkata. It was the longest serving Bangla Magazine of the time till it lapsed. It witnessed the rise of women's writing and editors. It evolved into women's magazine after the

editorship shiifted to Swarnakumari Devi. Sarala Devi, Rabindranath, Hiranmayi Devi also served as editors. Hiranmayi Devi served as an editor from 1895-1898. Sourindranath Mukhopadhayay and Manilal Gangopadhyay also served as editors. In 1894, the periodical merged with

Jnanadanondini Devi's periodical, Balak.

20th Century saw two more periodicals which provided women with a platform to express themselves.

Bharatvarsha (1913-1953)

Bharatvarsha was founded by Dwijendralal Ray but after his death barely two months after the magazine was set up

Jaladhar Sen took over.

Prabasi (1901-1964)

The father of Indian Journalism, Ramananda Chattopadhyay established the periodical Prabasi in Bangla while simultaneously editing the Modern Review in English.

Prabasi used to carry at least three articles on travel every edition

. There were 4 short pieces authored by women about cities of India. They might not have been intended to be written as travelogues per se but do function as an effective guide for these cities.

It would be important to note that a lot many of these serialised pieces were later combined in the shape of a book and then published, as was the norm at that time.

We have provided the sources of the write-up in our previous thread on this topic. We have also mentioned

the places where one could find some editions of these periodicals in the Alt texts of the photos attached.