Fardunjee Marzban

Fardunjee Marzaban or Fardoonjee Marazban (22 August 1787– 17 March 1847) was, among other things, a printer and a newspaper editor. He established the first vernacular printing press in Bombay, India. He also started India’s oldest running periodical called the Bombay Samachar, which was printed primarily in Gujarati. He pioneered vernacular journalism in India, as also the production of Gujarati types.

Life and work Fardunjee Marzban was born at Surat in 1787 into a family of Parsi-Zoroastrian priests in Gujarat, and initially trained for the priesthood. His father and grandfather had been scholars of Zoroastrian religious literature (i.e. Middle Persian and Avestan texts), and Marzban followed their example.

The press was set up in 1812, but the first book would not be printed until 1814. This book would be an Almanac for the Hindu Samvat Year 1871.

He went to Daman, then a Portuguese settlement, where he practiced medicine. He died on 23 March 1847.