Ranbir (Urdu: رنبیر) was a daily Urdu language newspaper published from Jammu, India.^[1][2] It was the first daily newspaper in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ranbir was founded and edited by Lala Mulkraj Saraf.^[2][3] He had previously worked as sub-editor of Lala Lajpat Rai's nationalist organ Bande Mataram.^[3] Saraf had negotiated for some time to obtain the permission from the Maharaja Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir to publish Ranbir as a statewide weekly.^[4][5]

The newspaper was named after Maharaja Ranbir Singh.^[4] The first issue of Ranbir was published on 24 June 1924.^[4][5] Ranbir would become the first daily newspaper in Jammu and Kashmir.^[2] The newspaper was printed at the Government Press.^[6] Instantly after its foundation, the paper gained a wide readership in the state.^[5]

In May 1930 Maharaja Hari Singh issued a ban on Ranbir (accusing it of 'subversive propaganda'), following an article about an agitation in Jammu related to the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi in British India.^[4][6][3][7] The Maharaja argued that Ranbir had, in its 7 May 1930 (Baisakh 25, 1987) issue exaggerated the participation figures in the Jammu protest and that the newspaper had false alluded that the Maharaja himself would have supported the protests.^[7] The newspaper was allowed to resume publication in November 1931.^[4] This period was marked by increased pressure towards responsible government in Jammu and Kashmir, a movement that Ranbir supported.^[3]

The newspaper was banned in June 1947, following having demanded accession to India and urged for the release of Sheikh Abdullah.^[8] The ban was eventually lifted and Ranbir re-appeared in September 1947. In the following years Ranbir was an important mouthpiece of the anti-Pakistani tendency in Jammu and Kashmir.^[3] Ranbir was finally closed down on 18 May 1950.^[4]