Studies in the history of colonial medicine over the past two decades have led to a major revision to the historiography of modern medicine. The change is best captured by Pratik Chakrabarti who claims in his introduction to Medicine and Empire (2014) that “from the seventeenth century, precisely when medicine was thus becoming modern or European, it was becoming colonial as well.” This bold claim has been supported by historical research and publications over the past two decades. As pinpointed by the works of Christopher Lawrence, Harold Cook, Mark Harrison, Geoffrey Hudson, colonial enterprises and overseas warfare provided surgeons with plenty of opportunities to hone their skills and to gain valuable experiences. Their status was elevated and their “surgical point of view” played a central role in the rise of modern medicine. This story of medical innovation and experimentation nevertheless has its dark side. The unequal power relations in the colonial context facilitated certain medical research. For instance, it was easier for medical practitioners to conduct post-mortem examination and to carry out therapeutic experiments on patients in the colonial context.

       In light of these new scholarships, my project aims to elucidate the relationship between routine medical practices and medical innovations in British colonial and missionary hospitals in the late nineteenth century. Specifically, this project will investigate how encounters with unfamiliar diseases engendered both research opportunities and challenges to medical care. In addition, it will look at how medical practitioners negotiated with local customs and persuaded their patients. Moreover, this project will analyze the existing material conditions and cultural exchanges in colonial medical research and health care.