The health of the armies in British India, 1850 to 1940

Thesis

The health of two relatively enclosed populations, the native Indian and European troops which comprised the armies of British India, is studied using printed primary sources supported by unpublished accounts, between c.1850 and c.1940. Military efficiency was essential to the raj. The soldiery had fairly well documented medical attention. Even so, mortality rates especially in the European force were high in the early-nineteenth century, mostly from cholera and dysentery, and fevers such as malaria, but fell rapidly after 1860. Sanitary reforms, introduced from the 1850s seem responsible for reducing diarrhoeal disease incidence, though an effect from selection bias in recruits around that time is considered. The lag in improvement of sepoy health compared to European soldiery over the latter-nineteenth and early-twentieth century is shown to be due to poorer accommodation, less favourable medical facilities and potentially - incorporating McKeown's hypotheses - nutritional deficiency. The late-nineteenth century rise in typhoid to be the predominate killer of European troops - counterintuitive when diarrhoeas were tempered - is found to be related to transmission of Salmonella by flies, and to fall once this was controlled, with a contribution from immunization. Theories of disease and therapy over the long nineteenth century are traced from the Cullenian, via Parisian pathology-based notions to, from mid-century, practical empiricism. Contrary to anachronistic belief, some treatments worked - ipecacuanha for dysentery, supportive measures in pneumonia, and cold douche in heat apoplexy. High rates of venereal disease amongst European rank-and-file did not to respond to legalistic restrictions because of failure to corral and cure those affected. Eventual control was established by treatment standardization and moderation of behaviour related to temperance movements. This thesis adds a different dimension to understanding of military population health by focussing less on political and sociological consequences as in previous historiography and more on the practicalities of preventative and therapeutic measures.

Authors: Gawkrodger, D

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-nooa7yjzn
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: epidemics; nineteenth century India; infectious diseases; venereal disease; army health; sanitary infrastructure; gastrointestinal infections
• Subjects: Epidemics; Medicine, Military; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sanitary engineering