Epidemics and Public Health

The present study is to examine evolution of the public health during nineteenth and

twentieth century as part of colonial expansion and consolidation of power and spread

of recurrent epidemics such as cholera, malaria, small-pox, kala-azar and plague took

huge toll of mortality of both Europeans and natives in Northeastern province. It had

affected the social, political and economic order of colonial state. Under such

circumstances, health policies were evolved, implemented and stand as a tool for

British. With western medical interventions evolved new practices and new ideals to

control epidemics diseases which need to be understand as a part of exploratory and

regulatory mechanism of colonial rule. To keep in mind the complex nature of

colonial mechanism, the present study explores how colonial interests led to expand

the purview of public health policies and practices from colonial enclaves to general

public during nineteenth and early twentieth century's in Northeast India.

Colonial expansion and consolidation in Northeast frontier witnessed several

epidemic diseases. Frequent outbreak of epidemics in their process of expansion and

conquest led to devastating impact on European army and the lives of the population

and took heavy toll of population. Among all the epidemics encountered, the most

devastating diseases were cholera, kala-azar, small-pox and malaria. Cholera, a

dreaded disease appeared frequently since 1820s. It swept the lives of the plain

population in Tippera, Manipur, Dacca, Sylhet and in Assam. At an average until

1920s, more than twenty thousand lives were carried off by cholera in every five

years. Another disease, Kala-azar, also known as 'Assam Fever' had also swept the

lives of the populace since 1880s.