Epidemic of Plague: A Critical Analysis of British Medical Policies in Colonial Punjab (1896–1920)

Abstract

British Raj established modern health care system in colonial India which was based on hierarchies in which European medicines and doctors held superior positions. Indigenous medicines lost patronage and modern medicines got superiority. Although modern medicines were not sufficient for the large Indian population. The system of modern medicines launches by the colonial rulers created medical authority upon local system which created subornation of system and people. This paper investigates the outbreak of the bubonic plague in colonial Punjab, and it was critically examined the British response from 1896 to 1920. Using rare primary source evidence—especially from the village of Khatkar Kalan in Jullundur district, a significant location due to its early and severe exposure to the plague—it explores the colonial framework of surveillance, evacuation, and disinfection. This paper argues that the British medical policy was effective in reducing the rates of surface-level infection. However, the policy was caste-based and racial. The medical reports and archival materials are evaluated through the analytical research method, which gave results that the colonial rulers used the authoritative ways that disrupted the indigenous life, eroded trust of the people, not only this but also failed to stop the plague's spread to the neighboring villages.