Medical Encounters in British India, 1820-1920

Deepak Kumar Western medical discourse occupied an important place in the process of colonisation. It was a double-edged sword. Even while emphasising the intrinsic difference between the two cultures, it worked towards a scientific hegemony. Colonial hegemonisation precluded the possibility of interaction. Indigenous systems were so marginalised that their practitioners often sought survival in resistance rather than collaboration. This article documents the responses of Indian practitioners to western medicine, and the colonial discourse.