Web resource for veterinary history studies which contains government reports (c.1850-1947) on medical-related issues during British rule in India. Several volumes relating to human diseases are being supplemented with veterinary reports.
This part of the collection is rich in material relating to the practice of veterinary medicine in colonial India and Burma, and is especially important for the study of the interaction of health, medicine and the environment. It contains official documents covering the whole of the administrative district as well as reports from individual states. A major part of the collection comprises veterinary reports dating from a significant period in veterinary history in India, when emphasis changed from military supplies (horses, oxen) to livestock, after outbreaks of cattle disease in the 1860s. One consequence was the establishment of veterinary colleges, schools and laboratories during the 1860s to 80s.
While the introduction of western veterinary medicine into south Asia was linked at first with military resources, it is clear that the establishment of the Civil Veterinary Departments in British India later in the nineteenth century represented a more fundamental engagement with animal health and welfare by the colonial authorities. Following the example of the Bombay Presidency which established its Civil Veterinary Department in 1876, all the major administrations had set up a similar unit by 1914. This collection encompasses all the major research institutes and veterinary schools at that time and beyond, and provides vital official documents for anyone researching medical, veterinary, social and colonial history. The studies of zoonoses and public health are particularly pertinent.
