A Study On The Cholera Pandemic And Its Impact In Qajar Iran

Cholera is a severe infectious disease caused by a comma-shaped bacterial infection called Vibrio cholera,which was prevalent in the Indian subcontinent before1817.It is a waterborne disease.In the 19 th century,the rapid development of Western capitalism,the development of productive forces and the innovation of means of transportation made economic,political and cultural exchanges between countries closer,and at the same time brought about the globalization of diseases.Since 1817,there have been seven worldwide pandemics of cholera in the world,the first six of which were of the same pathogen.Due to its key geographical location on the Eurasian continent,Qajar Iran became a stage for European countries to compete,and cholera entered Iran with the exchanges of various countries.The ruling time of Qajar Iran coincided with the first six world epidemics of cholera.Cholera has been rampant in Iran for many times since 1821.The most serious ones were in 1889,1892-1893 and 1904.The frequent cholera epidemic has caused a large number of deaths in Iran and hit the economy hard.The reasons for the cholera outbreak in Iran are various.First of all,the climate in Iran provides the necessary natural conditions for the survival and reproduction of vibrio cholerae,which contributes to the spread of cholera.During Qajar Iran,Iran’s water supply system and sewage system were very backward.Once the exposed watercourse and underground qanats were contaminated with vibrio cholerae,it would spread rapidly to the whole city.During this period,a large number of people poured into the cities,forming a large number of slums.The narrow urban streets and dirty sanitation created conditions for the breeding and spread of cholera.Iran’s unique traditional customs also make people susceptible to cholera and spread.Cholera has entered Iran as a new infectious disease.Traditional medicine cannot cure the diseased,and prophet medicine only plays a role of spiritual consolation.The power of the government is of prime importance for the effective prevention and treatment of cholera,a large-scale infectious disease.Most of the administrative orders issued by Qajar government on the prevention and treatment of cholera during the cholera outbreak were in name only.Many epidemic prevention measures could not be effectively implemented due to problems such as funds and personnel,which did not play a role in containing cholera.Cholera was not controlled in Iran until the early20 th century,when bacteriological and pathological analysis of cholera became widespread.Cholera was the most common epidemic of the 19 th century.The characteristics of the cholera epidemic in Qajar Iran during the past 100 years are also very distinctive.First of all,cholera broke out frequently in Iran,many times in successive years,bringing huge population losses to Qajar Iran.Secondly,the cholera of Qajar Iran was basically introduced from the outside and spread widely.Cholera was introduced into Iran by land mainly from the northwest,southwest and east of Afghanistan.The sea route includes the northern Caspian Sea coast and the southern Persian Gulf region.After cholera was introduced into Iran,it spread to all parts of Iran through commercial routes.At the time of the cholera outbreak,these routes were not imported into Iran by single route,but were imported into Iran by multi-route and sea at the same time.Exogenous characteristics make it even harder to prevent cholera in Iran.In response to the cholera epidemic,Qajar Iran began to promote the modernization of its own country.Frequent outbreaks of cholera directly promoted the modernization of medical science in Qajar Iran.The failure of traditional medicine in coping with cholera and the introduction of western modern medicine made Qajar government begin to implement medical modernization.Through the establishment of medical education institutions and medical institutions,a number of local Iranian medical talents have been trained and the new medical system has also developed.The establishment and development of public health system has provided a boost for the dissemination of medical knowledge and the promotion of public health construction.In the process of cholera prevention and control,the government has strengthened the centralized power by building telegraph networks and other measures.This can effectively strengthen communication with local governments and quickly issue orders for epidemic prevention and control.The emergence of newspapers has become a government‘s propaganda and epidemic prevention knowledge and popularization of medical knowledge carrier,help people understand the pathological causes of cholera,correct the wrong understanding.The cholera epidemic also made ideological preparation and social mobilization for the constitutional revolution of Qajar Iran in 1906.After the constitutional revolution,the Iranian government’s administrative ability has been improved to a certain extent,strengthening the centralized power.This has provided the institutional guarantee for the public health reform in Iran.