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The Avadh Punch, a weekly from Lucknow, under the stewardship of its formidable editor, Munshi Sajjad Hussain, was published from 16 January 1877 till its closure in 1937. Virtually the first Indian newspaper to publish cartoons as we know them today, it provided a platform for some of the greatest comic writers in Urdu literature. Inspired by, and like the London Punch (1841-2002), it became a household name notable for dignity, geniality of satire and good taste. Wit and Wisdom in Urdu Literature, The Punchis, Caricaturing the Raj, In Defence of Tradition, Political Satire in the 20th Century. Avadh Punch became Urdu’s most successful and longest running humour magazine. Avadh Punch criticised Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and those who wanted to follow the west blindly. Satirical pieces criticising certain aspects of the British Raj, political affairs and social evils appeared every week. Another speciality of the magazine was to take utmost care about Urdu usage and as a result many stalwarts of Urdu literature were severely criticised for their Urdu usage, assumed faulty by the magazine, including Altaf Hussain Hali, Daagh Dehlvi and Allama Iqbal. It was also the pioneering journal of humor and social criticism, modeled on the famous English weekly, Punch. Its popularity led to many imitators, while its conservative politics was countered by the equally famous and popular weekly, Avadh Akhbar (Lucknow).

Extent: 58 electronic files contain 1172 TIFF Images.

Arrangement: The issues belonging to this periodical have been bound into 14 volumes. Each volume contains 53 issues per year. The volumes are arranged chronologically by year. Within the volumes the issues are arranged numerically by volumes and issue number.