The Origins of Public Relations: Tracing Its Roots in India and America

Public relations might feel like a modern invention – something born alongside television ads and corporate boardrooms. But the truth is, PR has ancient roots that stretch back thousands of years. Both India and America developed their own distinct traditions of managing public perception, influencing opinion, and building relationships between rulers and the ruled. The paths these two nations took reveal how deeply culture, history, and politics shape the way societies communicate.

What is the origin of public relations? 🔗

The practice of public relations, in its broadest sense, is as old as human civilisation itself. Scholars like James E. Grunig and Scott Cutlip have identified early forms of public influence and communication management in ancient civilisations – from Babylonian clay tablets teaching farmers better agricultural techniques to Egyptian pharaohs using monumental inscriptions to assert their divine authority. The core elements of PR – informing people, persuading them, and building relationships – have existed in various forms across cultures for millennia.

However, PR as a formal, organised profession is largely a 20th-century development. The paths it took in India and America were shaped by very different historical circumstances – India’s colonial experience and spiritual traditions on one hand, and America’s industrial revolution and democratic experiments on the other.

The roots of public relations in India 🔗

India’s PR history doesn’t begin in a corporate office. It begins in mythology, scripture, and the traditions of ancient kingship. Understanding this requires looking at several key eras that shaped how Indians communicated, persuaded, and managed public opinion.

The mythological and Vedic period 🔗

India can trace its earliest communication practices to its two great epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These texts contain numerous examples of characters using strategic communication to manage relationships between rulers and citizens. In the Ramayana, a character named Bhadra is said to have reported popular feelings and public sentiments to Lord Rama – essentially serving as an early intelligence and feedback mechanism.

Sage Narada, who appears in both epics, is often described as the first mythological public relations figure. He moved between gods, kings, and common people, disseminating information with the aim of establishing Lok Kalyan – universal peace and welfare. This idea of a communicator working to harmonise relationships between different sections of society is remarkably close to what we now call PR.

Beyond mythology, ancient Indian rulers employed professional bards and scribes to sing the glory of kings and document their achievements. Kautilya’s Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft written around the 4th century BCE, outlined methods for spreading and managing information within a kingdom – essentially an early manual for government communication strategy.

Great religious teachers and reformers from Gautama Buddha and Sankaracharya to Nanak and Kabir were master communicators who preached in the language and idiom common people could easily understand. Emperor Ashoka had his edicts inscribed on rocks and pillars in local dialects, making sure his messages about dharma and governance reached as wide an audience as possible. He even sent his children to Sri Lanka to spread the message of Buddhism – an early example of international public diplomacy.

The colonial era and the rise of the press 🔗

Centuries of Mughal and then British rule brought a new dimension to public relations in India. The colonial rulers needed to justify their presence and gain cooperation from the Indian public. They adopted various administrative and communication strategies to project themselves as working in the people’s interest.

A major milestone was when William Augustus Hickey launched India’s first newspaper in 1780, primarily catering to European settlers in Calcutta. Soon, newspapers became a powerful medium for educating the public, highlighting social issues, and shaping public opinion. Leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, through his newspaper Kesari, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale used the press as a tool for public communication and nationalist mobilisation.

The Indian Railways also played a notable role in formalising PR practices. The Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) Railways ran campaigns in England during the 1920s to attract tourists to India. Within the country, its publicity bureau introduced travelling cinemas that showed films at fairs and festivals – an innovative communication strategy for its time.

Mahatma Gandhi and the art of mass mobilisation 🔗

If there was one figure who turned public relations into a mass phenomenon in India, it was Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was, by any measure, a master communicator. His genius lay in combining moral authority, symbolic action, and media strategy to mobilise millions of ordinary Indians into the freedom struggle.

Gandhi’s methods were deeply rooted in PR principles, even if he never used that term. His concept of Satyagraha (insistence on truth) was a powerful communication tool – it framed the independence movement not as a violent rebellion but as a moral stand against injustice. His emphasis on Ahimsa (non-violence) gave the movement a moral high ground that attracted global attention and sympathy.

The 1930 Salt March is perhaps the most iconic example of Gandhi’s PR brilliance. By choosing salt – a basic necessity taxed by the British – as the focal point of civil disobedience, he made the protest universally relatable. The 400-kilometre march from Ahmedabad to Dandi attracted massive media coverage, both domestic and international, and drew millions into the movement.

Gandhi also understood the power of symbols. The spinning wheel (charkha) became the emblem of self-reliance. Khadi cloth symbolised resistance to British economic exploitation. His Swadeshi movement, which encouraged boycotting foreign goods, was both an economic and a PR campaign – it rallied people around a tangible, actionable cause.

On 9th August 1942, Gandhi gave the call to the British to “Quit India.” This resulted in hundreds of thousands of citizens joining the movement, and within five years, India gained independence. The Quit India movement demonstrated something remarkable: even after most leaders were arrested, the masses acted on their own – a testament to how deeply Gandhi’s communication had penetrated Indian society.

Post-independence PR in India 🔗

After independence in 1947, the Government of India established the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, creating a formal institutional structure for government communication. All state governments and union territories set up their own Departments of Information and Public Relations.

In the corporate sector, the Tata Group set up one of India’s first corporate PR departments in Mumbai in 1943, headed by Minoo Masani. Multinational companies operating in India increasingly recognised the need for structured public communication. Public sector undertakings like HMT, BHEL, NTPC, and Indian Oil further professionalised PR practice in the country.

The Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) was established in 1958 as the national body for PR professionals, and the Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) was founded in 2001 to support the growing PR industry.

The evolution of public relations in America 🔗

While India’s PR history is intertwined with mythology and anti-colonial struggle, America’s PR story is driven by revolution, industrialisation, war, and the rise of corporate power. The American experience shaped much of what we recognise today as professional public relations.

PR during the American independence era 🔗

The roots of American PR go back to the colonial period. Early settlers and explorers used exaggerated promotional claims to attract Europeans to the New World. Pamphlets were a key communication tool – both for those promoting colonisation and those countering negative reports about conditions in the colonies.

The movement for American independence was, in many ways, a massive PR campaign. Leaders like Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin used pamphlets, newspapers, and public oratory to build support for independence from Britain. Thomas Paine’s writings and the strategic framing of events like the Boston Tea Party were designed to shape public opinion and galvanise colonial resistance.

Even universities got in on the act early. Harvard University sent preachers to England in 1641 to raise funds, producing one of the earliest known fundraising brochures. Princeton became the first university to routinely supply newspapers with information about campus activities – an early form of institutional PR.

The age of press agents and P.T. Barnum 🔗

The 19th century saw the rise of the press agent – individuals hired to generate publicity, often through sensationalism. The most famous of these was P.T. Barnum, the legendary showman who understood that media attention, even controversial attention, was valuable. His promotional stunts for his circus and museum laid the groundwork for modern publicity techniques, though his approach prioritised attention over accuracy.

This era also saw the abolitionist movement use PR tactics extensively. The American Anti-Slavery Society, established in 1833, used petitions, pamphlets, public lectures, political lobbying, and boycotts to shift public opinion against slavery – a sophisticated multi-channel communication campaign.

Ivy Lee: the father of modern PR 🔗

Ivy Ledbetter Lee (1877-1934) is widely regarded as a founding figure of modern public relations. A former journalist, Lee brought a revolutionary idea to the field: transparency. In 1906, while representing coal companies during a labour strike, he issued his famous “Declaration of Principles” – a commitment to providing the press and public with prompt, accurate information. This was a dramatic departure from the secretive, manipulative practices that had dominated corporate communication.

That same year, after a train wreck on the Atlantic City rail line, Lee issued what is often considered the first modern press release, persuading the company to disclose information to journalists proactively rather than waiting for rumours to spread. This was the birth of crisis communication as a practice.

Lee’s most famous engagement was with the Rockefeller family. After the 1914 Ludlow Massacre – where striking miners and their families were killed by company guards in Colorado – the Rockefellers faced a severe public backlash. Lee advised John D. Rockefeller Jr. to personally visit the miners, listen to their grievances, and allow the press to document his visit. This strategy of humanising the family through direct engagement and transparency helped rehabilitate their public image.

Lee also pioneered tools like internal magazines for employee communication, stockholder reports, and management newsletters – practices that remain standard in corporate PR today.

Edward Bernays: PR as a social science 🔗

If Ivy Lee made PR honest, Edward Bernays (1891-1995) made it scientific. A nephew of Sigmund Freud, Bernays was deeply influenced by psychological theories about unconscious desires and group behaviour. He didn’t just want to inform the public; he wanted to understand what drove them and use that understanding to shape opinion.

Bernays authored the landmark 1923 book Crystallizing Public Opinion, which established the theoretical foundations of PR as a discipline. He coined the term “public relations counsel” and positioned PR as an “applied social science” rather than mere publicity work.

His campaigns are legendary. In 1929, he helped Lucky Strike cigarettes increase sales among women by positioning cigarettes as “Torches of Freedom” – symbols of female rebellion against male-dominated society. He also orchestrated campaigns for Procter & Gamble’s Ivory Soap, using child-focused events to build brand loyalty.

Bernays had earlier served on the U.S. government’s Committee on Public Information (CPI) during World War I, which was established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 to build domestic support for the war. The CPI recruited around 75,000 volunteer speakers – known as “Four Minute Men” – who delivered short, persuasive talks at public gatherings. This experience convinced Bernays that the techniques of wartime propaganda could be applied to peacetime commerce and governance.

He later reflected that he chose the term “public relations” because the word “propaganda” had acquired negative associations due to its use by the Germans during the war.

World War propaganda and the professionalisation of PR 🔗

Both World Wars were turning points for American PR. During World War I, the CPI demonstrated the power of organised, large-scale communication campaigns. The shift from factual arguments to emotional appeals and crowd psychology that occurred during the war fundamentally changed how PR was practised.

During World War II, the negative associations with propaganda grew even stronger, and the PR profession deliberately distanced itself from that term. The post-war period saw the rapid professionalisation of PR – trade associations were formed, academic programmes were established, and international PR agencies emerged. Both Lee and Bernays contributed to this professionalisation, though in different ways: Lee through practical innovations in corporate communication, and Bernays through theoretical frameworks and academic writing.

India vs. America: two distinct PR traditions 🔗

Comparing the PR traditions of India and America reveals how deeply cultural and historical context shapes communication practices.

India’s PR origins are rooted in mythology, religion, and the struggle for freedom from colonial rule. Communication was seen primarily as a tool for social harmony (Lok Kalyan), spiritual teaching, and political liberation. Gandhi’s approach to public mobilisation was deeply moral and personal – rooted in truth, self-sacrifice, and direct engagement with the masses. India’s PR tradition emphasises collective welfare and nation-building.

America’s PR origins, by contrast, emerged from commercial and political competition. The driving forces were industrial growth, corporate reputation management, and the need to win public support during wars. American PR quickly became a paid profession, with established firms, theoretical frameworks, and academic study. It emphasised strategic persuasion, psychological insight, and media management.

Both traditions, however, share a common thread: the recognition that public opinion matters and that those who wish to lead – whether kings, corporations, or nations – must communicate effectively with the people they serve.

Key takeaways 🔗

The history of public relations is not a single, linear narrative. It is a tapestry woven from different cultural threads. India gave the world the concept of the communicator as a bridge between rulers and the ruled, the power of non-violent mass mobilisation as a PR strategy, and the use of symbols and language to unite diverse populations. America contributed the professionalisation of PR, the integration of social science into communication strategy, and the development of tools – from press releases to crisis communication – that remain central to the field today.

Together, these two traditions show that public relations, at its core, is about something universal: the human need to be heard, understood, and trusted.

What do you think? How do Gandhi’s techniques of mass mobilisation compare with the corporate PR strategies developed by Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays? In today’s digital age, which tradition – India’s community-centred approach or America’s media-driven model – is more relevant?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_public_relations
2. https://www.joriwhitepr.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-public-relations
3. https://www.masscommguide.com/2017/04/history-of-public-relations-in-india.html
4. https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/indian-independence-struggle-1930-1931/
5. https://scoreindia.org/blog/history-of-public-relations-india/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Lee
7. https://uen.pressbooks.pub/stratcomm/chapter/chapter-2-history-how-we-got-here-where-ideas-come-from-2/
8. https://www.ipr.org.uk/public-relations-through-time.html