This is the seventh and final episode of the podcast "Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India". We talk about one of the most enduring aspects of modernization in Indian healthcare: the emergence of the biomedical profession. Who were the earliest “doctors” in the subcontinent? Why did British colonizers establish medical colleges and schools in India? What were the experiences of early women doctors? How has caste-based privilege played a central role in the development of India’s biomedical profession?

This episode is hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and features historians Projit Bihari Mukharji, David Arnold, Ranjana Saha, and Nandini Bhattacharya. Mukharji is a Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, Arnold is Emeritus Professor at Warwick University, Saha is a postdoctoral fellow at Manipal Centre for Humanities, Bhattacharya is Associate Professor at University of Houston, and Kumbhar is a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.

The audio excerpts used in this episode are from the following movies (in order): Nirala (1950), Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Dr. Vidya (1962), Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Anand (1971), and Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946).

Additional references:

Book “Nationalizing the Body: The Medical Market, Print and Daktari Medicine” by Projit Bihari Mukharji
Book “Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India” by David Arnold
Article “The Meeting of the Twain: The Cultural Confrontation of Three Women in Nineteenth Century Maharashtra” by Meera Kosambi
Article “The Politics of Gender and Medicine in Colonial India” by Maneesha Lal
Book “Women in Colonial India: Essays on Politics, Medicine, and Historiography” by Geraldine Forbes
Book “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine” by Kavitha Rao
Book “The Memoirs Of Dr. Haimabati Sen: From Child Widow To Lady Doctor”
Blog post by Kiran Kumbhar on the early history of biomedical colleges and schools in India
Twoarticles by Roger Jeffery on the twentieth-century history of India’s biomedical profession
Article “The home and the nation: an oral history of Indian women doctors, national development and domestic worlds” by Archana Venkatesh
Book “Contemporary India: A Sociological View” by Satish Deshpande (one  of the chapters in it has an exclusive focus on the “middle class” of India)
Upcoming book “Disparate Remedies: Making Medicines in Modern India” by Nandini Bhattacharya
Book “History of Indigenous Pharmaceutical Companies in Colonial Calcutta (1855–1947)” by Malika Basu
Book “Refiguring Unani Tibb: Plural Healing in Late Colonial India” by Guy Attewell
Book “The Usman Report (1923). Translations of Regional Submissions” edited by Dagmar Wujastyk and Christèle Barois
Book “Reproductive Restraints: Birth Control in India, 1877-1947” by Sanjam Ahluwalia

This is the seventh and final episode of the podcast "Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India". We talk about one of the most enduring aspects of modernization in Indian healthcare: the emergence of the biomedical profession. Who were the earliest “doctors” in the subcontinent? Why did British colonizers establish medical colleges and schools in India? What were the experiences of early women doctors? How has caste-based privilege played a central role in the development of India’s biomedical profession?
This episode is hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and features historians Projit Bihari Mukharji, David Arnold, Ranjana Saha, and Nandini Bhattacharya. Mukharji is a Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, Arnold is Emeritus Professor at Warwick University, Saha is a postdoctoral fellow at Manipal Centre for Humanities, Bhattacharya is Associate Professor at University of Houston, and Kumbhar is a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University.
The audio excerpts used in this episode are from the following movies (in order): Nirala (1950), Do Bigha Zameen (1953), Dr. Vidya (1962), Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Anand (1971), and Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946).
Additional references:
<a href="https://www.anthempress.com/nationalizing-the-body-hb" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.anthempress.com/nationalizing-the-body-hb&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0sPs3X1P0VO_u7xlgwSZ6s">Book</a> “Nationalizing the Body: The Medical Market, Print and Daktari Medicine” by Projit Bihari Mukharji <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=7bAxnPwOMd8C" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://books.google.com/books?id%3D7bAxnPwOMd8C&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3A1OlVPa0QUKhnDIHQrx0z">Book</a> “Science, Technology and Medicine in Colonial India” by David Arnold <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097152159400100102" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097152159400100102&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0rZAssVdyYNKyDzsyYZEtt">Article</a> “The Meeting of the Twain: The Cultural Confrontation of Three Women in Nineteenth Century Maharashtra” by Meera Kosambi <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451545" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451545&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Hi9zb96buQRMj5WbaM0ou">Article</a> “The Politics of Gender and Medicine in Colonial India” by Maneesha Lal <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ClNEJwXLNQIC" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://books.google.com/books?id%3DClNEJwXLNQIC&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1lQ_JRXsZJ6l7si6lKakxF">Book</a> “Women in Colonial India: Essays on Politics, Medicine, and Historiography” by Geraldine Forbes <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Lady-Doctors-Untold-Stories-Medicine/dp/9390679052" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Lady-Doctors-Untold-Stories-Medicine/dp/9390679052&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0udmQZCcWevokP9Vl-1Kxi">Book</a> “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India's First Women in Medicine” by Kavitha Rao <a href="https://rolibooks.com/product/the-memoirs-of-dr-haimabati-sen/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rolibooks.com/product/the-memoirs-of-dr-haimabati-sen/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mb8K0rKTAluruiUFkwuQu">Book</a> “The Memoirs Of Dr. Haimabati Sen: From Child Widow To Lady Doctor” <a href="https://kirankumbhar.com/2020/08/25/history-medicine-india-mbbs-etymology-origins-education-calcutta-madras-grant-medical-school-college/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kirankumbhar.com/2020/08/25/history-medicine-india-mbbs-etymology-origins-education-calcutta-madras-grant-medical-school-college/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904863000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2wiiXkdwns3EmePw2Gx-uw">Blog post</a> by Kiran Kumbhar on the early history of biomedical colleges and schools in India <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/recongnizing-indias-doctors-the-institutionalization-of-medical-dependency-191839/2D9364039EDDE68879E336E471FA8401" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/recongnizing-indias-doctors-the-institutionalization-of-medical-dependency-191839/2D9364039EDDE68879E336E471FA8401&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0EHlV0uCQIwBr5dH8Z5Z8O">Two</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0037785677901743" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0037785677901743&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3-KQPf_PpdXESiZKQRvYDK">articles</a> by Roger Jeffery on the twentieth-century history of India’s biomedical profession <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45214470" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45214470&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1wAOR2E1sIzP6zYqq3kzCq">Article</a> “The home and the nation: an oral history of Indian women doctors, national development and domestic worlds” by Archana Venkatesh <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Contemporary_India.html?id=J9cSAQAAMAAJ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://books.google.com/books/about/Contemporary_India.html?id%3DJ9cSAQAAMAAJ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1wFc722ed7ydM5azzYerKr">Book</a> “Contemporary India: A Sociological View” by Satish Deshpande (one  of the chapters in it has an exclusive focus on the “middle class” of India) Upcoming <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Disparate_Remedies/YM-dEAAAQBAJ?hl=en" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Disparate_Remedies/YM-dEAAAQBAJ?hl%3Den&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3nC-C1VKJ25wbKwnSsg13E">book</a> “Disparate Remedies: Making Medicines in Modern India” by Nandini Bhattacharya <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003144014/history-indigenous-pharmaceutical-companies-colonial-calcutta-1855%E2%80%931947-malika-basu?refId=bbf645aa-d49b-4c65-b679-8f45d1102f25&amp;context=ubx" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003144014/history-indigenous-pharmaceutical-companies-colonial-calcutta-1855%25E2%2580%25931947-malika-basu?refId%3Dbbf645aa-d49b-4c65-b679-8f45d1102f25%26context%3Dubx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0gZxYfUeMACSg8-2rOaR-F">Book</a> “History of Indigenous Pharmaceutical Companies in Colonial Calcutta (1855–1947)” by Malika Basu <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Refiguring_Unani_Tibb.html?id=UJ_cGAAACAAJ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://books.google.com/books/about/Refiguring_Unani_Tibb.html?id%3DUJ_cGAAACAAJ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw28WJqMK6gmaWEpaMdIZAsi">Book</a> “Refiguring Unani Tibb: Plural Healing in Late Colonial India” by Guy Attewell <a href="https://indianmedicine.nl/article/view/38278" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indianmedicine.nl/article/view/38278&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2c7zfqGYC6o3TQbv5z8jkM">Book</a> “The Usman Report (1923). Translations of Regional Submissions” edited by Dagmar Wujastyk and Christèle Barois <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p074806" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id%3Dp074806&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1674987904864000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2dKwVj3y6SH3bs749D63Dm">Book</a> “Reproductive Restraints: Birth Control in India, 1877-1947” by Sanjam Ahluwalia

'Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India' is a show about history and historians hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and produced by Suno India. It explores the history of medicine and public health in India (South Asia), and focuses on events and developments which occurred primarily in the nineteenth century, or the 1800s, and which laid the foundations for the later development of healthcare and health policy in India.

The podcast traces the genesis of many of contemporary India's healthcare structures and institutions, and provides the necessary historical context to why healthcare in the country today is the way it is. This knowledge about our medical past will be provided directly by historians who have worked on medicine and public health in British colonial India, and who will be featured regularly in every episode of the show. We will also hear from them about their personal journey of becoming a historian, and on how they write history and what social scientific methods they use to analyze the past and enlighten us about historical personalities, events and ideas.

This Podcast is made possible by a grant from the Thakur Family Foundation. Thakur family foundation has not exercised any editorial control over the contents of this podcast.

'Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India' is a show about history and historians hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and produced by Suno India. It explores the history of medicine and public health in India (South Asia), and focuses on events and developments which occurred primarily in the nineteenth century, or the 1800s, and which laid the foundations for the later development of healthcare and health policy in India.
The podcast traces the genesis of many of contemporary India's healthcare structures and institutions, and provides the necessary historical context to why healthcare in the country today is the way it is. This knowledge about our medical past will be provided directly by historians who have worked on medicine and public health in British colonial India, and who will be featured regularly in every episode of the show. We will also hear from them about their personal journey of becoming a historian, and on how they write history and what social scientific methods they use to analyze the past and enlighten us about historical personalities, events and ideas.
This Podcast is made possible by a grant from the <a href="https://www.thakur-foundation.org/">Thakur Family Foundation</a>. Thakur family foundation has not exercised any editorial control over the contents of this podcast.

Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India

'Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India' is a show about history and historians hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and produced by Suno India. It explores the history of medicine and public health in India (South Asia), and focuses on events and developments which occurred primarily in the nineteenth century, or the 1800s, and which laid the foundations for the later development of healthcare and health policy in India.

The podcast traces the genesis of many of contemporary India's healthcare structures and institutions, and provides the necessary historical context to why healthcare in the country today is the way it is. This knowledge about our medical past will be provided directly by historians who have worked on medicine and public health in British colonial India, and who will be featured regularly in every episode of the show. We will also hear from them about their personal journey of becoming a historian, and on how they write history and what social scientific methods they use to analyze the past and enlighten us about historical personalities, events and ideas.

Kiran Kumbhar is a medical doctor and PhD in History of Science from Harvard University, currently affiliated with Yale University's South Asian Studies Council as the Dr Malathy Singh Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer.

'Becoming Modern: Healthcare and History in India' is a show about history and historians hosted by Kiran Kumbhar and produced by Suno India. It explores the history of medicine and public health in India (South Asia), and focuses on events and developments which occurred primarily in the nineteenth century, or the 1800s, and which laid the foundations for the later development of healthcare and health policy in India.
The podcast traces the genesis of many of contemporary India's healthcare structures and institutions, and provides the necessary historical context to why healthcare in the country today is the way it is. This knowledge about our medical past will be provided directly by historians who have worked on medicine and public health in British colonial India, and who will be featured regularly in every episode of the show. We will also hear from them about their personal journey of becoming a historian, and on how they write history and what social scientific methods they use to analyze the past and enlighten us about historical personalities, events and ideas.
Kiran Kumbhar is a medical doctor and PhD in History of Science from Harvard University, currently affiliated with Yale University's South Asian Studies Council as the Dr Malathy Singh Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer.

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