Orunodoi was first published in January 1846, printed by the Baptist Missionary Press in Sibsagar. The tag line for the magazine was, "The Orunodoi, monthly paper, devoted to religion, science and general intelligence". It continued to be published till 1879, the press, however, was sold in 1883. The editors of the magazine include Dr. Nathan Brown, A. H. Denforth, William Ward, and others. It contained articles related to science, current affairs, astrology, history, and local trivia. This paper helped to entrench the Assamese intelligentsia, bringing to the fore three key figures from the Assamese literary world: Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, Hem Chandra Baruah and Nidhi Levi Farwell. The crowning glory of Brown's career was Orunodoi which means ‘the dawn’. Brown did the editorial work whereas Oliver Cutter was involved in printing and publishing the magazine. Brown was the editor of this magazine till he left for the US. Under his editorship, Orunodoi published history by bringing out the texts of old chronicles in properly edited form, such as Chutia Buranji, Purani Asom Buranji and Kamrupar Buranji. He also patronized various Assamese scholars and helped them publish. Notable among these publications are Kashinath Tamuly Phukan's Asom Buranji (1842) and Anandaram Dhekial Phukan's Axomiya Lorar Mitro (1849) and A Few Remarks on the Assamese Language and on Vernacular Education (1855), Bronson's A Spelling Book and Vocabulary in English, Assamese, Singpho and Naga (1839) printed at the Mission Press in Sibsagar.
