Hortus Bengalensis
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'A Christian Benares' Orientalism, Science and the Serampore Mission of Bengal»
‘A Christian Benares’: Orientalism, science and the Serampore Mission of Bengal Sujit Sivasundaram Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge By using the case of the Baptist missionaries called the ‘Serampore Trio’—Rev. William Carey, Rev. William Ward and Rev. Joshua Marshman—this article urges that science and Christianity were intimately related in early nineteenth-century north India. The Serampore Baptists practised a brand of Christian and constructive orientalism, devoting themselves to the recovery of Sanskrit science and the introduction of European science into India. Carey established an impressive private botanical garden and was instrumental in the formation of the Agricultural Society of India. Ward, in his important account of Hinduism, argued that true Hindu science had given way to empiricism, and that Hindus had confused nature with the divine. The Serampore College formed by the trio sought to educate Indians with respect to both Sanskrit and European science, and utilised a range of scientific instruments and texts on science published in India. The College aimed to change the way its pupils saw the material world by urging experimen- tation rather than reverence of nature. The style of science practised at Serampore operated outside the traditional framework of colonial science: it did not have London as its centre, and it sought to bring indigenous traditions into a dialogue with European science, so that the former would eventually give way to the latter. The separation of science and Christianity as discrete bodies of intellectual en- deavour is alleged to be central to the emergence of modernity. Until recently, scholars cast modern science as a Western invention, which diffused across the world on the winds of empires, taking seed and bringing nourishment to all human- ity.1 Those who studied the spread of Christianity took a similar position in urging the transplantation of European values and beliefs wholesale by evangelists.2 These views have been decisively recast in the past two decades. -
Swietenia Febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes
Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Chakrabarti, Pratik (2010) Empire and Alternatives: Swietenia Febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes. Medical History, 54 (1). pp. 75-94. ISSN 0025-7273. DOI Link to record in KAR http://kar.kent.ac.uk/18245/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html Medical History, 2010, 54: 75–94 Empire and Alternatives: Swietenia febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes PRATIK CHAKRABARTI * Introduction This paper focuses on a cinchona substitute, the Swietenia febrifuga (also known as Soymida febrifuga1), whose medical virtues for treating intermittent fevers were discov- ered in India around 1791 by William Roxburgh, the English East India Company (EEIC) surgeon in charge of the Company’s botanical garden in Samulcottah (north of Chennai or Madras). The bark was subsequently subjected to several experiments in three main cities, Samulcottah, Madras (the EEIC headquarters on the east coast of India) and Tranquebar (the Danish base on the same coast). -
Wallich and His Contribution to the Indian Natural History
Rheedea Vol. 26(1) 13–20 2016 Wallich and his contribution to the Indian natural history Ranee Om Prakash Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected]. Abstract Various activities of Nathaniel Wallich, especially those that connect with Indian natural history are briefly reviewed. Wallich rose to a naturalist of international standard from a prisoner of war in discovering the riches of the then British India and reporting to the learned world. He established a close network of leading experts in the field of natural history and exchanged plant materials for the benefit of both the donor and receiving countries. During his superintendence of the then Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, which prevailed nearly three decades, Wallich introduced useful plants from across the world and elevated the status of the Garden as one of the finest in the world, published over 8,000 new species, about 142 genera of plants and established a world class herbarium. An initiative funded by the World Collections Programme has tried to give due recognition to Wallich towards his contribution to natural history by hosting a website (www.kew. org/wallich). This is a joint collaborative project between Kew Gardens, The Natural History Museum, London and The British Library with additional inputs from the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah and The National Archives of India, New Delhi. Keywords: Collections, Herbarium, Online Resource, Wallich Catalogue Introduction located next to the river and use similar irrigation systems. Kew Garden was built in 1759 and the Nathaniel Wallich (1785–1854) spent 34 years in Calcutta Botanic Garden was established in 1787. -
Swietenia Febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Kent Academic Repository Medical History, 2010, 54: 75–94 Empire and Alternatives: Swietenia febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes PRATIK CHAKRABARTI * Introduction This paper focuses on a cinchona substitute, the Swietenia febrifuga (also known as Soymida febrifuga1), whose medical virtues for treating intermittent fevers were discov- ered in India around 1791 by William Roxburgh, the English East India Company (EEIC) surgeon in charge of the Company’s botanical garden in Samulcottah (north of Chennai or Madras). The bark was subsequently subjected to several experiments in three main cities, Samulcottah, Madras (the EEIC headquarters on the east coast of India) and Tranquebar (the Danish base on the same coast). The research and promotion of the bark were carried out by Roxburgh, other surgeons, missionaries and also the EEIC’s commercial agents. One reason for such an interest in the bark was the commercial incentive to find local alternatives to cinchona. Monopolies of trade required availability and cultivability of similar species of commercial commodities within areas of control. Another was scien- tific. The bark promised a cure for a major disease for Europeans in the colonies and the search for a substitute had become a global scientific obsession. For botanists like Roxburgh, who were based in India, the discovery of a cinchona substitute was one of the few ways of achieving international recognition. Moreover, the scientific ambiguity of the most suitable species of cinchona prompted the trial of many alternatives in differ- ent regions. By focusing on the identification and scientific analyses of Swietenia and other similar substitutes, both in India and in England, this paper first investigates the trajectories of the search for medical alternatives in the empire through the burgeoning networks of trade and natural history. -
Perspectives DOI 10.1007/S12038-013-9316-9
Perspectives DOI 10.1007/s12038-013-9316-9 Natural history in India during the 18th and 19th centuries RAJESH KOCHHAR Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali 140 306, Punjab (Email, [email protected]) 1. Introduction courier. We shall focus on India-based Europeans who built a scientific reputation for themselves; there were of course European access to India was multi-dimensional: The others who merely served as suppliers. merchant-rulers were keen to identify commodities that could be profitably exported to Europe, cultivate commercial plants in India that grew outside their possessions, and find 2. Tranquebar and Madras (1768–1793) substitutes for drugs and simples that were obtained from the Americas. The ever-increasing scientific community in As in geography, the earliest centre for botanical and zoo- Europe was excited about the opportunities that the vast logical research was South India. Europe-dictated scientific landmass of India offered in natural history studies. On their botany was begun in India by a direct pupil of Linnaeus not part, the Christianity enthusiasts in Europe viewed European in the British possessions but in the tiny Danish enclave of rule in India as a godsend for propagating the Gospel in the Tranquebar, which though of little significance as far as East. These seemingly diverse interests converged at various commerce or geo-politics was concerned, came to play an levels. Christian missionaries as a body were the first edu- extraordinary role in the cultural and scientific history of cated Europeans in India. As in philology, they were pio- India. neers in natural history also. -
Botanic Gardens and the Aesthetics of Artifice Cairns Craig
Botanic Gardens and the Aesthetics of Artifice Cairns Craig In 1651 Andrew Balfour, later one of the founders of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, visited Blois in France, where the physic garden developed by Robert Morison, then physician to the Duc d’Orléans, had become famous for its col- lection of plants that could be exploited for medicinal purposes. Morison, from Aberdeen, had left Scotland after being wounded fighting on the Royalist side against Cromwell’s forces in the battle of the Bridge of Dee in 1639. Having, like many other royalist exiles, taken up residence in France, he obtained a doctorate in medicine at Angers and went on to study botany in Paris with Vespasian Robin, then prominent in the introduction of North American plants into European horticulture. Balfour’s meeting with Morison was to lead to a lifelong friendship in which each supported the other’s botanical studies. Morison returned to Britain with Charles II in 1660, to become the King’s physician and subsequently Professor of Botany at Oxford; Balfour, having developed a reputation as a doctor first in St Andrews and then in Edinburgh, extended his medical practice by establishing, along with his cousin Robert Sibbald, who had also trained in France, a ‘physic garden’ to emulate those on the Continent, many of which Balfour had visited while on a ‘grand tour’ with the young Earl of Rochester during the years 1661–4. Balfour and Sibbald’s physic garden was transformed into a botanic garden after the unexpected death in 1671 of one of Balfour’s protégés, Patrick Murray (or Morray), Baron of Livingston (or Levengstone), who had been on a tour of the gardens of France. -
Former Fellows Biographical Index Part
Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 Biographical Index Part One ISBN 0 902 198 84 X Published July 2006 © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 PART I A-J C D Waterston and A Macmillan Shearer This is a print-out of the biographical index of over 4000 former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as held on the Society’s computer system in October 2005. It lists former Fellows from the foundation of the Society in 1783 to October 2002. Most are deceased Fellows up to and including the list given in the RSE Directory 2003 (Session 2002-3) but some former Fellows who left the Society by resignation or were removed from the roll are still living. HISTORY OF THE PROJECT Information on the Fellowship has been kept by the Society in many ways – unpublished sources include Council and Committee Minutes, Card Indices, and correspondence; published sources such as Transactions, Proceedings, Year Books, Billets, Candidates Lists, etc. All have been examined by the compilers, who have found the Minutes, particularly Committee Minutes, to be of variable quality, and it is to be regretted that the Society’s holdings of published billets and candidates lists are incomplete. The late Professor Neil Campbell prepared from these sources a loose-leaf list of some 1500 Ordinary Fellows elected during the Society’s first hundred years. He listed name and forenames, title where applicable and national honours, profession or discipline, position held, some information on membership of the other societies, dates of birth, election to the Society and death or resignation from the Society and reference to a printed biography. -
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW Records and Collections, 1768-1954 Reels M730-88
AUSTRALIAN JOINT COPYING PROJECT ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW Records and collections, 1768-1954 Reels M730-88 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond London TW9 3AE National Library of Australia State Library of New South Wales Filmed: 1970-71 CONTENTS Page 4 Historical note 7 Kew collectors series, 1814-55 9 Papers relating to collectors, 1791-1865 10 Official correspondence of Sir William Hooker, 1825-65 17 Official correspondence, 1865-1928 30 Miscellaneous manuscripts 30 Manuscript of James Backhouse 30 Letters to John G. Baker, 1883-90 31 Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768-1819 33 Papers of George Bentham, 1834-1882 35 Papers of Henry Burkill, 1893-1937 35 Records of HMS Challenger, 1874-76 36 Manuscript of Frederick Christian 36 Papers of Charles Baron Clarke 36 Papers of William Colenso, 1841-52 37 Manuscript of Harold Comber, 1929-30 37 Manuscripts of Allan Cunningham, 1826-35 38 Letter of Charles Darwin, 1835 38 Letters to John Duthie, 1878-1905 38 Manuscripts of A.D.E. Elmer, 1907-17 39 Fern lists, 1846-1904 41 Papers of Henry Forbes, 1881-86 41 Correspondence of William Forsyth, 1790 42 Notebook of Henry Guppy, 1885 42 Manuscript of Clara Hemsley, 1898 42 Letters to William Hemsley, 1881-1916 43 Correspondence of John Henslow, 1838-39 43 Diaries of Sir Arthur Hill, 1927-28 43 Papers of Sir Joseph Hooker, 1840-1914 2 48 Manuscript of Janet Hutton 49 Inwards and outwards books, 1793-1895 58 Letters of William Kerr, 1809 59 Correspondence of Aylmer Bourke Lambert, 1821-40 59 Notebooks of L.V. -
Botany in British India Material
Botany in British India Material The files listed below are from the India Office Records. They cover the following topics: botanical gardens; botanical collecting; useful plants (economic and medicinal). The material testifies to the pioneering work of surgeon-naturalists, who expended much energy in making British India a vital part in a larger process: the transmission of plants and scientific techniques and ideas around the globe. Selected Digitised Material With summary descriptions. Fuller descriptions accompany the digitised images. In Order of Reference: F – Board of Control Records Teak plantations. 1793-1800 IOR/F/4/99/2028 Forests of India. 1802-1804 IOR/F/4/168/2950 Cultivation of the potato. 1803-1804 IOR/F/4/179/3224 Edible vegetable products of India. 1810-1811. IOR/F/4/379/9495 Saharanpur Botanic Garden: reports by George Govan. 1820-1821.IOR/F/4/660/18324 Cotton and tobacco cultivation in the United States of America. 1827-2 8 IOR/F/4/1079/29439 Spice gardens of Tinnevelly. 1826-1828. IOR/F/4/1187/30806 Saharanpur Botanic Garden. 1825-1829. IOR/F/4/1191/30877 Dye produced from redwood tree. 1831-33. IOR/F/4/1330/52529 Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Calcutta. 1830-34 IOR/F/4/1546/61487 Papers relative to cotton experiments in the Bombay Presidency. 1835-36 IOR/F/4/1635/65498 Cotton cultivation in Madras. 1835-36. IOR/F/4/1667/66696 Cultivation of cotton and senna. 1837 IOR/F/4/1737/70400 Hemp plantation in Saharanpur botanic gardens. 1839 IOR/F/4/1754/71645 Employment of Robert Wight as agricultural researcher in Madras Presidency. -
Swietenia Febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes
Medical History, 2010, 54: 75–94 Empire and Alternatives: Swietenia febrifuga and the Cinchona Substitutes PRATIK CHAKRABARTI * Introduction This paper focuses on a cinchona substitute, the Swietenia febrifuga (also known as Soymida febrifuga1), whose medical virtues for treating intermittent fevers were discov- ered in India around 1791 by William Roxburgh, the English East India Company (EEIC) surgeon in charge of the Company’s botanical garden in Samulcottah (north of Chennai or Madras). The bark was subsequently subjected to several experiments in three main cities, Samulcottah, Madras (the EEIC headquarters on the east coast of India) and Tranquebar (the Danish base on the same coast). The research and promotion of the bark were carried out by Roxburgh, other surgeons, missionaries and also the EEIC’s commercial agents. One reason for such an interest in the bark was the commercial incentive to find local alternatives to cinchona. Monopolies of trade required availability and cultivability of similar species of commercial commodities within areas of control. Another was scien- tific. The bark promised a cure for a major disease for Europeans in the colonies and the search for a substitute had become a global scientific obsession. For botanists like Roxburgh, who were based in India, the discovery of a cinchona substitute was one of the few ways of achieving international recognition. Moreover, the scientific ambiguity of the most suitable species of cinchona prompted the trial of many alternatives in differ- ent regions. By focusing on the identification and scientific analyses of Swietenia and other similar substitutes, both in India and in England, this paper first investigates the trajectories of the search for medical alternatives in the empire through the burgeoning networks of trade and natural history. -
The Remarkable Botanist Physicians: Natural Science in the Age of Empire
The Remarkable Botanist Physicians: Natural Science in the Age of Empire RON McEWEN Preface The year 2012 marked the one hundredth anniversary of what was, in some respects, the end of an era. Calcutta, which had been the capital of British India since 1772, ceased to be so in 1912. The founder, in 1787, and first Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden had been a Scottish infantryman, Colonel Robert Kyd. It is a remarkable fact that this Garden was subsequently superintended, with one important exception, by an almost continuous succession of nine Scottish medical doctors, starting in 1793 with the appointment of John Fleming and ending in 1905 when the then incumbent, Sir David Prain, left to become Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (the important exception was the Danish superintendent, Nathaniel Wallich). So, for the best part of a century, throughout the directorships at Kew of Joseph Banks, William and Joseph Hooker and William Thiselton-Dyer, the most important colonial botanic garden – in the capital of British India – was run by an almost unbroken succession of Scottish medical doctors. This was, moreover, just part of a much wider phenomenon. In this period, Scots and Scots trained botanist physicians were to be found operating in most other parts of the Empire and also participating in most of the British voyages of discovery, land explorations and even diplomatic missions. This remarkable phenomenon requires an explanation. Edinburgh University In the late 18th century and early 19th century, when the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew were being formed, the Scottish universities, especially Edinburgh, were enjoying a golden age. -
Danish Missionaries and Their Scientific Notes and Botanical
Vol III Issue VI July 2013 ISSN No : 2230-7850 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Monthly Multidisciplinary Research Journal Indian Streams Research Journal Executive Editor Editor-in-chief Ashok Yakkaldevi H.N.Jagtap Welcome to ISRJ RNI MAHMUL/2011/38595 ISSN No.2230-7850 Indian Streams Research Journal is a multidisciplinary research journal, published monthly in English, Hindi & Marathi Language. All research papers submitted to the journal will be double - blind peer reviewed referred by members of the editorial Board readers will include investigator in universities, research institutes government and industry with research interest in the general subjects. International Advisory Board Flávio de São Pedro Filho Mohammad Hailat Hasan Baktir Federal University of Rondonia, Brazil Dept. of Mathmatical Sciences, English Language and Literature University of South Carolina Aiken, Aiken SC Department, Kayseri Kamani Perera 29801 Regional Centre For Strategic Studies, Sri Ghayoor Abbas Chotana Lanka Abdullah Sabbagh Department of Chemistry, Lahore Engineering Studies, Sydney University of Management Sciences [ PK Janaki Sinnasamy ] Librarian, University of Malaya [ Catalina Neculai Anna Maria Constantinovici Malaysia ] University of Coventry, UK AL. I. Cuza University, Romania Romona Mihaila Ecaterina Patrascu Horia Patrascu Spiru Haret University, Romania Spiru Haret University, Bucharest Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Romania Delia Serbescu Loredana Bosca Spiru Haret University, Bucharest, Spiru Haret University, Romania Ilie Pintea, Romania Spiru Haret University, Romania Fabricio Moraes de Almeida Anurag Misra Federal University of Rondonia, Brazil Xiaohua Yang DBS College, Kanpur PhD, USA George - Calin SERITAN Nawab Ali Khan Titus Pop Postdoctoral Researcher College of Business Administration Editorial Board Pratap Vyamktrao Naikwade Iresh Swami Rajendra Shendge ASP College Devrukh,Ratnagiri,MS India Ex - VC.