Article ID: CBB507119440

Negotiating medical services in the Madras Presidency: the subordinate perspectives (1882–1935) (2021)

unapi

The historiography of western medicine in colonial India has predominantly been analysed from the perspectives of the elite services – the Indian Medical Service (IMS) and their recruits. Unfortunately, perceiving colonial medical practices through the lens of the IMS has remained inadequate to provide a nuanced understanding of the role played by Indians in the semi-urban and rural areas of colonial India. This article examines the contributions of local administration and the role played by the recruits of the Subordinate Medical Service. This article uses the Madras Presidency as its case study and focusses on the medical subordinates who were pivotal in establishing a western medical tradition in the region. This will shift the urban-centric focus and examine mostly the rural parts of the presidency, in particular, the district hospitals and dispensaries located in the districts, taluks and villages. The article analyses the transformation in the Madras medical administration from the late nineteenth century until 1935 to argue how subordinates were the ones controlling the local medical services, and thus pulling the strings of health administration in the presidency. This will also demonstrate the uniqueness of Madras and how it disseminated western medical care with an active participation and involvement of the local residents.

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Authors & Contributors
Harrison, Mark
Pati, Biswamoy
Mukharji, Projit Bihari
Kumar, Deepak
Topiwala, Harshad
Sehrawat, Samiksha
Concepts
Colonialism
Medicine
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
Great Britain, colonies
India, civilization and culture
Medicine, ayurvedic
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
18th century
21st century
17th century
Places
India
Japan
Germany
Egypt
Vietnam
Great Britain
Institutions
British East India Company
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