The paper was launched on 23 January 1988 by Bal Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena, a local, regional and language driven; political party; in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

[2][3] Firstpost attributes the founding of Saamana to Thackeray's dissatisfaction about the amount of press he and his party received in other news outlets.

[3] According to the Hindustan Times, Saamana played a "significant role during the 1992–93 riots", and Thackeray was "not beyond publishing lies and exaggerating the extent of the violence indulged in by the opposing groups and inciting Shiv Sainiks to do their worst.

[5][failed verification] In September 2020, the newspaper came into controversy for publishing an article with the title 'Tod Diya' which means 'We Broke It' in Hindi.

This article referred to the demolition of the office of the Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.