What were the three main anti-plague measures introduced
- Segregation
- Inoculation
- Control of pilgrimage
What was The Bengalee?
A Calcutta-based, nationalist newspaper run by the Hindu politician Surendranath Benerjea
What was the Moslem Chronicle?
A newspaper with a wide Muslim readership that ran in Bengal
What was the Third Plague Pandemic?
The global bubonic plague pandemic that began in Yunnan province, China, in 1855 and that was active until 1959
When and where was the first case of the plague diagnosed in India?
The first case of the Third Plague Pandemic in India was diagnosed in Bombay in October 1896
What was the Epidemic Diseases Act?
An Act that extended powers to state governments to take any measures they deemed necessary to prevent the outbreak and spread of dangerous epidemic diseases
What was segregation?
The forced hospitalisation of plague victims and their families to avoid transmission of disease to other people
Why did segregation reduce the number of plague cases reported? (source)
- Muslims and high-caste Hindus, in particular, were against segregation policies. Pollution laws were particularly important amongst these groups. Indians considered hospitals places of pollution as there is no distinction made between different religious and caste groups.
(Natasha Sarkar, ‘Plague Hits the Colonies’, 2014) - In cases of forced segregation, families were often split
- Did not want male doctors examining women
(The Bengalee, March 1898)
What percentage of the population was Muslim and Hindu in 1901? (source)
65.5% Hindu and 20.1% Muslim
Census of India, 1901
How does pollution travel according to Hindu theology? (source)
Up the caste system: lower castes pollute higher castes
Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, 2002
Why did Hindus fear pollution?
To be impure was to be unholy
Why did the examination of a young woman by colonial doctors spark rioting in Bombay?
- Female modesty and protection of women from external dangers was important in Indian culture
- Pandita Ramabai, an Indian social reformer who championed women’s rights, was quoted in the 24 July 1897 edition of The Bengalee. She asserted that young women should avoid the ‘moral evils of the plague hospitals and segregation camps’ to protect their modesty and evidences ‘filthy’ conditions as the reason why.
Why was it important to maintain women’s purity? (source)
It was believed that if a woman were exposed to pollutants, her position in the caste hierarchy would be undermined. Since the caste of a child is determined by its mother, Hindus believe that a woman’s caste status must be preserved.
(Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, 2002)
When was the shooting of Walter Rand?
22nd June 1897
Who was Walter Rand?
The chairman of the Special Plague Committee in modern-day Pune
How did medical experts believe the plague was spread in the late nineteenth century?
Through food, air and clothing.
What did medical experts in the late nineteenth century say about the origins of the plague?
The mechanism of the plague bacillus was unknown. Indeed, Surgeon-General George Bainbridge, the head of the Indian Medical Service in Bombay in 1896, admitted that officials and doctors could not deal with plague effectively because their knowledge of the disease was insufficient and so it was felt that in lieu of a scientific cure, hygiene reform was the best approach.
Who was Waldemar Haffkine?
A bacteriologist who created an anti-plague inoculation.
When was Haffkine’s anti-plague inoculation ready for human trials?
January 1897
Why was the anti-plague inoculation more successful than other anti-plague measures? (4)
Officials were more culturally sensitive when introducing the vaccine than they had been in the case of the segregation interventions.
The ‘Report of the Indian Plague Commission on Haffkine’s Antiplague Inoculation’ outlined that one of Haffkine’s main difficulties was to prepare a vaccine that would ‘not offend the religious feelings of the natives.
Municipalities cooperated with local community leaders and indigenous people were offered inoculation as an alternative to segregation.
Aga Khan III, Imam of the Shi’a Isma’ili Muslims, supported Haffkine and encouraged Muslims to be inoculated
How did the plague vaccination intrude on cultural conceptions of gender?
Both Muslim and Hindu women were reluctant to expose their arms to men for vaccination
How did the Government of India attempt to overcome objections to the anti-plague vaccine based on gender?
Female medical staff were introduced in some regions of India as inoculators, which meant that more women were able to access inoculation treatments
Who opposed the anti-plague vaccine?
Some indigenous Indians perceived government measures as an attack on the body and feared rumoured side effects such as instant death, impotence or sterility.
Some Muslims believed the plague was God’s will and that they shouldn’t resist it. They were criticised by the Moslem Chronicle in April 1898
Why did the Government of India attempt to control Hajj?
To reassure other countries that it was taking the proper precautions against the spread of plague
