Print culture assisted the growth of nationalism in India in multiple ways.

First, the publication of religious texts in vernacular languages helped reach a wide audience. Cheap lithographic editions flooded north Indian markets from the mid-nineteenth century. Presses like the Naval Kishore Press at Lucknow and the Shri Venkateshwar Press in Bombay published numerous religious texts in portable forms. These could be read by the faithful anywhere and read out to illiterate groups, encouraging discussions, debates and controversies within and among different religions.

Second, print connected communities across different parts of India. Newspapers conveyed news from one place to another, creating pan-Indian identities among people.

Third, nationalist newspapers grew in numbers despite repressive measures. They reported on colonial misrule and encouraged nationalist activities. When Punjab revolutionaries were deported in 1907, Balgangadhar Tilak wrote sympathetically about them in his Kesari, leading to his imprisonment and provoking widespread protests across India.

Finally, a new visual culture emerged with printing presses. Cheap prints and calendars shaped popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics, spreading nationalist sentiments even among the poor.