British Colonial Medicine In Cholera In British India In The 19th Century

Colonial medicine,also known as imperial medicine,mainly refers to the medical practice of the colonists in the colonies and the related medical institutions,institutions and medical administrative power.Colonial medicine is usually based on the theoretical knowledge and practice of western medicine,supplemented by the traditional medicine of the native colonies.Colonial medicine was born with the colonial activities of the metropolitan power,which also determined that colonial medicine had strong political color.In the colonies,it always belonged to the colonial government and always took the protection of colonial interests as the starting point.As one of the four ancient civilizations,India has a long history and cultural tradition.In the 17 th century,the British East India Company arrived in India and began the colonization of India.In the 19 th century,Britain achieved a key victory in the process of colonization in India.In 1858,Britain formally took over Indian affairs and India became a crown colony of Britain.With the growth of British colonial power,colonial medicine grew by virtue of its political advantages,and its manifestations and functions in the colonies became increasingly complex and diverse.In the 19 th century,with the establishment of a worldwide colonial network,the connections between the countries of the world were constantly strengthened.Cholera was able to get out of its "home" of India's Ganges delta,spread throughout the Indian subcontinent and around the world.The high death rate of cholera brought great adverse effects to the colonial activities of the British colonists.At the same time,the world did not agree on the cause of cholera's death during this period,which also left room for the British colonists to formulate a response based on their own colonial interests.In the face of international calls for strict isolation measures by the British and Indian governments,the British and Indian governments began to take an official attitude towards the medical theory of cholera out of the consideration of protecting colonial interests,that is,insisting that cholera is a non-infectious disease,It is caused by the special geographical environment of India.In responding to the epidemic,the British and Indian governments focused on personnel who were actually relevant to the interests of the British colonies,and responded negatively to local epidemics.In the colonies,the primary role of colonial medicine was to protect the health of the colonists and safeguard the colonial interests.As the colonizationprocess deepened,colonial medicine gradually evolved into a part of colonial administration and hegemony.Medical institutions are firmly in the hands of the British and obey the British government.Traditional Indian medicine is gradually marginalized.At the same time,medicine has also become a tool to show the superiority of British civilization.But Indian traditional medicine does not suffer from adversity,but responds to challenges in a creative way.Based on the cholera epidemic and colonial medicine in British India in the 19 th century,this paper explores the British and Indian government's response measures during the cholera period and the reasons for their implementation,and analyzes the role of colonial medicine in the colonies.The purpose of this paper is to reveal the colonialism and instrumentality of colonial medicine,to peer into the game of the relationship between the suzerainty and its vassal states in the process of colonization,and to provide a model for understanding the relevant historical issues.