From Society to Economy : The Ravages of Malaria and North Bengal in the Colonial Period

Abstract

Malaria, a life taking disease, frequently used to visit and revisit North Bengal every year. It was one of the oldest diseases of Bengal. It not only took lives of numerous people but the disease also had left enormous impact on social and economic field of North Bengal during the colonial period This paper would focus on certain areas like agriculture and industry which were affected by the recurring occurrence of malaria in Northern part of Bengal. It would also bring to light the impact of malaria on the general people, individual, family and society as a whole. The failure of the formulation and application of health policy was also viewed from recurring occurrence of malaria followed by dreadful death rate throughout North Bengal. The present study also makes an attempt to find out the causes of the disease in North Bengal, especially the immediate causes that contributed towards the outburst of the disease. There are several works on malaria in different parts of India but the study of history of malaria in North Bengal remains unexplored. So this paper would try to fill that gap in the medicinal history of North Bengal.