Malabar History journal

The high mortality rate among Europeans and the general public due to epidemics compelled British medical professionals to further discover the causes of the illnesses and institute control measures accordingly.

However, during the nineteenth century, Malabar was frequently affected by diseases such as cholera, smallpox, fevers, diarrhoea, dysentery, and other bowel illnesses. The occurrence of cholera in the pandemic year of 1866 led even to food shortages.

Diseases in Colonial Calicut City

Calicut was an important town during the British rule over Malabar. The British authorities lived in the East Hill and West Hill areas of Calicut. Among the epidemics that frequently affected the people of Calicut was leprosy, cholera and small pox.

Evidence of British consideration of public health issues in Calicut could be observed from a memo issued on August 5, 1859, from the Magistrate’s Cutcherry, Calicut, ordering the inhabitants of the Calicut town to come forward and take steps for the sanitary improvement of their town. It also states that the government is willing to assist them with money from the local fund to materialise this.

Sources implying that vaccination was also carried out as a preventive measure are cited from the Malabar District Gazette of November 16, 1859, which consists of a notice by the Collector of Malabar to all the Tahsildars to give assistance to the vaccinators in the taluks.

Records showing that cholera prevailed in the district from 1858-1859 could be identified in the Gazette of May 16, 1860. It speaks of the inability to detect the source of the spread of the disease, whether it was by troops or travellers.

Also even when the town had a good drainage system, the drains were clogged and harmful after heavy rains. Consequently, the crowded residential settlements of fishermen in the north of the town and Mappilas, who lived in ‘unclean’ surroundings, were found to be most affected by cholera.

Robinson, then Magistrate of Malabar reported that the outbreak happened due to living in overcrowded and unclean areas, and the burial of dead bodies in limited areas of town-mosque. Since the Mappilas were the most affected by this epidemic, the burial in town mosques were prohibited and a new public burial ground was provided. However, it was difficult for the Mappilas to consider a place other than the town mosque for religious reasons.

In Calicut, Kannamparambu was chosen as the site for creating a burial ground on July 16, 1859. Although the government acquired the land only in 1862, after the gravity of cholera decreased.

During 1890, cholera broke out again in the city, and the death rates among the Mappilas increased. Thus, the British officials initiated talks with the Muslim leaders and prepared for a new burial ground. The municipal council, an elected body of members of the municipality, issued a notice on November 11, 1901, banning the use of the town mosque premises for burying and notifying that a new burial ground had been opened exclusively for the Mappilas at Kannamparambu. It also stated that anyone who buries a dead body in the town mosque shall thereafter be charged a fine of 100 rupees.

Many public burial grounds and burning grounds were established in Calicut during the time of the epidemic for people from different religious backgrounds due to health concerns. Thus, it was strictly prohibited to burn or bury dead bodies inside the municipality and to cremate or bury dead bodies on one’s own property.

Hospitals located far from human settlements were also used to prevent disease transmission. Hospitalization of the patient was like a jail set-up where a person was isolated even from their family as they were regarded as injurious to the well-being of the rest of the world. Also, to avoid the mixing of people from different caste groups, some hospitals in Calicut accepted only upper-caste patients.
British officials concerned about overcrowding closely monitored the fairs and festivals as they believed it had a role in the spread of diseases.

Colonial interests in Public health

The Colonial interests in public health protection could be identified from the quarantine and other restrictions they put on Indian shipping, as it was not in line with the trade interests of the British. Arguments against the British claim their interest was due to the fact that their ships from India at the outset of epidemics were not allowed in many countries. Further, the International Sanitary Conference, which took place in Constantinople in 1866, came to the decision that the port authorities must publish a Bill of Health that includes all pertinent information about the area’s health status, which accelerated British intervention in people’s health in the region.

British rule also led to the isolation of the afflicted person in a smallpox or cholera shed. The patients were transferred to these sheds, which were located away from population centers. Also, in order to stop the epidemics, there existed an unwarranted control on people’s mobility, way of life, and survival.

References

• Yoosuf Jasriya, U. V. (n.d.). Epidemics and the city: A study of colonial Calicut. Accessed on March 7, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26906125
• Seluraj, T. B. (2020). Kozhikkodinte Paithrukam. Mathrubhumi Books.
• Mamatha, K. (n.d.). Contagious diseases and their treatment in Colonial Malabar. Accessed on March 7, 2023, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26552691
• Seluraj, T. B. (2015). Innakalakalile Kozhikode. Mathrubhumi Books.
• Malabar District Gazette. (1935). Regional Archives, Kozhikode.