In the ancient period, India had a very rich and old tradition of handwritten manuscripts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and other regional languages. Manuscripts were copied on palm leaves or on handmade paper. Pages were beautifully illustrated. Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda was written on a palm leaf in accordian format. Some works had beautiful calligraphy like the 14th century poet Hafiz’s work known as the Diwan. These manuscripts were preserved by sewing them together or pressing between wooden covers. They had to be handled carefully and they were highly expensive and fragile. Even in schools, students became literate without reading any kinds of texts as scripts were written in different styles and not easy to read. Teachers dictated portions and students wrote them down. The printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16th century.They printed several tracts in Konkani. In 1674, 50 books had been printed in Konkani. The first Tamil book was printed in 1579 at Cochin, first Malayalam book appeared in 1713. By 1710, Dutch missionaries had printed 32 Tamil Texts. English printing was started by James Hickey from 1780. He began to edit Bengal Gazette, a weekly magazine. So it was private English enterprise that began English printing in India. By the close of the 18th century, a number of journals appeared, Indians too began publishing. Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who was close to Raja Rammohun Roy, brought out the Bengal Gazette.