FLEAS, FAITH AND POLITICS: ANATOMY OF AN INDIAN EPIDEMIC, 1890-1925. NATASHA SARKAR (M.A.), Bombay University A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is a pleasure to thank those who have made this thesis possible. First, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof.Gregory Clancey for his contribution in time, ideas and support in making this journey productive and stimulating. Through his personal conduct, I have learned so much about what makes for a brilliant teacher. His invaluable suggestions helped develop my understanding of how one should approach research and academic writing. I appreciate his patience in granting me much latitude in working in my own way. It has indeed been an honour to be his PhD student. In fact, I could not have wished for a better PhD team. Prof.John DiMoia‘s enthusiasm and joy for teaching and research has been motivational. I thank him for his prompt and very useful feedback despite his incredibly busy schedule. Prof.Medha Kudaisya, in being compassionate, has been instrumental in easing the many anxieties that plague the mind while undertaking research. I thank her for her unstinting encouragement. Time spent at NUS was made enjoyable, in great measure, to the many friends who became an integral part of my life; providing a fun environment in which to learn and grow. I am grateful for time spent at the tennis courts, table-tennis hall and endless conversation over food and drinks. I would like to especially thank Shreya, Hussain and Bingbing, for their warmth, support and strength. This thesis is the result of research carried out in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Delhi and London. I greatly acknowledge the substantial funding that was extended by FASS and the History Department towards what has been a most interesting and productive research. I am deeply appreciative of Dr.Benjamin Naseeb, Prof.Arvind Ganachari and Dr.Vijaya Gupchup for their assistance in locating sources in Mumbai. In particular, Mr.Narla, archivist at the Tata Central Archives, Pune, has been of great assistance. To Colonel Narayan at the Maritime History Society, I owe my gratitude in obtaining useful secondary material. For years, Prof.Mariam Dossal and Dr.Arundhati Savadatti have been a source of inspiration and joy, and I take this opportunity to thank them for being simply wonderful. The Haffkine Institute has been a treasure trove of reports and rare photographs, and my sincere thanks are extended to Mr.Mhapsekar, librarian, for his enthusiasm and helpfulness. Research in Delhi has been a pleasurable experience in the company of Prof.Biswamoy Pati, and I thank him for his encouragement, sound advice and good humour, all of which have helped me during the course of my study and research. Interactions with Prof.Rizwan Qaisar, Prof.K.L.Tuteja, Prof.Shukla and Prof.Deepak Kumar helped gain new perspectives in the field. In Chandigarh, Dr.Mrityunjay Kumar has been helpful in locating sources, while Ms.Anwesha Ghosh‘s assistance in Kolkata has been priceless in obtaining information about plague in literature. Conversations with Prof.Chittabrata Palit and Dr.Sarmishtha Ray led me to missionary records in West Bengal, and I would like to acknowledge, in particular, the significant assistance of Mr.Mondal, archivist at Bishop‘s College, Kolkata, in obtaining contemporary Christian periodicals. I remain extremely grateful to friends who have offered their exceptional hospitality during my stay in Delhi (Anita and Sanjay), Kolkata (Suprakash Gargari), and London (Ekta and Rajeev). To Aditi Lamba Srivastava, I am deeply appreciative for her kindness in facilitating the transfer of research material from the National Medical Library. To my parents I owe my deepest gratitude -- for their love, motivation, guidance and strength, and for unfortunately having to bear the brunt of my frustrations on several occasions. I am indebted to my mother for introducing me to the fascinating world of medical history; for being my mentor, friend and guide. My father has raised his children to be happy in exploring the joys of learning as a lifelong commitment, and for that, I shall be eternally grateful to him. In Joy, my dear brother, I found faith, guidance and only love. A special thought is reserved for Reeto, my closest friend, whose faithful and loving support and great advice has been crucial to the successful completion of this dissertation. There are, of course, several others – friends, family and acquaintances, who share in my success and happiness. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a powerful network of inspiration and energy. Thank you so much! CONTENTS Page Summary……………………………………………………………………………………....i List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….............iii List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………........................iv INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: MAPPING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCES……23 Chapter 2: ORIGINS OF PLAGUE IN INDIA AND ITS INTER-REGIONAL DIFFUSION IN TIME AND SPACE………………………………………………………………...43 Chapter 3: COMBATING PLAGUE: OFFICIAL AND NON-OFFICIAL NARRATIVES……68 Chapter 4: INDIGENOUS RESPONSE: A PARADOX OF RESISTANCE, REBELLION AND COOPERATION……………………………………………………………….120 Chapter 5: EVOLVING KNOWLEDGE, ALTERING MEASURES: COLONIAL AND INDIGENOUS HEALTH REGIMES AFTER 1905………………………………………………157 Chapter 6: IMPACTING SOCIETY ON DIFFERENT PLANES………………………………188 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………………218 APPENDICES Appendix I……………………………………………………………………………………………..236 Appendix II…………………………………………………………………………………………….238 Appendix III……………………………………………………………………………………………240 SUMMARY The dissertation investigates British India‘s experience with the plague in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It documents and analyses a broad range of social, political, medical and legal perspectives, examining the coming together of indigenous communities in resistance, rebellion and cooperation vis-a-vis colonial plague measures. The rapid diffusion of the epidemic in India is traced through communication networks and migratory movements while engaging in a lively debate about the origins of the epidemic in Bombay. The progression of the disease from Bombay into Punjab, Bengal and Madras is revealing of how the plague successfully penetrated the interiors of the subcontinent while remaining a port- city phenomenon elsewhere in the world. While the study makes a thematic comparison of shared experiences in Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco and South Africa within the global pandemic, it pays closest attention to the developments in Bombay and Punjab, offering an analysis of India‘s urban-rural dichotomy. The plague in India highlighted two profoundly differing ways of treating patients, viz., indigenous medicine and modern Western biomedicine. Western medicine, with its focus on the aetiology of disease and on the segregation of the patient from the community, lacked a holistic perception of the patient as a human being, a member of a family and community. In this context, the dissertation describes parallel efforts within the realm of Ayurveda, homeopathy and popular medicine in providing alternative plague preventives and cures. An inter-cultural encounter in the implementation of plague policy reveals the role played by the indigenous middle class intelligentsia, for as the epidemic progressed, press criticism became increasingly political in nature and nationalistic in flavour, making for a study of how the management of epidemics drive professional and political ambition. The dissertation also engages the administrative mechanics of the colonial government as it decided plague policy-- the continual dialogue involving the London, Indian and provincial governments, disclosing distinct administrative traditions in the interpretation and implementation of plague policy. i The non-official missionary response to the disease also offers a fresh perspective on the plague. India‘s tryst with the plague brings to the fore questions of social responsibility, individual freedom and shared fears and apprehensions that have the ability to unite people. On the other hand, latent social tensions and other antagonisms within its social fabric were magnified, revealing much about the way societies are structured and the manner of their functioning. This Indian epidemic is indeed a significant historical marker of the burgeoning growth in public health inequalities, deeply influenced and conditioned by the socio-political realities of both time and place. The dissertation attempts to locate the disparate voices from within the community, for India lived in several centuries simultaneously, and the Indian people encapsulated all the contradictions that came from being a multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural society. The plague with its political, social, economic and demographic dimensions is deserving of the detailed attention it receives. ii LIST OF TABLES Page Table I: Plague Mortality, 1897-1930……………………………………………………188 Table II: World Plague Mortality, 1894-1938…………………………………………..191 Table III: Highest Rates of Mortality per week from 1897-1910…………………….192 Table IV: Number of Plague Deaths in Punjab, 1898-1918………………………….195 Table V: Rural & Urban Plague Mortality Rate in Punjab (1902, 1907, 1913)…..197 Table VI: Mean Rural & Urban Plague Mortality Rate in Other Provinces (1913-18)………………………………………………………………..198